ACDI ADAPTATION SEMINAR SERIES 2014

Join us for the first seminar of 2014! This is part one of a lunch-time, weekly seminar series through which one can gain insights and knowledge from various academics and practitioners working on the cutting edge in the field of climate change adaptation.  

Where: Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Room 2.27, Upper Campus, University of Cape Town.

When: Each Wednesday @ 1pm, starting 22 January 2013.

ON THE FRONTLINE IN THE ANTHROPOCENE: ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH DELIBERATIVE COASTAL GOVERNANCE

Bruce Glavovic (Massey University, New Zealand)

A deliberative approach to coastal governance is needed to navigate the stormy seas of the Anthropocene. Coasts are the frontline of the global struggle for sustainability and the primary arena for learning how to adapt to the “super wicked” problem of climate change. Coastal communities need to build “layers of resilience” in the face of “waves of adversity” due to unsustainable practices that are compounded by climate change impacts. Well-intentioned but modest adaptation measures to maintain the status quo can reduce climate risks and even mitigate some climate impacts in the short term. But the root causes and drivers of unsustainable coastal development, institutional inertia and path-dependent maladaptation need to be confronted. Emerging adaptation efforts, however, reveal persistent barriers for translating theory into practice. How might adaptation barriers be overcome? Much can be learned from decades of coastal management experience. This experience demonstrates that “business as usual” is untenable. Sustainable coastal development is widely espoused but elusive in practice. To break the impasse, new modalities of innovative transitional and even transformative coastal governance need to be envisioned and institutionalized, with climate change adaptation an integral part thereof. Deliberative coastal governance provides a foundation for managing climate risk at the coast, charting adaptive pathways and building resilience in the face of the contestation, complexity, uncertainty, ambiguity and surprise that characterize life on the frontline in the Anthropocene.

 About the speaker: Bruce Glavovic holds the EQC Chair in Natural Hazards Planning at Massey University, New Zealand, and is Associate Director of the Joint Centre for Disaster Research. He has degrees in economics and agricultural economics, environmental science, and urban and environmental planning. He has over 25 years of experience in Government, consulting and academia in South Africa, USA, and NZ. His research explores role of land-use planning in building resilient and sustainable communities, with a focus on (i) Natural hazards planning, risk governance and disaster recovery (ii) Coastal resilience, governance and integrated coastal management.(iii) Climate change adaptation, focusing on experience in NZ and coastal zones around the world as well as the nexus between climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. He is lead editor of two forthcoming books on this subject: Climate Change and the Coastal Zone (2013) Adapting to Climate Change: Lessons from Natural Hazards Planning (2013). Before taking up the position at Massey University, Bruce worked for the Dept. of Environment Affairs in South Africa and was Project Manager of the team that developed the White Paper for Sustainable Coastal Development in South Africa.

 

*Bring your lunch along, refreshments will be provided