Lecture: Urban Climate Change Adaptation Planning: Lessons from the Global South

Co-Sponsored by the Department of Human Ecology and the Climate and Environmental Change Initiative
Social Choices and Climate Change: Lectures and Discussions
Part of the Rutgers University Global Initiative: Ecologies in the Balance Series, 2009-2010

"Urban Climate Change Adaptation Planning: Lessons from the Global South"
JoAnn Carmin, Associate Professor
Environmental Policy and Planning, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Minimizing the impacts that climate change will have on cities and their inhabitants requires that urban municipalities make concerted efforts to protect natural systems, the built environment, and human populations.

Although the need for urban adaptation is pressing, relatively few cities have developed climate adaptation plans. In this pilot research, I examine what motivated Durban, South Africa and Quito, Ecuador to initiate climate adaptation planning. While many scholars argue that external pressures, diffusion, and capacity are critical drivers of sub-national policy change, the cases suggest that these early adapters are motivated by local goals and priorities. The findings of this research enhance our theoretical understanding of urban change while offering policy-relevant lessons about climate adaptation and adaptation planning.

Date: Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Time: 12:30 PM to 2:30 pm
Location: Blake Hall, Room 131, Cook Campus