An Evolutionary Approach to Adaptive Capacity Assessment: A Case Study of Soufriere, Saint Lucia

James Ryan Hogarth and Dariusz Wójcik
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James Ryan Hogarth: Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford; Overseas Development Institute, 203 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8NJ, UK
Dariusz Wójcik: Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford; Overseas Development Institute, 203 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8NJ, UK

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 3, 1-23

Abstract: This paper assesses the capacity of Soufriere, Saint Lucia to adapt to climate change. A community-based vulnerability assessment was conducted that employed semi-structured interviews with community members. The results were analysed using the Local Adaptive Capacity (LAC) framework, which characterises adaptive capacity based on five elements: asset base; institutions and entitlements; knowledge and information; innovation; and flexible forward-looking decision-making and governance. Beyond providing an in-depth analysis of Soufriere’s capacity to adapt to climate change, the paper argues that the elements of the LAC framework largely correspond with an evolutionary perspective on adaptive capacity. However, other evolutionary themes—such as structure, history, path-dependency, scale, agency, conservation of diversity, and the perils of specialisation—should also be taken into account.

Keywords: climate change; adaptation; vulnerability; adaptive capacity; evolutionary; community-based vulnerability assessment; local adaptive capacity framework; Small Island Developing States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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