Pressing challenges in urban adaptation planning to extreme events include: (1) involving vulnerable populations in the impacted area; and (2) employing a multi-level stakeholder collaborative process to build consensus for action. These processes become even more important as adaptive urban planning is recognized as an effective governance model for adaptation to climate change. In a case study of a low to moderate income community vulnerable to present and increased coastal storm surge flooding, the Supported Community Planning Process was employed because (a) most residents of East Boston affiliate primarily with their own local neighborhoods and (b) the residents need targeted expertise to help them understand some of the scientific and technical aspects of adaptation planning. Collaboration was necessary among three sets of critical stakeholders interested in adaptation strategies in East Boston — the local residents and small businesses, the City of Boston, and the agencies that provide infrastructure services — because some adaptation actions will collectively protect assets of all. The overall process occurred successfully because of positive, knowledgeable, and direct exchange of values and goals. The research illustrates how marginalized populations can be effectively engaged in urban adaptation planning, and how that process can be combined in multi-level stakeholder collaborative planning so that plans might be developed that meet multiple shared and individual goals in a cost-effective manner.

Policymakers need to know what factors are most important in determining local vulnerability to facilitate e ective adaptation to climate change. Quantitative vulnerability indices are helpful in this endeavour but are limited in their ability to capture subtle yet important aspects of vulnerability such as social networks, knowledge and access to resources. Working with three African American communities on Maryland's Eastern Shore, we systematically elicit local cultural knowledge on climate change and connect it with a scientific vulnerability framework. The results of this study show that: a given social-ecological factor can substantially di er in the way in which it a ects local vulnerability, even among communities with similar demographics and climate-related risks; and social and political isolation inhibits access to sources of adaptive capacity, thereby exacerbating local vulnerability. These results show that employing methods for analysing cultural knowledge can yield new insights to complement those generated by quantitative vulnerability indices.

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