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Public participation in decision-making is a central component of the planning process; however, implementing effective engagement initiatives to resolve complex planning and policy problems, such as climate change, is challenging for planners. These challenges are particularly acute in coastal communities throughout Australia where many settlements are at risk of future climate perturbations. Using the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) framework for public participation, we analyse three local government-led public participation initiatives in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, Australia.Our analysis suggests there are three critical factors that can influence the level of public participation in the context of climate change adaptation: the technocratic approach to decision-making; absent high-order government support; and the lack of evaluation mechanisms for public participation.

While climate change will expose regions to similar impacts, the extent of those impacts and effective response at the local level will be determined not only by the location's sensitivity and vulnerability but also by local groups and individuals' capacity, including their institutional links, social networks and motivation to action. In parallel, scientific information and research plays a critical role in informing climate change adaptation by providing both an improved understanding of the actual climate risks and response alternatives. The paper focuses on two local-scale intervention research projects undertaken in urbanised coastal areas in Brazil and in Australia focused on improving the dialogue between 'those who make science' and 'those who use science to make decisions' in order to make climate science more useful, and creating purposeful collective action respectively. A conceptual model is devised to investigate how intervention research could aid adaptive capacity by generating new knowledge and facilitating change towards climate change adaptation at the local level. Drawing on the findings, a framework is proposed to advance the role of intervention research in policy development for enhancing adaptive capacity.

Competition for land between agriculture and urban uses is a global problem. Until recently, planners and policy makers have relied on regulatory 'command and control' planning approaches; however, there is growing interest in the use of market-based instruments to address natural resource management issues in complex and highly contested peri-urban environments. Tradable development rights are one type of market-based instrument. While tradable development rights have been used extensively in the United States, their application in Australia has been limited. Yet, in Australia, population growth and development in peri-urban areas is placing extensive pressure on natural resources and productive agricultural lands. These pressures are particularly acute in Australia's fastest growing metropolitan region, South East Queensland. By using a case study approach we explore stakeholder perspectives on the value of this tool to protect peri-urban landscape values. Whilst current planner and stakeholder perspectives suggest there is considerable support, there are substantial political, institutional, knowledge, resource and legislative barriers that need to be overcome before this tool can be a viable, realistic and acceptable option for land use planning in peri-urban regions such as South East Queensland.urban sprawl, sustainability, market based instruments, environmental planning, regulation,