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Climate variability and climate change impacts on hydrological conditions prescribe the need to better understand favourable conditions for developing and mobilising adaptive capacity. This paper presents new cases to the body of evidence on adaptive capacity in the context of institutional arrangements for water management. It aims to contribute insights into the challenges of developing approaches across governance scales for dealing with climate variability and climate change impacts. The different case studies explored in this article represent an exploration of the challenges across temporal and spatial scales in relation to the adaptive capacity of water governance to hydro-climatic stresses. The studies use a suite of governance related indicators to explore adaptive capacity in relation to past extreme hydrological events. Analysis is based on qualitative open ended interviews and questionnaires. Results indicate that tensions persist in developing proactive capacity and mobilising reactive capacity at different scales of governance to different scales of change. Findings support the increasing recognition in the literature for top down and bottom up approaches to be better balanced in efforts to improve resilience to climate variability and change. Copyright

The Swiss Alps will experience pronounced effects of climate change due to the combination of their latitudinal positioning, altitude and unique ecosystems, placing socio-economic stresses on alpine communities, many of which rely on seasonal tourism. Studies into tourism adaptation within the Swiss Alps have so far focused on the technical adaptation options of alpine stakeholders, rather than perceptions of adaptation to climate change at the operational and community level. This article investigates attitudes to adaptation in two alpine regions within Switzerland's well-established decentralized political framework, through semi-structured qualitative interviews. Stakeholders focused almost entirely on maintaining the status quo of winter tourism, through technical or marketing measures, with mixed attitudes towards climatic impacts. A matrix based on the relative internal strengths and weaknesses, external opportunities and threats of adaptation measures (a SWOT framework) was used to assess the measures and suggest how stakeholders could capitalize on the new opportunities thrown up by climate change to create a competitive advantage. A comprehensive and collaborative planning approach is vital to enable policy makers and stakeholders to maximize opportunities, minimize the adverse effects of climate change on the local economy, and develop inclusive adaptation measures that benefit the entire region in order to create more sustainable social, economic and environmental structures. Les Alpes suisses vont subir de manière prononcée les effets du changement climatique, dû au concours de leur position latitudinale, leur altitude et leur écosystème unique, plaçant ainsi des pressions socio-économiques sur les communautés alpines, beaucoup d'entre elles dépendant du tourisme saisonnier. Les études sur l'adaptation du tourisme dans les Alpes suisses ont jusqu'ici porté sur les options techniques d'adaptation disponibles aux parties prenantes alpines, plutôt que sur les perceptions concernant l'adaptation au changement climatique au niveau opérationnel et communautaire. Cet article examine les attitudes concernant l'adaptation dans deux régions alpines, dans le cadre de politique décentralisée bien établi en Suisse, par une étude qualitative basée sur des interviews semistructurées. Les parties prenantes se sont concentrées principalement sur le maintien du statu quo concernant le tourisme d'hiver, par l'intermédiaire de mesures techniques ou de marketing, les attitudes étant mitigées concernant les impacts climatiques. Une matrice portant sur les forces et faiblesses internes relatives, et les opportunités et menaces externes des mesures d'adaptations (démarche SWOT) est employée pour évaluer et suggérer la manière dont les parties prenantes pourraient tirer un avantage compétitif de la menace climatique. Une démarche de planification approfondie et collaborative est essentielle pour que les décideurs en économie locale et les parties prenantes puissent maximiser les opportunités, minimiser les menaces du changeme...

The Alps and the Andes are both considered water towers in their respective continents and are thus significant not only for their own water needs but also for those of lowland regions farther downstream. As climate change impacts on the hydrology of mountain regions are increasingly observed, attention is turning to the adaptive capacity of the water governance regimes in mountain communities. This paper explores the adaptive capacity of two contrasting water governance regimes in the Swiss Alps and the Chilean Andes. It assesses adaptive capacity by analyzing a set of governance-related adaptive capacity indicators in the context of recent extreme events, which serve as proxies for future climate change. Across these highly contrasted governance contexts, analysis reveals both similar and distinct institutional challenges for developing and mobilizing adaptive capacity in relation to climatic uncertainty and change. It also identifies emergent tensions related to temporal and spatial scales. Conclusions point to the need to focus on challenges relating to trust, integration of hydroclimatic information, and flexibility and iterativity of rules and plans across governance scales to better manage the exacerbating impacts of both climate variability and climate change.

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