Transferability of decision-support tools

Abstract

The potential for transferring and translating existing adaptation to climate change decision-support tools for use in different settings provides both opportunities and challenges to those wanting to support such decisions in or for the targeted community/organisation. The opportunities are related to being able to build on an existing credible and tested tool and its supportive resources and foregoing the costs associated with developing such themselves. The challenges relate to taking advantages of the strengths of an existing tool whilst adapting it and its supportive resources such that they are fit for purpose and accepted within the targeted community/organisation. This paper identifies and explores these opportunities and challenges through those revealed as a result of transferring and translating the UKCIPAdaptation Wizard for use within other parts of the world and in different communities and organisations. Whilst drawing on a number of different examples of wheretheWizardhasbeen translated,thispaperparticularly focuses on the transfer and translation for use in Portugal and in Brazil. General lessons learnt related to transferring adaptation decisionsupport tools are identified and used to develop a practical framework. The intention is to provide insights that have broader implications for those considering transferring similar adaptation decisionsupport tools, but also for tool developers who want to see their tools being used more broadly.

Decision support platforms for climate change adaptation: an overview and introduction

“…In addition, participants unanimously identified the need for technical assistance, specifically with visualisation tools and downscaling data. This feedback echoes that of Street et al (2019) about desirable characteristics of decision support resources.…”

“…Alternatively, funding may be available to support such activities constructed and maintained by organisations with a specific mandate and funding to support adaptation. Examples include government-sponsored activities outlined in this Special Issue, for Europe (Hasse and Kind 2019;Laudien et al 2019;Street et al 2019), for Australia (Palutikof et al 2019a), and for the USA (Gardiner et al 2019). Though these examples emphasise government-funded entities, there are many private organisations and consultancies taking up the mantle of decision support for climate change adaptation, particularly in the USA.…”

“…Overall, three-quarters of the papers came from five countries: USA (29.8%), Australia (12.9%), Germany (12.0%), England (11.7%), and Canada (10.2%). Street et al (2015) identified 14 Bnational adaptation platformsî n Europe, two transnational, and one European-wide (Climate-ADAPT).…”

A three-tier risk assessment process for climate change adaptation at a local scale

“…Further, they have moved away from the linear, 'top-down' approach that begins with observed and modelled climate data, evaluates the impacts and considers and selects appropriate adaptation options, towards a 'bottom-up' approach that begins with evaluation of exposure and vulnerability, leading to the assessment of risk, and resulting in the identification and implementation of adaptation options. An overview of such approaches is provided by Palutikof et al (2019a) and Street et al (2019). In general, they are iterative in nature, facilitating learning and adopting changes as the process progresses.…”

“…CoastAdapt is just one of a number of decision support platforms developed to address the information and guidance requirements of adaptation decision makers. These include, for example, the US Climate Resilience Toolkit (Gardiner et al 2019), the European Climate Adaptation Platform (EEA 2018), the Klimalotse for Germany (Hasse and Kind 2019) and the Adaptation Wizard for the UK (Street et al 2019).…”