Diana Reckien

An adaptation gap exists when adaptation efforts fail to meet adaptation needs. Conceptualizing and operationalizing this gap is challenging, but should start with, as we argue, addressing ‘internal adaptation policy consistency’. Through a comprehensive European study of local adaptation planning and its progress, we demonstrate how consistency checks applied to adaptation plans can conceptually and methodologically advance understanding of the adaptation (implementation) gap and, most importantly, how to reduce it.

Cities and other human settlements are major contributors to climate change and are highly vulnerable to its impacts. They are also uniquely positioned to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lead adaptation efforts. These compound challenges and opportunities require a comprehensive perspective on the public policy of human settlements. Drawing on core literature that has driven debate around cities and climate over recent decades, we put forward a set of boundary objects that can be applied to connect the knowledge of epistemic communities and support an integrated urbanism. We then use these boundary objects to develop the Goals-Intervention-Stakeholder-Enablers (GISE) framework for a public policy of human settlements that is both place-specific and provides insights and tools useful for climate action in cities and other human settlements worldwide. Using examples from Berlin, we apply this framework to show that climate mitigation and adaptation, public health, and well-being goals are closely linked and mutually supportive when a comprehensive approach to urban public policy is applied.