Dichotomy or continuum? A global review of the interaction between autonomous and planned adaptations
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In: Ecology and Society, Vol. 30, No. 1, 18, 02.2025.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Dichotomy or continuum? A global review of the interaction between autonomous and planned adaptations
AU - Maskell, Gina
AU - Shukla, Roopam
AU - Jagannathan, Kripa
AU - Browne, Katherine
AU - Ulibarri, Nicola
AU - Campbell, Donovan
AU - Franz, Christopher Paul
AU - Grady, Caitlin
AU - Joe, Elphin Tom
AU - Kirchhoff, Christine J.
AU - Madhavan, Mythili
AU - Michaud, Lillian
AU - Sharma, Swarnika
AU - Singh, Chandni
AU - Orlove, Ben
AU - Alverio, Gabriela Nagle
AU - Ajibade, Idowu
AU - Bowen, Kathryn J.
AU - Chauhan, Neha
AU - Galappaththi, Eranga K.
AU - Hudson, A. J.
AU - Mach, Katharine J.
AU - Musah-Surugu, Justice Issah
AU - Petzold, Jan
AU - Reckien, Diana
AU - Schauberger, Bernhard
AU - Segnon, Alcade C.
AU - van Bavel, Bianca
AU - Gornott, Christoph
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025, Resilience Alliance. All rights reserved.
PY - 2025/2
Y1 - 2025/2
N2 - Adaptation to climate change is often conceptualized as a dichotomy, with responses being either planned (formal and structured) or autonomous (organic and self-organized, often known as “everyday adaptation”). Recent literature on adaptation responses has highlighted the existence and importance of the interplay between autonomous and planned adaptation, but examination of this interaction has been limited to date. We use a global database of 1682 peer-reviewed articles on adaptation responses to systematically examine autonomous and planned adaptations, with an emphasis on how these types of adaptations interact with one another. We propose a third category, mixed adaptation, which demonstrates characteristics of both autonomous and planned types, and which recognizes nuances in how organization, external support, formality, and autonomy manifest in the fuzzy space between the two. We find that more than one-third of articles reporting on adaptation responses fall into this mixed category, with cases across sectors and world regions. We develop a qualitative typology of mixed adaptation that identifies nine ways that autonomous and planned adaptation interact and influence each other both positively and negatively. Based on these findings, we argue for more nuanced examinations of the interplay between autonomous and planned adaptation and for conceptualizing adaptation planning as a continuum between the two rather than a dichotomy. Exploring the patterns of interplay from a large database of adaptation responses offers new insights on the relative roles of both autonomous and planned adaptation for mobilizing adaptation pathways in locally relevant, scalable, effective, and equitable ways.
AB - Adaptation to climate change is often conceptualized as a dichotomy, with responses being either planned (formal and structured) or autonomous (organic and self-organized, often known as “everyday adaptation”). Recent literature on adaptation responses has highlighted the existence and importance of the interplay between autonomous and planned adaptation, but examination of this interaction has been limited to date. We use a global database of 1682 peer-reviewed articles on adaptation responses to systematically examine autonomous and planned adaptations, with an emphasis on how these types of adaptations interact with one another. We propose a third category, mixed adaptation, which demonstrates characteristics of both autonomous and planned types, and which recognizes nuances in how organization, external support, formality, and autonomy manifest in the fuzzy space between the two. We find that more than one-third of articles reporting on adaptation responses fall into this mixed category, with cases across sectors and world regions. We develop a qualitative typology of mixed adaptation that identifies nine ways that autonomous and planned adaptation interact and influence each other both positively and negatively. Based on these findings, we argue for more nuanced examinations of the interplay between autonomous and planned adaptation and for conceptualizing adaptation planning as a continuum between the two rather than a dichotomy. Exploring the patterns of interplay from a large database of adaptation responses offers new insights on the relative roles of both autonomous and planned adaptation for mobilizing adaptation pathways in locally relevant, scalable, effective, and equitable ways.
KW - adaptation
KW - autonomous
KW - climate
KW - everyday
KW - governance
KW - planned
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85219144118&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5751/ES-15335-300118
DO - 10.5751/ES-15335-300118
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:85219144118
VL - 30
JO - Ecology and Society
JF - Ecology and Society
SN - 1708-3087
IS - 1
M1 - 18
ER -