Wow, have adaptation activities exploded! "Let a thousand flowers bloom" could certainly be used here appropriately. All of a sudden there are adaptation articles, meetings, new positions, organizations, plans, webinars, and ideas. When Beth started and we were getting this organization going (2006-07) we were treated as lepers when Beth would be the first one at the microphone for questions and she asked about adaptation rather than just keeping questions focused on mitigation. In many ways I am so delighted to see this profusion of activity. In other ways, I am a bit dismayed that so many groups feel they need to lead the field and reinvent the wheel when what we really need is an immense level of cooperation because there is so much work to do.

I am delighted that NOAA has finally begun to implement its Climate Service and want to see those agencies working on adaptation now doing so in a more obviously cooperative manner, through developing a truly National Climate Service that incorporates public and private entities and easily reachable information from a variety of sources. Instead folks are calling their efforts – "the first . . ." rather than "a cooperative meeting to . . .," creating a variety of climate portals and websites, and new regional centers for various agencies, and on and on.

I don’t mean to seem displeased by the profusion of useful and important activities. I would just rather see groups, individuals, and agencies receiving credit for leveraging and sharing information and activities instead of crowding the category of "first"!

What group or agency has the power to get folks cooperating and sharing, I wonder? Is it OSTP [Office of Science & Technology Policy]– the President’s Science Advisor, or might it be the Office of Management and Budget as it was for the US Global Change Research Program? As the profusion of adaptation information and claims continues to explode, I can only wonder how those we are trying to help perceive all this activity--while at the same time still being tod by some in the popular media that it is all hype! How can a community tell who or what to believe and call upon for help? I hope they turn to the consortium of a variety of groups who have gotten together to coordinate a message or deliver information rather than to the loudest or biggest advertiser. Or—they can feel free to ask us for our recommendations for specific help in specific locations for specific issues they’re facing. That's what we're here for!

The 60th issue of Participatory Learning and Action focuses on community-based adaptation to climate change. Its publication was timed to coincide with the forthcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) in December, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Communities have a wealth of knowledge about the local environment, and have been adapting to and coping with change for years. Although this knowledge and traditional coping mechanisms may become less effective as climate change leads to greater unpredictability in weather patterns (e.g. rain coming at any time rather than at predictable times) and more extreme events (e.g. droughts and floods) it remains an invaluable resource, and, in the absence of historical written records, is often the only source of information on e.g. rainfall trends. This is not to say that scientific knowledge does not have a very significant role to play in helping communities to adapt to climate change, and many of the articles in this issue reflect on the respective strengths and weaknesses of local and scientific knowledge, and how the two can best be integrated.

Community-based adaptation brings together those working in the fields of disaster risk reduction, community development, and climate change science. There is still much work to be done to encourage these different communities to develop a common language, to share good practice, and to draw on the lessons of other participatory development work, in particular, the dangers of rushing to scale at the expense of the quality of participation, as happened with PRA in the 1990s. The overview for this issue reflects on different types of participation, and on what is meant by ‘good’, empowering participation.

Structure of the special issue

The special issue is divided into three sections:

• The first section includes reflections on participatory processes and practice in community-based adaptation to climate change. These have a variety of entry points, including participatory vulnerability analysis, disaster risk reduction frameworks, and Farmer Field Schools. The case studies provide a rich source of experience and lessons for CBA practitioners.
• The second section focuses on participatory tool-based case studies. These describe a participatory process with an emphasis on the use of a particular participatory tool, such as participatory video or participatory mapping. They also reflect on the strengths and limitations of these tools.
• The third section, participatory tools, includes shorter, step-by-step descriptions of how to facilitate a particular tool in a community, for example, rain calendars and mental models of the drivers and effects of climate change.

I have been thinking a lot about water, especially since my recent visit to Santa Fe, my presentations around the Great Plains region (where SCIPP focuses) including a realization of the depth of the water in some places in the High Plains Aquifer (more than 150 feet deep), and the drought projections for large portions of the country with large populations. One can’t help but notice that most of us treat water as a cheap commodity rather than the incredibly valuable resource that it is. It is clearly an issue that will become more critical for many as the climate continues to change. It was interesting that water was the only issue that all of the regions involved in the first US National Assessment looked at [usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/nacc/] – but they all looked at it differently. Some regions had too much water, some too little, in some the timing or the form (rain rather than snow) changed or is projected to change so much that they will be in danger of summer droughts even in some places perceived to be wet.

Since so many of us live in cities we feel powerless to do anything about supplying our own water other than to buy it from the store. That is another issue – where are the bottling companies getting that water? What will happen to those communities when their source of water has been used up for non-community uses and others have made the money and left (e.g. Fryeburg, ME, a bottling location for Poland Spring)? How valuable are community properties then when they no longer have a ready source of water? Will the communities be compensated? Back to the city folk – how do you take matters into your own hands when you believe you are reliant on city-provided water? How do you reduce your use of this important resource without feeling deprived? Are there options that we could all participate in that would reduce the strain on our infrastructure and at the same time increase our self-reliance?

One source of good, practical, empowering information is a new book by Nate Downey entitled: Harvest the Rain: How to Enrich Your Life and Save the World By Seeing Every Storm As A Resource. This book is easy to read, empowering because it describes a really small way to begin getting involved in developing a more sustainable way to live, and also provides step-by-step instructions. Too often, the advice that is given by experts is not actionable so folks don’t know what to do and thus feel powerless. This is actionable advice and empowering. Nate is clearly reverent about water’s essential value to life and passionate about conserving it at the same time that he is practical about solutions to water shortages and helping us become more climate-resilient. Water shortages are a reality for many now and likely more in the future. If we begin transitioning through simple actions now, in a few minutes a day on average (as Nate suggests), we would relieve some of the strain on our water infrastructure and at the same time make ourselves more resilient to changes in the hydrologic system. To order go to: http://harvesttherain.com/

It seems that the concept of sustainability is getting larger play. Nice to see some of these concepts being accepted into the mainstream.

• 10 Sustainability Predictions for 2010, Information Management Newsletters, December 23, 2009. Energy conservation and alternative energy strategies are expected to grow in importance in the coming year. Val Haskell, director of Environmental Sustainability Solutions at Hitachi Consulting, shares her list of sustainability predictions for 2010: notice even this list includes at least one focus on water.
  www.information-management.com/ newsletters/sustainability-10016783-1.html

There are also a wealth of new organizations and updates:

• The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) is in the process of establishing eight (8) regional Climate Science Centers to expand the scope and geographic reach of its climate-science efforts. These centers will provide scientific information, tools, and techniques that resource managers and other interested parties can apply to anticipate, monitor, and adapt to climate- and ecologically driven responses at regional-to-local scales. The University of Alaska, DOI announced in March, is selected as the first of the eight centers. doi.gov/news/pressreleases/2010_03_04_release.cfm
• Climate Change Adaptation Task Force: The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have announced an initiative for a one-year interagency review process around developing Federal recommendations for adapting to climate change impacts. The Task Force will hold a series of regional outreach meetings, conduct pilot activities, and accept public comment on its interim progress report for 60 days on the CEQ website at:
  www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/ initiatives/adaptation
• The National Academies’ Committee on America's Climate Choices announced it would issue a final report in 2010. The report “will integrate the findings and recommendations from the four panel reports and other sources to identify the most effective short-term actions and most promising long-term strategies, investments, and opportunities for responding to climate change.” One of those panels is specifically focused on adapting to the impacts of climate change.
  americasclimatechoices.org/ccstudycte.shtml
• The Gulf of Mexico Climate Outreach Program is assembling a Community of Practice to bring extension, outreach, and education (EOE) experts together to identify how to help coastal communities address the potential economic, social, and ecological impacts of Sea Level Rise (SLR) around the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The project will discuss the impacts of SLR through a collaborative project involving the four GOM Sea Grant Programs (Texas, Louisiana, Florida and Mississippi-Alabama), NOAA capabilities, and other federal, state and local partners. The project will provide decision makers with reliable information and science-based guidance regarding both the level of risk to their coastal communities and strategies they can promote to effectively adapt to the rising sea level. This project will establish a long-term community of practice among EOE professionals in the Gulf region that will ensure continued dialogue and information exchange on SLR and other climate-change and coastal hazard related issues. For more info: contact Karl Havens (khavens@ufl.edu, 352-392-5870).
• Eco-Adapt is just founded to focus on Marine and Coastal Adaptation to Climate Change in North America. Dr. Lara Hansen is the Chief Scientist and Executive Director. For more information go to: www.EcoAdapt.org
• The newly established University of Oregon Climate Leadership Initiative is looking to establish a National Adaptation & Climate Preparedness Learning Network. They held a meeting in February and will develop a white paper. The meeting’s three objectives were: assess the current state of policy and practice against a vision of what’s needed; identify proactive strategies for bridging the gaps; use these insights to design a national learning network. For more information contact: Steve Adams - scadams@uoregon.edu.

• Katherine L. Jacobs, a University of Arizona professor and specialist in the department of soil, water and environmental science, has been named the OSTP's assistant director for climate adaptation and assessment within the office's Energy and Environment Division. She began her post Jan. 4.
• Dr. Joel Scheraga has been appointed as the new Senior Advisor for Climate Adaptation in EPA’s Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation (OPEI) in the Office of the Administrator. In this position he will have an opportunity to help EPA design and implement effective climate change adaptation measures to protect human health and the environment.

Dr. Carter also developed and presented a webinar for ICLEI and SACE in January entitled: Planning to Protect: Helping SE Communities Think about Climate Change and Adaptation. The webinar can be found at: adaptationnetwork.org – under the Resources tab.

University of Oklahoma National Weather Center and SCIPP hosted a public discussion on climate and its impacts on Feb 8 as the opening event for the regional Climate Symposium entitled: “Regional Climate – Monitoring, Modeling, Predicting, and Impacts” co-sponsored by SAIC. Lynne Carter, director of the Adaptation Network as well as the Associate Director for SCIPP lead the public open discussion and presented: “Vulnerabilities and Impacts: A new paradigm for research” for the science conference. This and all of Lynne's presentations can be found at: adaptationnetwork.org under the “Resources” tab.

Lynne was a speaker at the Annual meeting of the Louisiana Chapter of the Society of Landscape Architects in February and presented: Climate Changes Now and Later: Considerations for Design and Planning.

Lynne presented: Planning to Protect: How We Might Think About A Changing Climate and Be More Ready to the City of Austin , TX in early March as the science presentation in their opening community meeting, to begin developing a city wide climate plan – with both mitigation and adaptation focuses. Her presentation along with information on the meeting is available on the ci.austin.tx.us/acpp/communityplan.htm website.

Southeast Climate Change Adaptation Planning Workshop, February 2-3, 2010, Atlanta. This workshop was called together and supported by EPA with 2 purposes: “inform, enable, and serve as a catalyst for adaptation planning in the Southeastern states (defined as the eight states of EPA Region 4) and to inform and serve as a potential model for adaptation planning efforts in other regions of the United States.” Look for outputs from this meeting that could offer opportunities for collaboration, insights, and lessons for a wide range of issues that could require adaptation. There were many interesting presentations and two very useful background documents put together by Stratus Consulting for EPA.
epa.gov/region4/clean_energy/conferences.html

The Oklahoma Climatological Survey (OCS) in conjunction with the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (SCIPP) hosted a kick-off meeting to begin the process of developing a climate adaptation plan for the state of Oklahoma, December 10, 2009. The meeting brought together more than 60 participants representing a range of organizations including tribal nations, state agencies, city representatives, and federal agencies. Future meetings will be convened to continue this collaborative process with the next meeting occurring as soon as Spring 2010. To view the presentations: download those here (zipped file contains 4 presentations). For more information or to get involved, please contact OU SCIPP program manager James Hocker at jhocker@ou.edu.

WA State Adaptation Efforts: Spring 2009, efforts began to develop a Washington State multi-agency response strategy as preparation for the projected impacts of climate change. The cities of Lacey and Wenatchee, as parts of the first phase of this program, hosted forums in December, 2009 for Washington residents to voice their concerns and make suggestions about impacts and the development of a state-wide strategy. For more information see:
http://cses.washington.edu/cig/res/ia/waccia.shtml

Resilient Cities 2010: Bonn, Germany 28-30 May 2010. Sponsored by ICLEI and others, this is the first of what will become an annual convention and forum on urban resiliency and adaptation to climate change. Partners will exchange, learn, network, debate and discuss policy development on approaches and solutions to climate change adaptation for cities and municipalities. There will be case examples of adaptations being undertaken by cities around the globe.
resilient-cities.iclei.org/bonn2010/

US Army Corps of Engineers has released a new policy that requires that sea level rise be taken into consideration in any new work of the Corps. The document is titled: WATER RESOURCE POLICIES AND AUTHORITIES INCORPORATING SEA-LEVEL CHANGE CONSIDERATIONS IN CIVIL WORKS PROGRAMS, was released 1 July, 2009, addresses why they are ordering this new facet of planning, how to calculate the amount of sea-level rise in whatever area the work takes place, and some questions to ask about the project. The circular is very informative, is numbered Circular No. 1165-2-211 and expires 1 July 2011. It can be accessed at:
Department of the Army EC 1165-2-211 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

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NOAA's National Climatic Data Center seeks six (6) Senior Physical Scientists to serve as Regional Climate Services Directors. The incumbents of the positions will be responsible for providing leadership in the development of an integrated NOAA program of climate services on a regional scale that responds to the needs of stakeholders and draws upon agency-wide assets and capabilities. Incumbents will manage the development and execution of a Regional Climate Services Strategic Plan.

The National Park Service has an opening for a Climate Change Adaptation Coordinator, a key position in the link between climate change science and decision-making.