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Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Disaster Risk Reduction in Urban Contexts: Perceptions and Practice

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Author

  • Claudia Rivera

Summary, in English

This paper analyses the perceptions of disaster risk reduction (DRR) practitioners concerning the on-going integration of climate change adaptation (CCA) into their practices in urban contexts in Nicaragua. Understanding their perceptions is important as this will provide information on how this integration can be improved. Exploring the perceptions of practitioners in Nicaragua is important as the country has a long history of disasters, and practitioners have been developing the current DRR planning framework for more than a decade. The analysis is based on semi-structured interviews designed to collect information about practitioners’ understanding of: (a) CCA, (b) the current level of integration of CCA into DRR and urban planning, (c) the opportunities and constraints of this integration, and (d) the potential to adapt cities to climate change. The results revealed that practitioners’ perception is that the integration of CCA into their practice is at an early stage, and that they need to improve their understanding of CCA in terms of a development issue. Three main constraints on improved integration were identified: (a) a recognized lack of understanding of CCA, (b) insufficient guidance on how to integrate it, and (c) the limited opportunities to integrate it into urban planning due to a lack of instruments and capacity in this field. Three opportunities were also identified: (a) practitioners’ awareness of the need to integrate CCA into their practices, (b) the robust structure of the DRR planning framework in the country, which provides a suitable channel for facilitating integration, and (c) the fact that CCA is receiving more attention and financial and technical support from the international community.

Publishing year

2014

Language

English

Publication/Series

PLoS Currents

Volume

6

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Topic

  • Other Civil Engineering

Keywords

  • Climate change adaptation (CCA)
  • disaster risk reduction (DRR)
  • urban planning (UP)
  • mainstreaming
  • perception
  • Nicaragua

Status

Published

Research group

  • LUCRAM (Lund University Center for Risk Analysis and Management

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 2157-3999