Three types of adaptation

There are three types of adaptation: reactive, incremental and transformational adaptation. Reactive adaptation means you try to minimise the damage during climate extremes, for example with a heat plan. Incremental adaptation means you try to prevent climate risks by better protecting existing facilities, for instance by building dykes. And with transformational adaptation you go one step further: you tackle the cause of the vulnerabilities and choose solutions that fit sustainable development. For instance, you can green a city in a way that also contributes to biodiversity. But it could also mean deciding not to build on some flood-prone areas. You can then use these areas for nature and water storage.

Knowledge and tools for transformational adaptation

There are many tools for reactive and incremental adaptation, just think of stress tests and measure databases. But how to ensure that the adaptation you choose is also sustainable in the long term? In other words, how can transformational adaptation become part of a strategy? As a climate services provider, you can help policymakers do that in four ways:

• You can offer policymakers systemic knowledge about the underlying causes of climate risks and possible long-term solutions.
• You can offer them inspiring and interdisciplinary knowledge that will help them develop a long-term vision.
• Then you can help them integrate that vision into policy.
• You can also work with them to establish design principles that match stakeholders’ priorities and interests.

This means combining a lot of knowledge about climate in a straightforward way, and also linking it to economic and social knowledge about cities and regions. This requires broadening your area of focus and working with experts in spatial planning, landscape architecture, ecology, health and sociology.