Framing adaptation in the Victorian context: synthesis report

This synthesis report provides a summary of the research activity and conveys the key findings arising from the 18 month 'Framing Adaptation in the Victorian Context' project undertaken between 2010 and 2012. Due to the complex nature of climate change adaptation, the original research program was designed to better understand the conceptual underpinnings of adaptation and then to translate this academic knowledge into 'accessible' content that could be more effectively used by those responsible for local adaptation planning - in essence, to 'develop and test an operational framing of adaptation which will act as a decision-making roadmap to better inform adaptation policy and practice by Victorian authorities at the local and regional levels'. The analysis on framing was sub-divided into three discrete, though complementary and overlapping, research activities, to better understand different aspects of climate change adaptation in the Victorian context: 1) The development of an overarching framework that illuminates and makes sense of the many different components that influence local adaptation processes; 2) The framing of current and future climate-related impacts, and adaptation, as viewed through an economic lens; and 3) A bottom-up analysis of adaptation, with a particular focus on the adaptive capacity of individuals and communities, as captured by a social narrative approach.