In an era where human-induced climate change precipitates not only environmental but also social crises, the complexity of adapting societies is great, and a call for just transition pronounced. Amidst these challenges, there is an increasing focus on the development of frameworks, indexes, and indicators aimed at assessing social vulnerability and marginalized groups within the context of climate change and climate change adaptation. However, there is a notable gap in understanding the day-to-day practical application of these tools and frameworks. This study aims to bridge this gap through a qualitative meta-study of vulnerability narratives in the context of regional climate adaptation planning, examining 12 European cases.
The study is grounded in the empirical analysis of regional climate adaptation plans and strategies, combined with the narratives and perceptions of stakeholders involved in both formulating and implementing these plans. The central objective is to uncover the conceptions and narratives of social vulnerability as understood by regional stakeholders in climate adaptation planning across diverse European regions.
Adopting an exploratory grounded theory approach, we engage with stakeholders from 12 European regions participating in the EU Horizons project Regions4Climate. Our methodology encompasses a written survey, a screening of regional climate plans, and qualitative semi-structured interviews. This empirical data is analyzed in the context of contemporary climate risk frameworks' definitions of vulnerability (Navarro et al., 2022) and core concepts of social justice in climate adaptation (Lager et al., 2023).
Our findings reveal a diverse range of stakeholder perspectives on social vulnerability, mirroring the evolving definitions posited by the IPCC (2022). Notably, our data highlights the challenges and opportunities within recognitional justice (visibility and recognition in planning) and procedural justice (participation in planning processes). The study also identifies various factors that hold both positive and negative potential for enhancing social vulnerability considerations in regional planning.
This research contributes to the discourse on planning considerations on social vulnerability as a component of risk, influenced by adaptive capacity and sensitivity. The study brings forth a current conception of social vulnerability among regional stakeholders and the operationalization of the concept in day-to-day planning. As such, the study contributes an informative baseline for future cross sectoral initiatives and research and contributes to the discussion on how to support social justice in regional climate adaptation.