Embeddedness of climate change adaptation: established procedures and contending discourses for flood protection in Espoo, Finland

Abstract

Calls for more stakeholder participation and cooperation, the acknowledgement of uncertainties as well as for flexible and robust solutions have become frequent in the literature on climate change adaptation. Recent studies show that these calls are taken up only reluctantly in local adaptation compared to sectoral and technical solutions. The aim of this study is to examine to which extent adaptation as an embedded process within the local context allows for stakeholder participation, cooperation and the robustness and flexibility of adaptation measures. It applies an analytical approach, combining an action framework of adaptation and document-based discourse analysis, to assess both the procedural and the substantive viewpoint of an adaptation case in Finland. This twofold approach provides insight into how the adaptation process and content influence and condition each other. The analysis highlights how new approaches to adaptation have to compete with prevailing discourses and institutionalised practices, as public authorities take the dominant role in adaptation, striving for certain and safe solutions. This process has few participatory elements and leaves little leeway to address uncertainty.

Keywords:

• climate change
• adaptation
• flood protection
• local level
• Finland

Acknowledgements

The preparation of this publication has been supported by the Norden Top-level Research Initiative sub-programme “Effect Studies and Adaptation to Climate Change” through the Nordic Centre of Excellence for Strategic Adaptation Research (NORD-STAR).

The paper benefited from colleagues' thorough comments and the discussions at the Chameleon Research Workshop on “Barriers to Adaptation to Climate Change” (18–21 September 2012, Berlin).

Notes

1. The publication by Eisenack and Stecker (2012) has the title “A framework of analysing climate change adaptations as actions”. In another publication they refer to the same framework as “action framework of adaptation” (Eisenack et al. 2012). I use the term “action framework of adaptation” for reasons of convenience and conciseness.

2. In this paper, “process” or “adaptation process” refers to a set of actions aiming at climate change adaptation. This understanding differs from that of Eisenack and Stecker (2012), who claim that “processes are sequences of events in time that may occur in a biophysical, technical or social entity or system. They can be framed as being linked through causality, that is, in a mechanistic way. Actions are a special class of social processes that additionally have a teleological component” (p. 247).

3. Eisenack and Stecker apply the term “action” on a wide range of activities. Implemented actions that take place “on the ground” and affect directly the entity exposed to climate stimuli are called “direct actions”; other activities that enable actors to adapt or that prepare the ground via policy documents, legal adjustments, or the provision of knowledge or technology, are called “indirect action”. This article follows Eisenack and Stecker's use of the term “action”.

4. Also the recommendations by Espoo's working group on flood issues (Espoon tulvaty öryhmä 2005) fed into the means-end chain as an indirect adaptation action. For the sake of readability it is not part of the illustration.

5. This report plays a double-role. On the one hand the report provides recommendations and knowledge, on the other hand it documents that the report was commissioned by the Finnish Environment Institute.

6. This report was updated in June 2014. The latest version includes new research results and new sea level rise scenarios (Parjanne and Huokuna 2014).

7. In 2010, the YTV was transformed into two administrative bodies: the Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority “HSY” and Helsinki Region Transport “HSL”.

8. Finnish Flood Risk Management Act, Unofficial Translation available at FINLEX, a database provided by the Finnish Ministry of Justice and Edita Publishing Oy.

9. Land Use and Building Act, Unofficial Translation available at FINLEX, a database provided by the Finnish Ministry of Justice and Edita Publishing Oy. The italics in the quotations were added by the author.

10. Section 27 of the City of Espoo's building code: ”on otettava huomioon vedenpinnan korkeusvaihtelut riittävän suurella varmuudella … ” (English translation by the author).