Ashwin Ravikumar

Drivers of adaptation: Responses to weather- and climate-related hazards in 60 local governments in the Intermountain Western U.S.

Cities are key sites of action for adaptation to climate change. However, there are a wide variety of responses to hazards at the municipal level. Why do communities take adaptive action in the face of weather- and climate-related risk? We studied what cities are doing in response to existing natural hazards, such as floods, droughts, and blizzards as an analog for understanding the drivers of adaptive behavior toward climate change risks. We conducted a survey of 60 U.S. municipalities followed by six in-depth case studies in the intermountain west states of Colorado, Wyoming and Utah that regularly experience weather and climate extreme events. Our analysis shows that perception of risk and external factors such as planning requirements and availability of funding stand out as important drivers. Nevertheless, political action is rarely driven by a single factor or event. Overall, our results suggest that multiple factors interact or act in combination to produce an enabling environment for action in the face of weather- and climate-related risk.

Towards More Equitable Terms of Cooperation: Local People's Contribution to Commercial Timber Concessions

SUMMARY The mixed outcomes of seemingly well-intentioned partnerships that try to create mutually beneficial agreements between local communities and private firms remain a puzzle. This study looks for answers to this puzzle by reviewing a large number of empirical studies in a wide variety of contexts. The kinds of local skills and expertise that are important for good timber concession management, how local people and concession managers can construct mutually profitable relationships, the most effective strategies used by communities to defend their claims in conflicts with private firms, and the types of public policies that are supportive of more equitable terms of cooperation in forest concession management are issues that were examined in the review. Institutional arrangements that regulate the relationship between local communities and forest concessionaires, and particularly the distribution of de jure property rights, help explain the mixed results. Less conclusive evidence exists with regards to community perspectives on concession-community relationships. The study concludes by suggesting future directions for research and discusses the implications of the findings for public policy.