Journal article
Adaptive capacity and climate change: the role of community opinion leaders
Local Environment, Vol.21(4), pp.432-450
2016
Abstract
The contribution of the informal community sector to the development of collective response strategies to socioecological change is not well researched. In this article, we examine the role of community opinion leaders in developing and mobilising stocks of adaptive capacity. In so doing, we reveal a largely unexplored mechanism for building on latent social capital and associated networks that have the potential to transcend local-scale efforts - an enduring question in climate change adaptation and other cross-scalar sustainability issues. Participants drawn from diverse spheres of community activity in the Sunshine Coast, Australia, were interviewed about their strategies for influencing their community objectives and the degree to which they have engaged with responding to climate change. The results show community opinion leaders to be politically engaged through rich bridging connections with other community organisations, and vertically with policy-makers at local, state, national and international levels. Despite this latent potential, the majority of community opinion leaders interviewed were not strategically engaged with responding to climate change. This finding suggests that more work is needed to connect networks knowledgeable about projected climate change impacts with local networks of community opinion leaders. Attention to the type of community-based strategies considered effective and appropriate by community opinion leaders and their organisations also suggests avenues for policy-makers to facilitate community engagement in responding to climate change across sectors likely to be affected by its impacts. Opportunities to extend understanding of adaptive capacity within the community sector through further research are also suggested.
Details
- Title
- Adaptive capacity and climate change: the role of community opinion leaders
- Authors
- Noni Keys (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts and BusinessDana C Thomsen (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts and BusinessTimothy F Smith (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts and Business
- Publication details
- Local Environment, Vol.21(4), pp.432-450
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Date published
- 2016
- DOI
- 10.1080/13549839.2014.967758
- ISSN
- 1354-9839
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2014 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis.This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons. Org/licenses/by/3.0/, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The moral rights of the named author(s) have been asserted.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Tertiary Access - Legacy; School of Education and Tertiary Access; School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Cluster
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99449046402621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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