Igniting change in local government: lessons learned from a bushfire vulnerability assessment

Benjamin Preston; C Brooke; T G Measham; Timothy F Smith; R Gorddard

doi:10.1007/s11027-008-9163-4

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Igniting change in local government: lessons learned from a bushfire vulnerability assessment

Journal article

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Igniting change in local government: lessons learned from a bushfire vulnerability assessment

Benjamin Preston, C Brooke, T G Measham, Timothy F Smith and R Gorddard

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Vol.14(3), pp.251-283

2009

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-008-9163-4

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Abstract

climate change

adaptive capacity

vulnerability assessment

stakeholder engagement

bushfire

Local governments and communities have a critical role to play in adapting to climate variability and change. Spatial vulnerability assessment is one tool that can facilitate engagement between researchers and local stakeholders through the visualisation of climate vulnerability and the integration of its biophysical and socio-economic determinants. This has been demonstrated through a case study from Sydney, Australia where a bushfire vulnerability assessment was undertaken as the first-step in a project to investigate local government perceptions of climate vulnerability and adaptive capacity. A series of relevant biophysical and socio-economic indicators was identified that represented the region's exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity with respect to bushfires. These indicators were then combined to develop maps of net landscape vulnerability to bushfire. When presented in a workshop setting, vulnerability maps were successful in capturing the attention of stakeholders while simultaneously conveying information regarding the diversity of drivers that can contribute to current and future vulnerability. However, stakeholders were reluctant to embrace representations of vulnerability that differed from their own understanding of hazard, necessitating the demonstration of agreement between the vulnerability assessment and more conventional hazard assessment tools. This validation opened the door for public dissemination of vulnerability maps, the uptake and use of the assessment in local government risk assessment and adaptation planning, and more focused case-studies on barriers to adaptation.

Details

Title: Igniting change in local government: lessons learned from a bushfire vulnerability assessment
Authors: Benjamin Preston (Author) - CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research
C Brooke (Author) - WWF Australia
T G Measham (Author) - CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems
Timothy F Smith (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health and Education
R Gorddard (Author) - CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems
Publication details: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Vol.14(3), pp.251-283
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Date published: 2009
DOI: 10.1007/s11027-008-9163-4
ISSN: 1381-2386; 1381-2386
Organisation Unit: School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Cluster
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99449638902621
Output Type: Journal article