Balancing Structural Con fl icts Across Scales to Develop and Mobilise Adaptive Capacity - Climate Change and Water Governance: Adaptive Capacity in Chile and Switzerland - page 302

14.3 Navigating Structural Tensions and Trade-Offs Across

Multiple Governance Scales

As discussed in Part I, in a number of studies, different iterations of flexibility or
predictability are taken as indicators of adaptive capacity. While these approaches
have theortetical support, the research presented in this topic suggests that it might
be more useful to utilise these two concepts as core tensions in developing adaptive
capacity, rather than just another element of adaptive capacity. Thus, flexibility and
predictability become a guiding tension through which to measure and balance
adaptive planning (see Fig. 14.3 ). The next step therefore is to develop and propose
a method for navigating this tension, in order to minimise the trade-off between the
development and mobilisation of proactive and reactive adaptive capacity.
Striking the appropriate balance in the governance arrangement to develop
flexible yet robust adaptive responses will present a constant, but evident challenge
for policy and decision makers. Managing this paradox is key for decision makers
to grapple with the challenge of how to develop an SES to be simultaneously well
prepared and adapted (high proactive adaptive capacity, e.g., long-term and iterative
planning, integration of uncertainty and climate change impacts) but also quick to
respond (high reactive adaptive capacity, e.g., quick innovations and transforma-
tions in response to specific events) to the different scales of change. Building

Fig. 14.3 Enhancing proactive and reactive adaptive capacity by balancing predictability and
flexibility across different scales of governance (national, regional, local) and change (gradual and
rapid)