A Changing Environment for Human Security

34  Uncovering the essence of the climate change adaptation agenda

The policy sciences as a problem-oriented approach

Carolina E. Adler and Amanda H. Lynch

Introduction

Over the last few years, calls for research into climate change adaptation have seen a general shift from defining vulnerability to likely impacts of future climate change (Kelly and Adger, 2000) towards broader and more problem-oriented approaches that focus on present conditions and experiences (Schröter et al., 2005; O’Brien et al., 2007; Roman et al., 2011). This broader approach includes climate change as a process operating within a biophysical and socio-economic system and recognizes the intricate and far-reaching interactions that occur in the coupled human-biophysical ...