This book examines how expert-driven approaches to mitigating the impacts of climate variability alone are inadequate for addressing the challenges of related cascading crises. The work argues for a fundamental shift in framing risk mitigation options drawn from a range of different yet complementary perspectives on inclusive, participatory risk governance that engage community views alongside scientific expertise.
Throughout, the authors advocate for breaking down disciplinary silos and embracing transdisciplinary collaboration. They emphasize the importance of community agency, stakeholder engagement, and integrating multiple forms of knowledge - scientific, organizational, and experiential - in climate adaptation planning. The volume explores this theme through diverse case studies and methodological approaches. Key chapters include an examination of Post-Normal Science approaches to climate adaptation decision making, ethical dilemmas facing disaster management leaders, and urban energy transitions in Cape Town's complex socio-political context.
Other sections focus on urban resilience challenges ranging from environmental health impacts of increasing heat and humidity, holistic approaches to healthy cities that move beyond medical-focused solutions, and AI-enabled heat risk assessments in Indian cities that empower local communities. The book also critically examines Tokyo's resilience strategies, questioning whether expert-driven modernist approaches can adequately prepare communities for climate uncertainties.
The book ultimately calls for transforming risk governance from centralized, technocratic decision making toward more adaptive, equitable approaches that recognize the complex interconnections between human settlements, environmental systems, and governance structures in a rapidly changing climate reality.
