Development geography II: Community-based adaptation and locally-led adaptation

Abstract

In this report, I review the concept of community-based adaptation, showing how it morphed from a participatory development-informed approach centred around agency and empowerment to one which is often externally driven, focusing on a spatial, rather than social, definition of community. I then highlight how locally-led adaptation is attempting to re-focus attention on agency, whilst also managing a conceptualisation of ‘local’ that is not limited to the community-level. Since the concept of locally-led adaptation is emerging, it is critical to learn from participatory development and the critiques of community-based adaptation to ensure that it is not also diluted from its intentions.