Assessing & Understanding Adaptation Pathways
Looking ahead to 2100, we need to help local places better plan and adapt to future flooding and coastal change. This will mean being agile to the latest climate science, growth projections, investment opportunities and other changes to our local environment.
We call this 'adaptation pathways'. Adaptation pathways enable local places to better plan for future flooding and coastal change and adapt to future climate hazards.
We have been closely with the Environment Agency to raise awareness and improve understanding of adaptation pathways; an approach which helps us to make practical, low-risk investments today while retaining flexibility for an uncertain future.
What are adaptation pathways?
An adaptation pathway is a decision-making approach, which allows decision-makers to take actions under uncertainty. It enables them to identify what actions can be taken now and in the future.
The adaptation pathways approach allows decision-makers to plan, prioritise and sequence investments in climate adaptation actions.
The concept is straightforward and based on two questions:
1. Are there climate change impacts that make current assets or services inefficient, ineffective, or redundant? For example, the climate change thresholds beyond which things do not work.
2. At these thresholds, what are the best adaptation actions?
Environment Agency’s £8m Adaptation Pathways Programme – video resource
Together with the Environment Agency, we developed an introductory ten-minute video, which aims to assist local authorities in understanding and implementing the adaptation pathways approach to manage flood and coastal risk and create resilient, thriving places.
The video includes animation to explain simply what an adaptation pathway approach is. It outlines how the approach can benefit local authorities, supporting placemaking and adaptive planning for all sources of flood risk.
It forms part of the Environment Agency’s £8m Adaptation Pathways Programme, which is developing long-term plans to adapt and invest in flooding and coastal change in four strategic locations.
Further resources
To find out more about the adaptation approach and find additional resources, please visit the Environment Agency's Engagement HQ page for the Adaptation Pathway Programme. Flood and coastal practitioners can also access supporting templates and case studies from the Environment Agency’s Adaptation Pathways Knowledge Hub.
The RAPA Toolkit
In collaboration with the Environment Agency, we have developed a Rapid Adaptation Pathway Assessment toolkit, which focuses on flood and coastal erosion risks and is aimed at local authorities, allowing them to undertake a basic rapid adaptation pathways assessment approach in their places and partnerships.
Find out more on our RAPA Toolkit page, read the summary of the RAPA toolkit or access the RAPA toolkit pdf.
