Facilitating climate adaptation: The resilience adaptation feasibility tool (RAFT) framework
Planning for climate resilience is a relatively recent phenomenon in the United States. While local governments have been leaders in responding to the threats posed by climate change, there is a growing consensus that they need clearer guidance for implementing the strategies and principles articulated in climate adaptation plans. A variety of frameworks for bridging these gaps exist, but few have emerged through an iterative process of piloting and refining strategies to bridge these gaps on the ground. The Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool (RAFT) framework builds upon decades of experience designing and implementing community engagement processes and offers an alternate model for advancing resilience and climate adaptation planning that leverages social learning to build consensus around shared values and community priorities.
A distinguishing characteristic of RAFT is its commitment to local development of resilience priorities and providing technical support to a wide range of stakeholders for implementation of their resilience priorities. Emphasizing collaboration and a community-driven approach to resilience, the RAFT offers a model for bridging some of the most widespread gaps in resilience planning in the United States that has been refined and proven through several applications since 2015. The RAFT has been designed in such a way that it can be used in a variety of places, from sparsely populated rural communities to cities with hundreds of thousands of residents. One of the aims of this paper is to outline a strategy for extending the RAFT so that it can be applied within inland communities that face threats from climate change impacts but that are not subject to coastal hazards like sea level rise, while leveraging the framework’s community engagement and empowerment strengths.
This paper in the journal Local Development & Society documents the RAFT process, situates it within the context of climate adaptation planning research, and articulates its specific strengths as a flexible and portable model for engaging the public in preparing for climate change impacts. Finally, areas of commonality and important contrasts between the RAFT and other frameworks that are currently used to guide resilience planning efforts are highlighted and discussed.