In people’s minds and on the ground: Values and power in climate change adaptation

Bruno Locatelli (1, 2, 3) , Martin Laurenceau (3, 4, 5) , Yaneth Roxana Calla Chumpisuca (6) , Emilia Pramova (3) , Améline Vallet (7, 8) , Yésica Quispe Conde (9, 10) , Ronal Cervantes Zavala (9, 10) , Houria Djoudi (3) , Sandra Lavorel (11) , Matthew J Colloff (12)

1 UPR Forêts et Sociétés - Forêts et Sociétés
2 Cirad-ES - Département Environnements et Sociétés
3 CIFOR - Center for International Forestry Research
4 AgroParisTech
5 UMR G-EAU - Gestion de l'Eau, Acteurs, Usages
6 UNAMBA - Universidad Nacional Micaela Bastidas de Apurímac
7 ESE - Ecologie Systématique et Evolution
8 CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement
9 UNALM - Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina
10 SUNASS - Superintendencia Nacional de Servicios de Saneamiento
11 LECA - Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine
12 Fenner School of Environment and Society

As decisions on climate change adaptation involve stakeholders with different values, beliefs and attitudes (VBA), decision outcomes depend on how stakeholders interact and how power is distributed. In this paper, we explore the VBA of stakeholders involved in three water management projects focusing on dams, micro-reservoirs, or wetlands in a Peruvian watershed facing droughts. We apply a framework with the core ideas of the hydrosocial cycle, the decision context perspective, and the VBA hierarchy to show how stakeholders’ perspectives and power influence practices on the ground. The analysis of VBA reveals three different perspectives on water management held by different stakeholder groups. First, a community-based perspective, frequent among local communities, favors micro-reservoirs managed by communities. Second, an infrastructure-based perspective, frequent among public sector stakeholders, shows a preference for dams managed by the private sector. Third, a nature-based perspective, with a preference for wetlands managed by the public sector, is found across stakeholder groups. In the three water management projects, different power distributions determine which VBA dominate and influence practices on the ground. Dams on the ground represent power from the public and private sectors, while micro-reservoirs represent local grassroot control. In the wetland project, the outcomes of the evolving hydrosocial cycle are still unclear and will depend on how multiple perspectives are considered. Examining and questioning the decision context in which adaptation occurs can help excluded stakeholders achieve more power and agency and tackle the fundamental question of ‘adaptation of what and for whom’.

Mots clés: Belief; Attitude; Water; Nature-based solution; Ecosystem service; Andes

Domaines: Environnement et Société; Science politique

Bruno Locatelli, Martin Laurenceau, Yaneth Roxana Calla Chumpisuca, Emilia Pramova, Améline Vallet, et al.. In people’s minds and on the ground: Values and power in climate change adaptation. Environmental Science & Policy, 2022, 137, pp.75 - 86. ⟨10.1016/j.envsci.2022.08.002⟩. ⟨hal-03818267⟩