Institutionalisation of urban climate adaptation: three municipal experiences in Spain

Abstract

Comparative studies of urban adaptation have evaluated the progress, means and scope of adaptation planning. Practice on the ground shows that the local politics of climate adaptation advance through various strategies to align different interests and spheres of action or disrupt mainstream practices, which translates into a wide range of interventions. This paper focuses on understanding the dynamics and tools that enable the institutionalisation of adaptation practices in local governments, i.e. the means through which adaptation practices, beyond plans and policies, are embedded in the routines of urban governance. It presents a framework to analyse the institutionalisation of adaptation that maps stages and tools with the potential to deliver adaptation in urban areas. Adaptation is framed as a learning process involving overlapping phases of recognition (of needs, capacities and actors), groundwork (knowledge generation) and action on the ground (change). The framework compares three Spanish local government initiatives (Bilbao, Barcelona and Madrid). The analysis shows that adaptation can be effectively incorporated into standard rules, norms and practices using combinations of tools and spatial and temporal scales. The coupled stages of recognition, groundwork and action highlight the importance of long-term learning processes to engage with the temporal dimensions of adaptation governance. POLICY RELEVANCE Addressing the adaptation gap in urban areas requires the institutionalisation of climate adaptation as a routine part of decision-making. Institutionalisation refers to actions whereby adaptation to climate change is mainstreamed in urban practices, rules and norms, enabling the long-term impact of adaptation actions beyond the confines of adaptation plans. Using institutionalisation, adaptation goals can be integrated into urban governance and facilitate social learning. This paper examines the processes of implementation of adaptation and how they interact with and are shaped by existing contexts of infrastructure and institutions. Adaptation requires a gradual process of institutional change whereby adaptation becomes ‘institutionalised’ in municipal policy. Coupled phases of recognition, groundwork and action along a temporal scale are needed to deliver adaptation and advance learning and effective action. Three cases of urban adaptation in Spain demonstrate the various processes whereby institutionalisation occurs. © 2022 The Author(s).