Coastal Adaptation to Climate Change: A New Zealand story.

ABSTRACT Rouse, H.L, Blackett, P., Hume, T.M., Bell, R.G, Britton, R. and Dahm, J., 2013. Coastal Adaptation to Climate Change: a New Zealand story. The requirement for using a participatory approach to consider options for adapting to climate change is well documented, but there are some key challenges of engaging with communities, especially over the complexities of projected climate change impacts and possible adaptation options. Here we describe the development of a two-stage method aimed to overcome these challenges, and the testing of this method in a coastal community in Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula, North Island of New Zealand. First, at an Open Day we used projections of sea-level rise driven changes to coastal inundation, erosion and habitat change and mapped them on large aerial-photo maps to use as the basis for a participatory mapping exercise. The purpose of the Open Day was to elicit input on valued aspects of the Whitianga community that might be at threat from climate change. Sec...