The major criterion for choosing suitable methods are the four types of AS described in the previous sections. As these are diverse, the approaches needed for addressing them differ across the stages of the adaptation learning cycle. Table 2.1 gives an overview of which approaches are relevant for which situation and at which stage in the process. The pathfinder consists of a detailed elaboration of this. At the stage of identifying vulnerability and impacts, similar approaches are applicable across all AS with some differences for assessing capacity. At the stage of identifying options, approaches differ significantly between the types of AS. While for private individual adaptation, the main task is to find information on suitable methods, for private collective adaptation, differing preferences need to be taken into account and mediated between. For public adaptation, identifying adaptation options requires understanding which cognitive and institutional factors drive or hinder the action of the vulnerable actors and hence institutional and behavioural analytic methods are applicable.
Stakeholder participation is important particularly important throughout all stages for both private and public collective ASs, as these require coordination or cooperation amongst the members of the adapting group of actors and often involve competing preferences amongst actors. Many of the tasks identified in the pathfinder can be addressed in participatory manner, and the methods for doing so are described in the Toolbox. Implementation is more challenging for collective ASs for the same reason and most of the methods discussed in Section Implementing adaptation actions focus therefore on collective ASs. In contrast, for private individual adaptation situations the private actor is the only stakeholder and hence participatory implementation methods are not applicable.
Table 2.1: Adaptation tasks are related to the stage of the adaptation learning cycle in which they are addressed, and the type of adaptation situation in which they are relevant.
| Private individual | Private collective | Public individual | Public collective
| Identifying vulnerability and impacts
| Impact analytical
methods
| Impact analytical
methods,
capacity self
assessment
methods
| Impact analytical
methods,
adaptive capacity
indicators
| Impact analytical
methods, adaptive
capacity indicators
| Identifying
adaptation
options
| N/a
| Capacity self
assessment
methods,
Institutional
analysis
| Capacity
analysis,
Behavioural
analysis
| Capacity analysis, Institutional analysis
| Appraising adaptation options
| Decision analytical
methods
| Formal decision
making
methods,
valuation
methods,
informal
decision making
methods
| Formal decision
making methods,
valuation
methods
| Formal decision
making methods,
valuation methods,
informal decision
making methods
| Planning and implementing adaptation actions
| N/a
| Organisational capacity building methods
| Stakeholder engagement methods
| Stakeholder engagement methods, Scoping and planning
methods and tools
| Monitoring and evaluation
| N/a
| Participatory monitoring and evaluation
| Monitoring and evaluation frameworks
| Participatory monitoring and evaluation, Monitoring and evaluation frameworks
| |
