Case Studies

The MEDIATION study has reviewed existing literature examples that have applied these decision support tools to adaptation. It has also undertaken a number of new applications with the MEDIATION case studies. The examples are reported in Table 2 below.

Table 2. Examples of the Application of Decision Support Tools to Adaptation.

Tool	Literature applications and MEDIATION case studies
Cost- Effectiveness Analysis	Boyd et al (2006) undertook a detailed application of cost-effectiveness for water resource zones and the potential adaptation response to address household water deficits in the UK. The MEDIATION case study (Tainio et al. 2013) investigated the cost-effectiveness of alternative conservation measures (adaptation options) that could maintain the biodiversity of Finnish semi-natural grasslands under a changing climate.
Multi-criteria analysis	Van Ierland et al. (2007) (De Bruin et al. (2009)) applied MCA to assess adaptation options for the Netherlands as part of the Routeplanner national study. This used a qualitative MCA, which included various adaptation criteria. A quantitative MCA was used in the Thames Estuary 2100 project (EA, 2009: 2011) as part of a broader study looking at future coastal flood defences for London. The MCA was used to include qualitative criteria (environment, heritage, etc.) alongside formal economic cost-benefit analysis
Real Options Analysis	HMT (2009) provides a simplified theoretical example of ROA, which is incorporated into supplementary Government guidance on economic appraisal for adaptation. Jeuland and Whittington (2013) applied real option analysis for a water resource planning case study (large water storage projects) in Ethiopia along the Blue Nile. Van der Pol, et al (2013) looked at optimal dike investments under uncertainty with learning about increasing water levels.
Robust Decision Making	A comprehensive, formal application of RDM was undertaken by Lempert and Groves (2010) for Southern California’s Riverside County Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA). Dessai and Hulme (2007) present an example of the application for RDM to look at climate uncertainty for water supply management in the UK.
Portfolio Analysis	Crowe and Parker (2008) provide an application of the approach for forests, using portfolio analysis to investigate genetic material that could be used for the restoration or regeneration of forests under climate change futures. Hunt (2009) applied portfolio analysis to a case of flood management at the local geographical scale, for river flood risks in the UK, looking at portfolios of hard and soft options
Adaptive Management / Iterative Risk Assessment / Adaptation turning points	The Thames Estuary 2100 project (EA, 2009: 2011: Reeder and Ranger, 2011) developed a tidal flood-risk management adaptation plan for London using an iterative planning approach and adaptation pathways, with a detailed monitoring and evaluation strategy. The MEDIATION case study applied the concepts of adaptation turning point to two case studies: turning points for salmon restoration programmes in the Rhine river basin and turning points for wine production in Tuscany, Italy (Werners et al, 2013).
Analytic Hierarchy Process	AHP has been applied to evaluate adaptation options for human settlements and for crop impacts in Australia (Choy et al., 2012: Sposito, 2006), to explore the impacts of storm surge and sea level rise in Canada and Caribbean (Lane and Watson, 2010) and water sector options in China (Yin et al., 2008). The MEDIATION case studies applied AHP to consider agricultural adaptation options for the Guadiana Basin, Spain and options for viticulture in Tuscany, Italy (Bharwani et al, 2013a).
Social Network Analysis	Turnpenny et al, 2005 applied SNA to map actors involved in climate change policy networks in the UK. The MEDIATION case studies applied (qualitative) social network analysis in Finland to look at agricultural – conservation networks and to look at adaptation decision-making in the agricultural and water sectors in Spain (Bharwani et al, 2013b).

• Section overview
• Key Messages
• Introduction
• Adaptation Decision Support
• Decision Support Tools
• Decision Making Under Uncertainty
• Socio-Institutional Analysis
• Strengths and Weaknesses
• Case Studies
• Discussion and Conclusions
• References

---

    download this briefing note

---