Project Description

The climate debate has shifted from mitigation to adaptation to unavoidable changes, spotlighting urban areas' dual role in causing and solving climate challenges. Yet, two main challenges surface: (1) the adaptation required can exceed system limits, and (2) climate adaptation policies and strategies have been piled up in complex and potentially conflicting policy mixes that appear to be disconnected from other urban policies. This calls for transformative capacity in climate policies to break barriers hindering adaptation. Urban policy articulation is a possible solution to both enable the transformative capacity of climate adaptation policies and strategies and promote their self-articulation and articulation with other urban policies. However, there is still a lack of understanding of how climate adaptation policy mixes work and the role of policy articulation in them. Therefore, this PhD research project aims to explore the mechanisms of this type of policy mix, grasp the relationship between climate adaptation policies and urban planning and policies, and uncover the characteristics needed to promote articulation when necessary. As a result, we expect to develop and test a framework for mapping and evaluating climate policy mixes, focusing on uncovering the features that promote effective and functional policy articulation.

Research Team

• Ana Rita Sousa
• Sara Santos Cruz (supervisor)
• Isabel Breda Vázquez (co-supervisor)

Financial Support

• FCT – UI/BD/151232/2021

State of Progress

• Started in 2021