A methodology for local stakeholders involvement in water management using a catchment model as a platform for dialogue has been developed and tested in the Kaggebo Bay drainage area in the southeast of Sweden. The process involved farmers, rural households not connected to municipal wastewater treatment facilities, local and regional authorities as well as different water and agricultural experts. This paper aims to assess whether and how the methodology has succeeded in encouraging social learning and promoting action and which barriers can be identified. The assessment shows that the methodology is able to create confidence in the process and increase the willingness to act as the methodology was able to adapt the form and content of the dialogue to better fit the cognitive and relational needs of involved stakeholders. It is also shown that the process may lead to a probable improvement of the eutrophication situation. However, if these types of processes are to serve not only as a basis for social learning and action at the local level, but also as the basis for a broader process of societal learning, then a mechanism to confer local ideas to the regional and national levels has to be clarified.

A participatory methodology, based on dialogues between stakeholders and experts has been developed and tested in the drainage area to Kaggebo Bay in the Baltic Sea. This study is focused on the EU Water Framework Directive, with emphasis on reduction of eutrophication. The drainage area is included in the WFD administrative area of the Motala Strom River basin. A similar approach is now applied in a recently initiated project in the Thukela River basin, with focus on impacts of climate change on water resources. The methodology is based on the idea that a catchment model serves as a platform for the establishment of a common view of present conditions and the causes behind these conditions. In the following steps, this is followed by model-assisted agreement on environmental goals (i.e. what do we want the future to look like?) and local agreement on a remedy or mitigation plans in order to reduce environmental impact (e. g. eutrophication); alternatively to adapt to conditions that cannot be determined by local actions (e. g. climate change). By involving stakeholder groups in this model-supported stepwise process, it is ensured that all stakeholder groups involved have a high degree of confidence in the presented model results, and thereby enable various actors involved to share a common view, regarding both present conditions, goals and the way to reach these goals. Although this is a process that is time-(and cost-) consuming, it is hypothesised that the use of this methodology is two-pronged: it increases the willingness to carry out remedies or necessary adaptations to a changing environment, and it increases the level of understanding between the various groups and therefore ameliorates the potential for future conflicts. Compared to traditional use of model results in environmental decision-making, the experts role is transformed from a one-way communication of final results to assistance in the various steps of the participatory process.

As the climate changes, actors on all levels and in all sectors will be affected. Thus it is imperative that authorities, municipalities, businesses and individual property owners all take action.

Flooding, heat waves, landslides and erosion are only a few examples of the challenges that that society faces and needs to prepare for. Sweden must adapt to the impacts of a changing climate, as well as the indirect effects of climate change impacts in other parts of the world.

The costs of adaptation can be high, but the European Commission, among others, has deemed that it still pays to adapt in relation to the costs incurred if no action is taken.

Climate adaptation initiatives in Sweden have advanced significantly in recent years. Notable examples include governmental missions for a national elevation database, landslide risk mapping in the Göta Älv River Valley, the Swedish drinking water investigation, the County Administrative Boards’ regional climate change action plans, and the establishment of the National Knowledge Centre for Climate Adaptation.

The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute’s mission to survey, analyse and follow-up on climate adaptation work in Sweden has shown that there is still a considerable need for further measures. This report provides proposals for a road map for climate adaptation in Sweden and concludes that climate adaptation is best conducted in a long-term manner, that roles and responsibilities should be made more transparent, and that better coordination among the many actors involved in climate adaptation is necessary.

The most important conclusions for continued work are:

• Laws and regulations need to be adapted; roles and responsibilities as well as strategies and goals should be made clearer.
• Priority and funding should be given to research and development measures that fill an identified knowledge-gap, including long-term monitoring.
• Knowledge and decision support as well as prognoses and warning systems should be more accessible.
• There is a need to outline how the costs of adaptation should be distributed among actors and how resources for prioritised measures can be guaranteed.

This mission has compiled knowledge of the current and future risks and consequences for society of a changing climate, such as effects on vital societal functions and human health. The mission has also surveyed the work that has been done since the publication of the final report of the Swedish Commission on Climate and Vulnerability in 2007. From this background material our goal has been to describe the gaps and challenges and provide suggestions for how adaptation can be approached in various sectors of society. The EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change has been an important point of departure. The work has been performed in cooperation with national and regional authorities, municipalities, researchers, sectoral organisations and representatives of the private sector.

This report is comprised of a main report and 18 annexes. Chapter 3 of the main report is a synthesis of all of the proposals made throughout the document and as such can be seen as a road map to ensure that Sweden adapts to a changing climate.

 Water-related problems are characterized by complexities, uncertainties and conflicting interests, and there is no single “optimal” way to approach these “wicked” problems. Model-assisted participatory processes have been suggested as one way to meet these challenges. However, the use of models as scenario tools for local planning of mitigation and adaptation strategies addressing environmental challenges is more often an exception than common practice. In order to assess future possibilities for successful use of participatory scenario modelling, experiences from two model-facilitated projects are presented and discussed. The participatory scenario modelling described in this paper implies modelling with people, as opposed to agent-based modelling which is based on modelling people’s behaviour and its consequences. In the first project, a participatory model-assisted process was conducted to formulate a locally proposed remedy plan to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus loads in local lakes and the coastal zone. In the second project, a similar process was used to formulate local adaptation strategies to climate change impacts on water allocation, farming and the environment. Based on the experiences of these projects; recommendations are made as to how model-assisted participatory processes can best be organised and conducted. A key message is that modellers need to rethink their role as “solution providers” to become “process facilitators”.

This paper examines the science-practice interface in the complex issue of adapting society to climate change. Through analyses of science-based stakeholder dialogues with climate scientists, municipal officers and private individual forest owners in Sweden, this paper looks at how local experts in the forestry and municipal planning sectors share and integrate scientific knowledge and experience into their work strategies and practices. The results demonstrate how local experts jointly conceptualize climate adaptation, how scientific knowledge is domesticated among local experts in dialogue with scientific experts, the emergence of anchoring devices and, in a more general way, the boundary spanning functions that are at work in the respective sectors.

Nutrient losses from agricultural land constitute an important part of the total flow of nutrients to lakes and seas in Sweden and the Baltic region. With the Water Framework Directive, to be implemented shortly throughout Europe, emphasis is increasing on the role of stakeholder participation and decentralisation of various responsibilities from authorities to groups in the civil society. This paper investigates a Swedish case where local watercourse groups (WCGs) have formed in order to be involved more actively in the efforts to reduce nutrient losses from agricultural lands. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of the institutional landscape surrounding WCGs, goals, goal formulation and space of action.

In recent years, much ofthe political debate in the West, East aud South has focused on the decentralization of responsibilities from the state to private enterprises and NGOs. But what potential is there for local communities to create their own govenlance structures able to deal with issues up till recently seen as the responsibility of the state? In this thesis, answer to this question is sought by analyzing two case studies from the semi-arid Coimbatore-region in South India from an institutionai perspective. One case concerns the efforts to involve farmers in irrigation water management in the Lower Bhavani Project, while the other focuses on the pressure on textile industrialists in Tirupur city to collectively treat their polluted effluent water.

In both cases, the new distribution ofresponsibilities required that groups ofwater users would succeed in establishing new entities for collective action among themselves strong enough to prevent free-riding on a massive scale. Overcoming three main obstacles proved crucial in this process; meeting coordination costs, re-defining the notion of free-riding among resource users, and meeting motivation costs. Factors both within and outsicte the loeal community affected the degree ofsuccess.

The distribution and lise of economic, moral and physical power between various actors and the interconnectedness between local and external institutions proved crucial for the establishrnent oflocal govemance stmctures. Moreover, the historical relation between the respective user group and the state has to a large extent affected the goals and strategies oflocal entities of eolleetive action.

Clearly, resource management problems at localleve1 can not be solved by simply decentralizing responsibilities from the state to groups ofresource users. Rather, the state could playan important role by initiating, supporting and directing slich local entities of collective action.

The production of contextualised assessments of local climate change vulnerability serves to improve their usefulness in urban planning. For this purpose, a cross-sectoral participatory approach combining local and academic knowledge is vital. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of how such assessments can be effectively facilitated. Through the elaboration of a framework for joint knowledge production, the paper develops and applies ex-post evaluation criteria to analyse how the set-up and design of participatory assessments affected the identification of local climate vulnerability in two Swedish urban areas. These cases included a series of researcher-led stakeholder dialogues involving participants from various municipal departments, national agencies and research institutions. The results demonstrate that the project set-up affected the joint knowledge production by unifying relevant competences. However, occasionally, it also created conflict. The design of the dialogues influenced the understanding of local vulnerability by broadening the perspective on risks and opportunities and by creating common visual representations of abstract issues. The paper concludes that when facilitating participatory cross-sectoral vulnerability assessments, the consideration of two aspects is important. First, intermediaries, in the form of maps, interactive techniques and metaphors, can bridge organisational divides if designed with clear and negotiated aims. Second, the project set-up can spur motivation if the initial group composition is substantiated and the process is flexible enough to allow for relevant detours.

Though managing vulnerabilities posed by climate change calls for effective strategies and measures, its challenges have hitherto not been fully understood. In Sweden, municipalities have recently started incorporating vulnerability management into their political and administrative agendas. This study discusses such experiences and explores how institutional determinants may influence adaptive capacity within a local case study area, to illustrate emerging challenges and opportunities for Swedish municipalities in managing climate vulnerabilities. Specifically, formal institutional structure and the use of knowledge are analysed, concluding that vulnerability management often is focused on technical and reactive fixes, due to limited cooperation between local sector organisations, lack of local co-ordination, and an absence of methods and traditions to build institutional knowledge. Even so, opportunities, such as a high capacity to examine risks to technical systems and important establishments which in turn facilitates protection of technical infrastructure exposed to climate variability and change, also exist.

Sedan klimat- och sårbarhetsutredningen presenterade sitt betänkande år 2007 har omfattande samhällsvetenskapliga forskningsinsatser riktats mot hur offentliga aktörer och myndigheter styr, planerar och arbetar med klimatanpassning och klimatomställning. Analytisk kompetens inom flera för klimatanpassning centrala områden har byggts upp vid ett flertal lärosäten och inom flera sektorsmyndigheter.

Det   är   alltför  tidskrävande  att   göra   en   heltäckande  och   rättvisande  bild   av   dessa forskningsaktiviteter, men denna inlaga från Centrum för klimatpolitisk forskning, CSPR, vid Linköpings universitet i samarbete med Lunds universitets centrum för studier av uthållig samhällsutveckling, LUCSUS, gör valda nedslag inom tre huvudområden i vilka kunskapen ökats genom svensk anpassningsforskning. De tre huvudområdena för kunskapsökning är: Klimatanpassning  på  offentliga  aktörers  agenda,  Verktyg  för  att  stimulera  och  stödja klimatanpassning och Klimatanpassning och stadsplanering.

Det är vår förhoppning att detta ger en tillräckligt god bild av hur kunskapsläget ökar snabbt och att vi ser tecken på att ökningstakten tilltar. Vi vill också på förhand be om ursäkt för de texter och den forskning som vi på grund av begränsade resurser inte fick med i vår framställning.

      Naturförvaltning är ett område som vanligtvis styrts av staten. Idag pågår i Finland, Norge och Sverige försök att involvera lokala aktörer i beslut som rör skydd och nyttjande av olika naturresurser. Vilka är förutsättningarna för lokalt deltagande? Är det möjligt att förena kraven på naturskydd och nyttjande? Kan nationella demokratiska behov förenas med lokala rättigheter och brukarmedverkan?Fortfarande finns det en rad brister i de tre ländernas strategier. Att involvera lokala aktörer i förvaltningen av omstridda resurser har visserligen inneburit möjligheter att pröva nya institutionella lösningar. Samtidigt har en rad svårhanterliga och, än så länge, olösta problem synliggjorts. I boken Omstridd natur medverkar finska, norska och svenska forskare från olika discipliner.

The European Water Framework Directive puts strong emphasis on stakeholder and public participation in water management. Several practical questions regarding who should be involved, why, when, and how still remain unanswered. This paper investigates stakeholders' own experiences and views of increased public participation in water management. The article also explores the potential for increasing levels of participation by forming catchment committees with representation from stakeholder groups and through the use of various practical methods for participation. For both these aspects of participation, the views, expectations, and apprehensions of different stakeholder groups involved in nutrient loss management are investigated. Stakeholder opinions were collected by inviting representatives from five stakeholder groups within the Rönneå catchment in southern Sweden to a catchment dialog process.

Management by objectives is intrinsic to the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and Swedish environmental policy. We describe three approaches to formulating objectives via model-assisted dialogue with local stakeholders, concerning eutrophication in a coastal drainage area in south-eastern Sweden: a WFD eco-centred approach based on “natural state”, Swedish environmental policy reformulated into quantified reduction goals, and a participatory approach based on local stakeholder definitions of desirable environmental status. Despite representativity problems, we conclude that local stake­holder participation in formulating local goals could increase goal function­ality and robustness when adapting and implementing national and EU WFD goals at the local level.

The authors are involved in a project aiming at the development of a methodology for participatory modeling as a tool for public participation in water resource management. In this paper, some examples of different degrees of stakeholder influence in six key dimensions of participatory modeling are identified and discussed. Arnstein's (A ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 1969, 4, 216–224) critical discussion of different degrees of “real” decision-making power is taken as a point of departure to assess possible degrees of stakeholder influence. Can we as participatory modelers be sure that we are really inviting our research objects to an equal communicative relationship where local perspectives, knowledge and priorities are respected to the same extent as central and/or expert perspectives? This paper presents an approach that could be used as a tool for structured reflection to avoid unreflective tendencies towards expert knowledge dominance and low degree of stakeholders' real influence over the process.

För att möta utmaningarna med ett förändrat klimat är minskade utsläpp av växthusgaser och anpassning till klimatförändringens ofrånkomliga effekter olika sidor av samma mynt. Det är av största vikt att samhället gör sitt yttersta för att förhindra ytterligare uppvärmning av jordens atmosfär. Det är också nödvändigt att se de förändringar som redan inträffat och sannolikt kommer att inträffa innan de samlade åtgärderna för utsläppsminskning får full effekt. Klimatanpassning är därför ett nyckelperspektiv som motiveras av faktiska förändringar i vår omvärld och av krav på bl.a. kommuner att ta hänsyn till klimatförändringar. Kunskap om klimatförändringarnas effekter och hur dessa kan hanteras är definitivt inte bara viktigt för kommunala förvaltningar, utan också för andra myndigheter, olika samhällssektorer och branschorganisationer, privata organisationer och företag, samt för privatpersoner.

Som stöd i detta arbete finns mängder av resurser i form av kvantitativa dataunderlag som t.ex. klimatmodelleringar, karteringar, GIS-verktyg, sofistikerade beräkningsverktyg och avancerade konsekvensmodeller. Även lagkrav som t.ex. Plan- och bygglagen (PBL) och olika aktörers erfarenheter av händelser som krävt akuta och mera långsiktiga åtgärder, t.ex. översvämningar, utgör också en form av stöd. Däremot saknas ett strukturerat angreppssätt för hur man kan organisera en klimatanpassningsprocess som integrerar olika typer av kunskap och perspektiv och har förmåga att sortera i informationsmängderna och prioritera de viktigaste frågorna. Denna handbok syftar till att fylla detta tomrum genom att tillgängliggöra resultat från de senaste årens forskning kring integrerade sårbarhetsbedömningar och anpassningsprocesser.

Vår ambition är att detta ska vara en självinstruerande, användarvänlig och relativt enkel handbok för, i första hand, kommuner men även andra organisationer som ser ett behov av ett strukturerat angreppssätt för att möta klimatförändringarna. Verktygslådans grundidé är att en grupp representanter från olika förvaltningar och ansvarsområden träffas i en serie möten (förslagsvis fyra möten à ca. tre timmar) för att med hjälp av verktygen diskutera och sammanställa den kunskap som finns utspridd inom kommuner och identifiera områden där det behövs mera information.

Vi anser att det är mycket viktigt att anpassningsarbetet är förankrat bland flera typer av relevanta aktörer som kan bidra med olika perspektiv och erfarenheter. Detta är nödvändigt för att förstå den mångfald av faktorer och komplexitet som bidrar till att sårbara situationer kan uppstå. Ett holistiskt synsätt är också en förutsättning för att identifiera åtgärder som bör prioriteras för att hållbara anpassningsstrategier ska kunna implementeras.

Fokus i verktygslådan ligger därför på att skapa en arbetsprocess som systematiskt identifierar viktiga faktorer, tillgängliga handlingsalternativ och möjliga ansvariga aktörer. Detta lägger i sin tur grunden för en övergripande anpassningsstrategi med goda chanser för genomförande av nödvändiga åtgärder. Processen bör således omfatta en arbetsgrupp med representanter för både ”hårda” och ”mjuka” förvaltningar som träffas regelbundet under en begränsad tidsperiod och utifrån sina skilda perspektiv sammanställer en bild av kommunens sårbarhet. Tillsammans skapar processledaren och deltagarna ett fruktbart samtal med hela kommunens bästa i fokus, på kort och lång sikt.

Climate change is causing an increasing number of extreme climate events, such as floods, landslides and heat waves. Although all will be affected, exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity vary among different population segments and the effects will be disproportionally distributed in a society.   The aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of how factors related to the exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity shape the vulnerability of different populations segments. It qualitatively explores how key stakeholders in municipalities perceive and construct social vulnerability in relation to climate change with a specific focus on thermal comfort (i.e. heat waves). Earlier literature on natural hazard vulnerability and social vulnerability has identified a number of factors that explains variance between different populations segments and differences in morbidity. We seek to understand how the planning and operational staff in municipalities, and the vulnerable themselves, understand social vulnerability and which adaptation responses at different levels they identify. Thus, the top-down approach from earlier literature is triangulated with a bottom-up approach.

Since the Swedish government and the EU intend to encourage farmers to expand energy crop production, knowledge of the factors motivating adoption decisions is vital to policy success. Earlier studies have demonstrated that important barriers to farmer adoption of energy crops include converting from annual to perennial crops and from traditional crops or production systems to new ones. Economic motivations for changing production systems are strong, but factors such as values (e.g., aesthetics), knowledge (e.g., habits and knowledge of production methods), and legal conditions (e.g., cultivation licenses) are crucial for the change to energy crops. This paper helps fill gaps in the literature regarding why farmers decide to keep or change a production system. Based on a series of focus group interviews with Swedish farmers, the paper explores how farmers frame crop change decisions and what factors they consider most important. The main drivers of and barriers to growing energy crops, according to interviewees, are grouped and discussed in relation to four broad groups of motivational factors identified in the literature, i.e., values, legal conditions, knowledge, and economic factors. The paper ends by discussing whether some barriers could be overcome by policy changes at the national and European levels.

In Kota, the third largest city of Rajasthan, poverty levels are high in many areas and there is a great need to assess the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of different societal groups and sectors to the impacts of climatic variability and change, and to formulate sustainable planning strategies. The city is a large rapidly growing centre (but not a megacity), facing a varied and challenging water situation and anticipated harmful effects of climate change. The methodological approach involves participatory workshops with key stakeholders in urban administration to identify vulnerabilities, and discuss concrete strategies for increasing the adaptive capacity of the most vulnerable areas and sectors. The paper focuses on water resource planning (storm, potable, and wastewater), since it is already a challenging societal issue and one which will become even more critical in the future with climate change. We aim to contribute to improved urban water management for sustainable climate change adaptation in developing countries through an improved methodology of vulnerability assessments, capacity building and social learning, and a deeper empirical understanding of an urban context in Central India.

The Water Poverty Index is a tool enabling a multisectoral description of the watersituation in an area or region. Many aspects of a society’s capacity to manage water,however, require qualitative and explorative approaches. Additionally, the perceptionsof ‘‘the water poor’’ themselves may differ substantially from expert valuationsbuilt into the Water Poverty Index. The aim of this article is to open up the WaterPoverty Index with a special focus on the capacity to manage water in a robust way.This is done through a process of participatory research and by transforming theWater Poverty Index into a Water Prosperity Index using a local community incentral India as example. By opening up the assessment process, issues empiricallyidentified by community members, researchers, and local nongovernmental organization(NGO) staff can be discussed and qualitatively assessed, resulting in animproved knowledge of the water situation and an approach for participatoryplanning.

Within the scope of this project, tools for conducting systematic and integrated climate vulnerability and sustainability assessments have been developed. Two municipalities in the lower Göta Älv catchment were selected as study cases. Together with representatives from key municipal departments and national government agencies, the interdisciplinary research team designed and conducted a co-production process. Results obtained using the developed tools demonstrate that conducting such a systematic assessment of the current situation and potential impacts of climate change adaptation measures would contribute to synergies between adaptation strategies and other policy arenas. Our recommendation for enhancing the capacity of local vulnerability management in Sweden is to shift foci in four fields: from static analysis of climate vulnerability to a dynamic approach to social vulnerability, from a sectorwise fragmented approach to integrated management, from a focus on technical fixes and physical measures to institutional adaptation measures, and, finally, from sustainability-blind adaptation investments to long-term sustainable climate adaptation measures. The processes and mechanisms for succeeding in this requires that knowledge be produced, shared, and managed in partly new ways, allowing stakeholders both inside and outside local government administration to voice and synergise their concerns and solutions.

På tal om vatten är en bok om hållbar vattenförvaltning och strategisk planering av åtgärder inom avrinningsområden. Med denna bok, som har vuxit fram i samarbete mellan oss som arbetat inom Vattenstrategiska forskningsprogrammet, VASTRA, vill vi dela med oss av våra forskningserfarenheter så att de kan komma dem till del som jobbar med vattenfrågor i praktiken ute i Vattensverige.

Transporter av växtnäringsämnen och övergödning av sjöar och hav är ett stort vattenproblem, som vi i Sverige trots omfattande åtgärder ännu inte fått bukt med. Vi vill med den här boken peka på möjliga vägar framåt för att även diffusa utsläpp skall kunna begränsas på ett mer systematiskt och effektivt sätt. Det gäller att få fram kunskap och användbara beslutsunderlag och att utforma realistiska former för samverkan och samarbete på lokal och regional nivå så att åtgärder kan utformas klokt och få intressenternas förståelse och stöd. Deras medverkan i den strategiska planeringen är en viktig förutsättning för att kunna genomföra kostnadseffektiva åtgärdsprogram, som accepteras av dem som bor och verkar inom ett avrinningsområde.

Sommaren 2006 kan vi konstatera att resurserna och de organisatoriska förutsättningarna i vattenförvaltningen för att genomföra effektiva åtgärder fortfarande lämnar en hel del övrigt att önska. I den här boken pekar vi på några av de brister som bidrar till att göra det så svårt att komma åt diffusa utsläpp från olika områden och verksamheter. Den kunskap och de verktyg och metoder som vi inom VASTRA har utformat för beslutsstöd och deltagande kan förhoppningsvis vara till hjälp på vägen mot att komma till rätta med några av bristerna.

Vår förhoppning är att På tal om vatten även skall ge inspiration till en fortsatt debatt kring de organisatoriska formerna för deltagande, inflytande och genomförande av åtgärder för bättre vattenkvalitet. För ytterst är det ju en självklarhet att vattnet är allas vår angelägenhet, både som möjlighet och ansvar.

The scope of climate change research has grown immensely over the last decade. Beyond the extensive efforts to map and understand how the various components of the climate system interact and respond to human forcing, academics from a range of fields are today deeply involved in the social and political struggle to develop effective and legitimate climate change policies. While initially focused on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, we have in recent years seen a growing academic interestin local, national, regional and trans-national climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.In a time when decision makers have linked such efforts to other policy areas such as energy security, finance, land use, and social development, new academic fields have also become involved in the study of climate change. Hence, climate change research is increasingly conducted at the interface between the natural and social sciences, engineering and the humanities. This development spurs self-reflection in the research community. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), with the mandate to assess the latest research for decision-makers, is currently working and deliberating on how to design the nextround of assessment in the light of a widen agenda of climate change policy. It is at this dynamic interface that we find the expanding field of climate science and policy research.

Climate science and policy research is by no means a stable academic field. Rather, it is byvirtue a broad, diverse and hybrid enquiry that includes a range of epistemological, theoretical and methodological orientations. While much of the research under this umbrella has developed in parallel to (and often in direct response to) climate change policy, the field also includes a wide set of scholarly efforts to challenge and problematise the ideas and discourses underpinning such policies. This scholarly diversity may question climate science and policyresearch as a meaningful academic label. And indeed, as indicated by the various contributions to this report, the interpretations of what this field is all about vary considerably. However, despite this variety, we argue that the different academic contributions to this field converge around the quest to interpret, understand, problematise and, at times, solve the challenges facing society under a changing climate. Some of this scholarly work has, directly or indirectly, sought to inform climate change policy. In other cases climate change has emerged as a vantage point for advancing the academic understanding of how links between nature and society, science and policy, development and environment, North and South are constituted and sustained.

In this report we draw attention to a set of conceptual and methodological challenges that wethink arise from this broad scholarly enquiry. In the first chapter, Simonsson examines the importance of scale in climate change research. In order to effectively inform policy, she suggests that the academic study of climate change needs to adjust to the geographies ofclimate change policy-making. However, since science may not be able to deliver climate information at the spatial resolution asked by decision-makers, Simonsson also calls for greater scholarly awareness of the scalar challenges in climate science for policy. In the second chapter, Ostwald and Kuchler trace the conceptual genealogy of climate science and policy research. Starting in the historic development of the climate sciences, they end up in amuch more complex and inter-disciplinary research landscape. Ostwald and Kuchler ask how researchers in the field of climate science and policy research can relate to this complexity.

In the third chapter, Glaas, Friman, Wilks and Hjerpe situate climate science and policy research in the scholarly debate on Mode 1 and Mode 2 science. Following a long-standing debate on the role of science in climate policy making, they ask whether this field of enquirygains its legitimacy from autonomous basic research produced in sites distinctly demarcatedfrom the world of policy (Mode 1), or from knowledge produced in the context of application (Mode 2). While it may be  challenging for scholars of climate science and policy to engage inboth modes of knowledge production at the same time, the authors point at examples where the distinction between Mode 1 and Mode 2 breaks down into a new research domain whichthey label as Mode 1.5. A similar discussion is raised by Hansson and Wibeck in chapter four.While climate science and policy research can be interpreted as an academic field in its own right, its close links to action can also result in a difficult balancing act for researchers. Drawing upon examples from public acceptance studies, Hansson and Wibeck highlight problems that arise when climate researchers advance a normative agenda and hereby influence the people they study. Finally, in chapter five, Jonsson, Lövbrand and Andersson offer examples of research produced in direct collaboration with affected stakeholders. While such participatory research. often is said to increase the legitimacy and problem-solving capacity of climate science and policy research, the authors discuss how and when thatpromise holds true.

The conceptual and methodological challenges discussed in this report are the result of a seminar series held at the Centre for Climate Science and Policy Research (CSPR) at Linköping University from autumn 2007 to spring 2008. As such the chapters reflect an ongoing debate and internal self-reflection at a centre that still is young and under development. Since its establishment in 2004, the CSPR has grown steadily and today functions as an interdisciplinary platform for more than 20 senior and junior researchers active in the field of climate science and policy research. In this report we do not set out to give a comprehensive picture of the challenges facing researchers at the CSPR, nor scholars inthe broader field of climate science and policy research. Neither is it a statement of whatCSPR is, but rather a bouquet of thoughts around our own research. By sharing our reflections with a broader scholarship, we do, however, hope that this report will contribute to theongoing debate on the scope, direction and function of this expanding and dynamic academic field.

Climate change will cause long term effects on ecosystems and human systems. Different systems are however not equally susceptible to and have different possibilities of coping with these effects. A system’s vulnerability refers to the degree to which the system can cope with changes and whether it is susceptible to it or not (Parry 2007). Vulnerability therefore depends on the exposure to climate change (the character, magnitude or rate of change or effect), the sensitivity and the adaptive capacity of the system. Still, all components and people in the system will not be affected equally and will have different vulnerabilities.

This is a literature review of scientific studies in social vulnerability aiming at finding groups of people in a society who are vulnerable to the effects of climate change (such as heat waves, flooding and landslides/erosion). Much of the focus when it comes to social vulnerability studies have been in regards to natural hazards, and since the effect from climate change can be  similar,  this  literature  review  has  included  vulnerability  assessments  both  of  natural hazards risks and climate related risks or crisis. This is a summary of the findings where socio-economic vulnerability is presented together with common approaches for assessing vulnerability.

A total of ten scientific articles were chosen as a basis for this summery, both from the natural hazards field and the field of climate change research. The articles were chosen to show a broad range of approaches to study and view social vulnerability, be suitable and useful for a Swedish setting and also to be relevant in relation to the goals of the project in which the study was made. One article (Füssel 2007) serves to give a general orientation in the field and a meta-analytical perspective, while the other texts provide examples of recent frameworks developed for assessing vulnerability (Cutter et al. 2003, Cutter et al. 2008, Wilhelmi and Hayden 2010, Holand et al. 2011, Reid et al. 2009), whereas some texts discuss the use of social  indicators  (King  and  MacGregor  2000),  seek  to  contextualize  social  vulnerability (Kuhlicke et al. 2011) or review recent finding on certain climate related risks (Oudin Åström et al. 2011, Rocklöv et al. 2011).  In addition to the scientific literature in the field, Swedish tools  designed  by  the  research  programme  CLIMATOOLS  for  the  specific  purpose  of assessing vulnerability have been included.

The literature review was made as a background study for designing focus group interviews with vulnerable population segments, as part of the project Adapting cities to climate induced risks – a coordinated approach, which is a trans-disciplinary project aiming at developing methodology and knowledge on how to manage climate induced risk and increase resilience towards climate change in Swedish cities. This literature review is part of the work package aiming at developing a tool for assessing and finding vulnerable groups of people in Swedish cities or municipalities.

This CSPR briefing report is a summary of an international workshop hosted by the Centre for Climate Science and Policy Research and Department of Thematic Studies: Water and Environmental Studies, Linköping University in Norrköping on 21 November 2011. The workshop brought together some 20 scholars interested in the role of science in democratic societies. In the following report we present the analytical aim, setup and outcomes of the workshop. We also reflect upon promising ideas for future research that were discussed during the workshop deliberations. With this brief summary we would like to thank all participants for their thoughtful input to the workshop theme. While the report is intended to reflect the rich and vibrant debate that took place in the CSPR conference room this sunny November day, it is of course difficult to fully represent the diversity of views and perspectives presented by our workshop participants. Hence, any arguments  (and  mistakes)  forwarded  in  this  briefing  remain  those  of  the  authors. Finally,  we  would  also  like  to  acknowledge  the  workshop  support  provided by  the Centre for Climate Science and Policy Research and the Department of Thematic Studies: Water  and  Environmental  Studies.  By  positioning  our  research  environment  in  an ongoing scholarly debate and by identifying promising project ideas for spring 2012, we hope that time and money was well spent.

Workshop aim

The role of science in democratic societies has been widely debated in recent years. In an age of food scares such as the BSE crisis in the UK and environmental mega-risks such as nuclear disasters and anthropogenic climate change, scholars and practitioners alike have suggested that scientific experts need to test the validity of their knowledge claims outside the laboratory in order to gain public trust and legitimacy. The aim of this workshop  is  to  take  stock  of  this  scholarly  debate  by  discussing  its  theoretical foundations and practical implications. We use climate change as our main empirical case, although the debate extends well beyond this policy domain. What do calls for more  democratic  modes  of  climate  science  and  expertise  entail?  What  ideals  of democracy  do  they  rest  upon?  What  can  we  learn  from  practical  efforts  to  engage publics  and  stakeholders  in  the  making  and  interpretation  of  climate  science?  By bringing  together  scholars  at  the  intersection  of  science  and  technology  studies, environmental  studies  and  democratic  theory  the  workshop  sets  out  to  identify promising  ideas  for  future  research  that  may  advance  the  science  and  democracy research agenda.

Based on a meta-study, the paper describes the existing options, areal extents, and Swedish farmers' conditions for energy crop production promoted by the governments to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The drivers of and barriers to cultivating various energy crops are described in terms of a variety of motivational factors. The approach used peer-reviewed and gray literature using three Internet sources. Questions addressed include the energy crops available to Swedish farmers and how well established they are in terms of areal extent. What drivers of and barriers to growing energy crops do farmers perceive? How do various motivational factors for these drivers and barriers correspond to the adoption of certain energy crops? The results indicate that 13 energy-related crops are available, of which straw (a residue), oil crops, and wheat are the most extensively produced in terms of cultivated area. Results confirm earlier research findings that converting from annual to perennial crops and from traditional crops or production systems to new ones are important barriers. Economic motivations for changing production systems are strong, but factors such as values (e.g., esthetic), knowledge (e.g., habits and knowledge of production methods), and legal conditions (e.g., cultivation licenses) are crucial for the change to energy crops. Finally, there are knowledge gaps in the literature as to why farmers decide to keep or change a production system. Since the Swedish government and the EU intend to encourage farmers to expand their energy crop production, this knowledge of such motivational factors should be enhanced.

The Water Poverty Index (WPI), a tool designed for integrated analysis of water issues, was set-up in a community in Madhya Pradesh, India through a transparent and participatory process. Though the aim of the WPI is to primarily use existing statistical data, quantitative information from census and local records was combined with qualitative data from community interviews and participatory exercises. The inclusion of community chosen indicators and the adjustment of values so that higher numbers represent water prosperity rather than water poverty, led to the Water Prosperity Index (WPI⁺). The WPI ⁺ score was contrasted with the WPI at community level. It was also calculated for two community areas with different caste and socio-economic characteristics and weighted separately according to water issues prioritized by men and women. The WPI ⁺ revealed a great difference in water access between the two areas and in prioritized issues between men and women illustrating the importance of appropriate spatial representation and gender sensitive assessments for revealing important disparities. Results also showed that highly aggregated data hide these differences making it more difficult to target the most vulnerable groups when planning measures to increase equitable water allocation. While quantitative data reveal an important perspective of the water situation, qualitative data about adequacy of resources, services or institutions, improve understanding of which issues to prioritize. A valid and useful community water index must be based on representative participation, transparency and local influence on the methodology and subsequent results.

The Water Poverty Index, originally set up at national and regional levels, using ready available aggregated statistical information, is a holistic tool to integrate different water related components.  In this project we are testing the potential of the index when used at the village level, where data collection can be more adapted to local conditions. Thus, by grounding index construction and data collection with local stakeholders, the tool may become a more effective means of achieving Integrated Water Resource Management, IWRM. In a village in Madya Pradesh, India, with 170 households we are in the process of modifying the Water Poverty Index into a Water Prosperity Index together with local stakeholders.

The WPI is based on a number of indicators which are combined into a Geographic Information System framework, enabling a cross-sectoral identification the most pressing problem areas. We bring both analytical and technical components of the tool to the village (i.e., the integrating intellectual structure of the WPI and diesel generator, power point projector, computer and GIS-software) but we take the technical part home with us again as no one in village has training in computer use or any of the software. The main advantage of the index creation however is not the technology but the system thinking around water management, which has been focused upon during the participatory process. The index is not a solution in itself but a means to holistically analyse, monitor and plan for local sustainable development. The paper discusses the opportunities and obstacles encountered while implementing this process.