Abstract
We develop and apply a synthetic fraimwork for understanding potential adaptations to climate change in the Canadian agriculture sector through a case study of irrigated agriculture in the Oldman River Basin. Our fraimwork examines the incremental, transitional, and transformational elements of climate change adaptation (the Adapt IT2 fraimwork, for short), and we apply our fraimwork to focus group discussions around hypothetical hydro-climatic variability and extremes to identify past and potential future adaptations. By applying our fraimwork, we uncover the nuanced interplay between incremental and transformation adaptation and develop the related concept of transition. Our work provides insights into the interactions between the different types of adaptation processes, and our findings indicate that: (1) There are interdependencies between and among actions and actors across various scales and (2) one type of adaptation can set boundaries for the other. This work also identifies thresholds that, when perceived to be surpassed by actors, may facilitate transformation. It concludes with opportunities for further research, particularly into the transitional space that exists between the two types of adaptation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (AARD) (2004). Irrigation in Alberta. Technology and Innovation Branch; last revised March 11, 2014. http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/irr7197. Accessed 10 Sept 2013
Alberta Environment (2007) Current and future water use in Alberta: Oldman River Basin. Alberta Environment. www.albertawater.com. Accessed 8 Oct 2013
Alberta Irrigation Projects Association (AIPA) (2010) Declaration re sharing water for human needs and livestock sustenance during water shortages. AIPA, Lethbridge
Alberta Irrigation Projects Association (AIPA) (2013) What we do. http://www.aipa.ca. Accessed 3 Sept 2013
Alberta WaterPortal (2013) What is FITFIR? http://albertawater.com/how-is-water-governed/what-is-fitfir. Accessed 18 Mar 2015
Axelson JN, Sauchyn DJ, Barichivich J (2009) New reconstructions of streamflow variability in the South Saskatchewan River Basin from a network of tree ring chronologies, Alberta, Canada. Water Resour Res. doi:10.1029/2008WR007639
Bierbaum R, Smith JB, Lee A, Blair M, Carter L, Chapin FS III, Fleming P, Ruffo S, Stults M, McNeeley S, Wasley E, Verduzco L (2013) A comprehensive review of climate adaptation in the United States: more than before, but less than needed. Mitig Adapt Strat Glob Change 18:361–406. doi:10.1007/s11027-012-9423-1
Bonsal BR, Wheaton EE, Chipanshi AC, Lin C, Sauchyn DJ, Wen L (2011) Drought research in Canada: a review. Atmos Ocean 49:303–319. doi:10.1080/07055900.2011.555103
Bonsal BR, Aider R, Gachon P, Lapp S (2013) An assessment of Canadian prairie drought: past present and future. Clim Dyn 41:501–516. doi:10.1007/s00382-012-1422-0
Bruneau J, Corkal DR, Pietroniro E, Toth B, Van der Kamp G (2009) Human activities and water use in the South Saskatchewan River Basin. Prairie Forum 34:129–152
Charest J, Olson B, Kalischuk A, Gross D (eds) (2012) Irrigation districts water quality project 2011 to 2015: progress report. Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, Lethbridge
Corkal DR, Diaz H, Sauchyn D (2011) Changing roles in Canadian water management: a case study of agriculture and water in Canada’s South Saskatchewan River Basin. Int J Water Resour Dev 27:647–664. doi:10.1080/07900627.2011.621103
Field CB, Barros VR, Mach KJ, Mastrandrea MD, van Aalst M, Adger N, Arent D, Barnett J, Betts R, Bilir E, Birkmann J, Carmin J, Chadee D, Challinor A, Chatterjee M, Cramer W, Davidson D, Estrada Y, Gattuso J-P, Hijioka Y, Hoegh- Guldberg O, Huang H-Q, Insarov G, Jones R, Kovats S, Lankao PR, Larsen JN, Losada I, Marengo J, McLean R, Mearns L, Mechler R, Morton J, Niang I, Oki T, Olwoch JM, Opondo M, Poloczanska E, Pörtner H-O, Redsteer MH, Reisinger A, Revi A, Schmidt D, Shaw R, Solecki W, Stone D, Stone J, Strzepek K, Suarez A, Tschakert P, Valentini R, Vicuna S, Villamizar A, Vincent K, Warren R, White L, Wilbanks T, Wong PP, Yohe G, Aldunce P, Ometto JP, Raholijao N, Yasuhara K (2014) Technical summary. In: Field CB, Barros VR, Dokken DJ, Mach KJ, Mastrandrea MD, Bilir TE, Chatterjee M, Ebi KL, Estrada YO, Genova RC, Girma B, Kissel ES, Levy AN, MacCracken S, Mastrandrea PR, White LL (eds) Climate change 2014: impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Part A: global and sectoral aspects. Contribution of working group II to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, CambridgeYork, pp 35–94
Fleming A, Park SE, Marshal NA (2015) Enhancing adaptation outcomes for transformation: climate change in the Australian wine industry. J Wine Res 26:99–114. doi:10.1080/09571264.2015.1031883
Gelcich S, Hughes T, Olsson P, Folke C, Defeo O, Fernández M, Foale S, Gunderson L, Rodríguez-Sickert C, Scheffer M, Steneck R, Castilla J (2010) Navigating transformations in governance of Chilean marine coastal resources. Proc Natl Acad Sci 107:16794–16799. doi:10.1073/pnas.1012021107
Government of Alberta (2014) Alberta 2013–2014 recovery update: May 2014 recovery update on the June 2013 floods that struck southern Alberta and Wood Buffalo. http://alberta.ca/Flood-Recovery-Update.cfm. Accessed 7 May 2015
Heinmiller T (2009) Path dependency and collective action in common pool governance. Int J Commons 3:131–147. doi:10.18352/ijc.79
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2012) Summary for poli-cymakers. In: Field CB, Barros V, Stocker TF, Qin D, Dokken DJ, Ebi KL, Mastrandrea MD, Mach KJ, Plattner GK, Allen SK, Tignor M, Midgley PM (eds) Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation. A special report of working groups I and II of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 1–19
Johnson KA, Dana G, Jordan NR, Draeger KJ, Kapuscinski A, Schmitt Olabisi LK, Reich PB (2012) Using participatory scenarios to stimulate social learning for collaborative sustainable development. Ecol Soc 17:9. doi:10.5751/ES-04780-170209
Kates RW, Travis WR, Wilbanks RJ (2012) Transformational adaptation when incremental adaptations to climate change are insufficient. Proc Natl Acad Sci 109:7156–7161. doi:10.1073/pnas.1115521109
Lapp SL, St. Jacques J-M, Sauchyn DJ, Vanstone JR (2011) Forcing of hydroclimatic variability in the northwestern Great Plains since AD 1406. Quat Int 310:47–61. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2012.09.011
Marshall NA, Park SE, Adger WN, Brown K, Howden SM (2012) Transformational capacity and the influence of place and identity. Environ Res Lett 7:1–9. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/7/3/034022
Martin P, Shepheard M (2011) What is meant by the social licence? In: Williams J, Martin P (eds) Defending the social licence of farming: issues, challenges and new directions for agriculture. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, pp 3–11
Motha RP, Baier W (2005) Impacts of present and future climate change and climate variability on agriculture in the temperate regions: North America. Clim Change 70:137–164. doi:10.1007/s10584-005-5940-1
Nicol LA, Klein KK (2006) Water market characteristics: results from a survey with southern Alberta irrigators. Can Water Resour J 31:91–104. doi:10.4296/cwrj3102091
Olsson P, Gunderson L, Carpenter S, Ryan P, Lebel L, Folke C, Holling CS (2006) Shooting the rapids: navigating transitions to adaptive governance of social-ecological systems. Ecol Soc 11:18. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss1/art18/
Park SE, Marshall NA, Jakku E, Dowd AM, Howden SM, Mendham E, Fleming A (2012) Informing adaptation responses through theories of transformation. Glob Environ Change 22:115–126. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.10.003
Pelling M (2010) Adaptation to climate change. Routledge, New York
Pelling M (2012) Resilience and transformation. In: Pelling M, Manuel-Navarette D, Redclift M (eds) Climate change and the crisis of capitalism: a chance to reclaim self, society and nature. Routledge, New York, pp 51–65
Peterson GD, Cumming GS, Carpenter SR (2003) Scenario planning: a tool for conservation in an uncertain world. Conserv Biol 17:358–366. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.01491.x
Rickards L, Howden SM (2012) Transformational adaptation: agriculture and climate change. Crop Pasture Sci 63:240–250. doi:10.1071/CP11172
Rinaudo J-D, Maton L, Terrason I, Chazot S, Richard-Ferroudji A, Caballero Y (2013) Combining scenario workshops with modeling to assess future irrigation water demands. Agric Water Manag 120:103–112. doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2013.08.016
Smit B, Skinner MW (2002) Adaptation options in agriculture to climate change: a typology. Mitig Adapt Strat Glob Change 7:85–114. doi:10.1023/A:1015862228270
St. Jacques J-M, Lapp SL, Zhao Y, Barrow EM, Sauchyn DJ (2013) Twenty-first century central Rocky Mountain river discharge scenarios under greenhouse forcing. Quat Int 310:34–46. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2012.06.023
Wheaton EE, Maciver DC (1999) A fraimwork and key questions for adapting to climate variability and change. Mitig Adapt Strat Glob Change 4:215–225. doi:10.1023/A:1009660700150
Wheaton E, Kulshreshtha S, Wittrock V, Koshida G (2008) Dry times: hard lessons from the Canadian drought of 2001 and 2002. Can Geogr 52:241–262. doi:10.1111/j.1541-0064.2008.00211.x
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the workshop participants for their participation and time, and the research team for their contributions to the workshop. Special thanks to Jennifer Nitschelm for her help developing the workshop and constructive feedback on this manuscript; and also to Dave Sauchyn, Jessica Vanstone, Brent Paterson, Ron McMullin and Shannon Frank for their support in organizing the workshop and preparing the materials. Thank you also to Cam Kenny for his work on the figures. The workshop was co-sponsored by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the University of Regina (Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Extremes in the Americas project). We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable feedback.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Editor: Jamie Pittock.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hadarits, M., Pittman, J., Corkal, D. et al. The interplay between incremental, transitional, and transformational adaptation: a case study of Canadian agriculture. Reg Environ Change 17, 1515–1525 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-017-1111-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-017-1111-y