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Copyright of Urban Studies (Sage Publications, Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is both a successful series of novels and a television series which ran for one series on the BBC in 2008. While the books have been criticised on a number of aspects, including its representation of Botswana, the television series has received very little academic attention at all. The television series was an international co-production between the United States, United Kingdom and South Africa, using a mix of American and South African actors in regular and recurring roles with British guest artists and production team despite being shot in Botswana. While the main features of the adaptation were primarily related to a reordering of vignettes from the books into the series, the television series added in a new character, the camp, gay hairdresser BK. At the time the series was airing, same-sex sexual activity was illegal in Botswana though that has since been changed. As such, this paper will discuss the addition of this liminal character into the series through close reading of the text and paratexts (including industrial context). Ultimately the paper will contextualise the addition with regard to both national and sexual identity and debates surrounding African queer identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that for any community transformation to be achieved, cultural values and legal frameworks, which influence issues relating to land rights and food security, must form an integral part of any policy intervention efforts. We adopted feminism as both a methodological and an analytical framework. The dominant research paradigm was qualitative. The study sample was 184 people obtained using a systematic sampling method. Data collection was through focus groups and interviews. We challenge contemporary development initiatives, in terms of their intentions and sustainability. Finally, it is important that any development initiatives facilitate the participation and involvement of all genders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, researchers have sought to understand the impact of imprisonment; yet we have a limited understanding of the lived experience of cell-sharing. To address this gap in knowledge, this paper draws on 37 semi-structured interviews with imprisoned adult men in Northern Ireland. While demonstrating that, for most, cell-sharing was a negative experience, imbued with discomfort, unease and distress, a new conceptual framework is presented that seeks to understand the tactics people use to manage cellsharing, influences on their choice of tactics and the potential repercussions of these tactics. Potential implications for policy and practice are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Text World Theory has been extended and elaborated to explain readers' understanding of discoursal phenomena where toggling between separate text-worlds is sustained at length, such as extended metaphor and allegory. Similarly, experiencing adaptation, that is, reading a rewrite of a source text, may also involve readers deriving cognitive effects from shifting attention between two ontologically separate sets of worlds throughout a discourse. However, Text World Theory has not been previously applied to the study of this area. This paper deploys Text World Theory to examine the stylistic manipulation of text-worlds in A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley and Dunbar by Edward St. Aubyn, novels that are both modern rewrites of Shakespeare's King Lear. It aims to contribute on the one hand to Text World Theory by enriching and elaborating a Text World basis for explaining adaptation, and on the other to adaptation studies by demonstrating the utility of a cognitive stylistic approach for analyzing literary adaptation. Specifically, it investigates how the construction of intertextually-relevant text-world patterns serves to draw the reader's attention to assign significance to certain narrative moments, and to allow the reader to access an additional layer of meaning. This study sheds some light on the possible contribution of special types of contextual information to the negotiation of text-worlds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilience is receiving substantial traction as a concept to inform climate change and development policies and programmes. At the same time, a number of critiques have emerged that question its use as a framing concept for tackling urban climate change. This paper reflects on climate resilience and its critiques through an examination of the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) initiative in two cities in India. We illustrate aspects of the resilience critique and, using evidence of transformational aspects of the initiative, we argue that resilience thinking must be coupled with the concept of transformation in order to bring issues of people, politics and power to the fore. In the process, the conceptual strength of resilience can be combined with a more radical agenda that engages with underlying political structures and trade-offs that determine risk and vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines how Subway, the US fast food restaurant franchise, has adapted to Indian culture. Glocalization theory will be the guiding framework used in this analysis. Glocalization rests on the premise that a universal concept must change to fit and function in a local culture. Blending the local and the global, it provides a passage to empowerment where modifications to a particular commodity can make it prosper in various traditions. Four important themes of glocalization emerged from this analysis: (1) adjustment of restaurant ambience; (2) adoption of Jain values; (3) adjustment of advertising practices; and (4) adjustment of the use of social media. An important conclusion is that, although India is embracing modernity, Subway has honoured many religious and cultural views in that nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a strategy for scaling climate change adaptation within urban areas. The strategy specifically focuses on the requirements for mobilizing large amounts of capital for adaptation and other urban risk reduction above and beyond the amounts that will likely be mobilized through new international adaptation funds. The paper, based on a report published by ICLEI–Local Governments for Sustainability,(1) proposes a re-framing of the urban adaptation and disaster reduction challenge. The approach shifts the adaptation focus from risk reduction as a primary end in itself to a broader development focus on financing the performance of urban assets, areas and/or systems. This emphasis is elaborated through the concept of “resilience”, an urban design and investment metric that measures the ability of urban areas and their individual assets to perform for users and their investors under a wide range of conditions. The paper argues that such a performance-oriented approach provides a business logic that can attract conventional, private investment flows to climate and disaster risk reduction measures and thereby “mainstream” them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper considers how to make pro-poor climate change adaptation more effective in the city of Chittagong. Drawing on discussions with residents in informal settlements and interviews with staff from government agencies, NGOs and donors, it shows the lack of connection between the formal institutional structure for disaster preparedness and the groups most at risk from extreme weather disasters and their community level actions. There is no clear definition of roles among local government agencies with regard to climate change adaptation. Although there is a donor-funded programme to reduce poverty and disaster risks, this is not being implemented in the settlements most at risk from landslides. Neither are there any measures underway to address the needs of the residents in these high risk settlements, in part because of the financial weakness of local government. Nor is there much support for this from national government – since national climate change adaptation policy does not consider urban adaptation and strengthening urban government capacity to reduce the vulnerability of the extreme poor as a priority. NGOs undertake programmes for community-based disaster risk reduction but their scale and scope are limited by not being integrated into local government. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Connections to place and relations between people are being radically reconfigured in response to climate risks. Climate change is likely to increase the scale of displacement in the Asia Pacific region, leading to intensified patterns of migration as well as resettlement. These two processes, though differing in terms of individual agency and the role of the state, are likely to further exacerbate pressure on urban areas. As the limits to adaptation in risky places are reached, people are increasingly pursuing migration as a way of coping. This strategy demonstrates people's agency to respond to risks and opportunities. Resettlement, in contrast, tends to undermine people's agency. This risk response is increasingly being implemented by states as part of climate change adaptation plans, yet, it often results in the creation of new vulnerabilities for those forcibly resettled. Through a focus on the 'climate hotspot' of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, this paper explores how communities and governments might anticipate and resolve some of the humanitarian, livelihood and ecological challenges associated with resettlement in an increasingly resource-constrained and risky climate future. The concept of just resilience is proposed as a lens through which the consequences of resettlement for people's connections to place, each other and familiar ways of life can be understood. It is argued that a focus on just resilience reveals opportunities and threats to procedural, distributive and recognition elements of justice associated with adapting to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the recognitional dimensions of urban climate change justice in a development context. Through the lens of migrants in the Indian cities of Bengaluru and Surat, we highlight how experiences of environmental marginality can be attributed to a lack of recognition of citizenship rights and informal livelihood strategies. Specifically, the drivers of non-recognition in this situation relate to broken social networks and a lack of political voice, as well as heightened exposure to emerging climate risks and economic precariousness. We find that migrants experience extreme forms of climate injustice as they are often invisible to the official state apparatus, or worse, are actively erased from cities through force or discriminatory development policies. Current theories must therefore engage more seriously with issues of recognition to enable more radical climate justice in cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1980s, local mobilization to turn a mangrove swamp, the Manguezal do Jequiá, into an environmentally protected area in the urban periphery of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, brought distinct motivations together under one vision: that of regenerating what was once a resource-rich commons for local fishers. However, conflicts emerged when framings ceased to coincide, thereby curtailing the network, and compromising the co-existence of humans, fish and mangroves. Prompted by the ethnographic category of pelego, or 'scab', used by people from outside the community to explain political disengagement amongst fishers, this paper sheds light on what being political means. Following the tropes of nets and networks, it unveils the tension between adaptation and resistance. At the threshold between traditional ways of living and progress, between continuity and change, adaptation emerges as a means to survive for both the mangroves and the fishers, who are political insofar as they affect the relations that constitute the network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is expected to modify rainfall, temperature and catchment hydrological responses across the world, and adapting to these water-related changes is a pressing challenge. This paper reviews the impact of anthropogenic climate change on water in the UK and looks at projections of future change. The natural variability of the UK climate makes change hard to detect; only historical increases in air temperature can be attributed to anthropogenic climate forcing, but over the last 50 years more winter rainfall has been falling in intense events. Future changes in rainfall and evapotranspiration could lead to changed flow regimes and impacts on water quality, aquatic ecosystems and water availability. Summer flows may decrease on average, but floods may become larger and more frequent. River and lake water quality may decline as a result of higher water temperatures, lower river flows and increased algal blooms in summer, and because of higher flows in the winter. In communicating this important work, researchers should pay particular attention to explaining confidence and uncertainty clearly. Much of the relevant research is either global or highly localized: decision-makers would benefit from more studies that address water and climate change at a spatial and temporal scale appropriate for the decisions they make. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the very large differences in adaptive capacity among the world’s urban centres. It then discusses how risk levels may change for a range of climatic drivers of impacts in the near term (2030–2040) and the long term (2080–2100) with a 2°C and a 4°C warming for Dar es Salaam, Durban, London and New York City. The paper is drawn directly from Chapter 8 of Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, the IPCC Working Group II contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report. It includes the complete text of this chapter’s Executive Summary. The paper highlights the limits to what adaptation can do to protect urban areas and their economies and populations without the needed global agreement and action on mitigation; this is the case even for cities with high adaptive capacities. It ends with a discussion of transformative adaptation and where learning on how to achieve this needs to come from. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates managing the comfort-handling trade-off of a quarter car suspension system using a Kalman filter. Using the unscented Kalman filter, the adapted feedback input signal is extracted based on the vertical acceleration signals of the chassis and wheel. Considering the chassis acceleration signal as the primary feedback to maintain a required comfort level, it is continuously adapted to keep an acceptable level of road handling. Compared with the traditional methods, which rely on the combination of the two modes of comfort and handling through an intermediate variable to manage the contradiction, this method focuses on comfort and improves the process of the road handling automatically. The proposed strategy is evaluated using simulation in MATLAB and the results show the feasibility of this method in managing the handling-comfort trade-off. In addition, mathematical relationships that allow this control strategy to be derived were shown. Moreover, the effects of road disturbances amplitudes and road quality on the performance of the proposed control strategy were investigated. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed method is compared with that of the hybrid-hook and the results show the superiority of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In collaboration with women's organizations in India, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa, an approach for a novel gender assessment of urban climate policies was developed and tested. The Gender Assessment and Monitoring of Mitigation and Adaptation (GAMMA) methodology allows for an in-depth analysis of the institutional framework and the mitigation and adaptation policies of cities. Its application by the women's organizations in 14 pilot cities led to policy recommendations on how to integrate gender equality into urban mitigation and adaptation actions. The results of a monitoring exercise show that the project has made a significant step forward in raising awareness of gender issues and gender-responsive action at the urban level. It provides civil society organizations working on climate justice with a tool to push local governments to work towards low-carbon, resilient, gender-just and inclusive cities. It can also be used by local governments for self-assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines patterns of adaptive behaviour in low-income settlements(1) in Khulna, Bangladesh’s third largest city. It contrasts the adaptive behaviours of “squatter” households who “own” their land with those of tenants who rent dwellings from private landlords, and finds significant differences between the adaptive behaviours of owners and renters. This is important, as most knowledge about low-income settlements in Bangladesh originates from “owned” settlements – often called “public settlements”, as the land is officially public land. But the future growth of low-income settlements in the country is likely to be increasingly on private land, with rented dwellings. Policy lessons generated from settlements with “squatters” may be inappropriate for the next generation of “slums” that will house millions of rural migrants and people displaced by climate change. The conclusions argue that agencies seeking to assist low-income households in Bangladesh will need to craft different strategies for settlements according to different types of land tenure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the design and application of a benefit-cost model to the city of Durban’s (South Africa) climate change adaptation options. The approach addresses the inability to compile an accurate damage-cost function for economic prioritizations at the local level. It proposes that uncertainty over climate impacts and the efficacy of adaptation responses, in conjunction with the lack of economic data, high levels of economic informality and inequality make it difficult to link adaptation efforts to positive GDP impact in Durban. Instead, the research based its calculations of “benefits” on the number of people impacted and the extent of the welfare benefits imparted by the respective adaptation efforts. It also took into account the uncertainty over future events, capacity constraints, priorities of decision makers and the risk of maladaptation. The results were reported as benefit-cost ratios for 16 clusters of interventions (many of which were primarily the responsibility of one municipal department or agency) in each of four future scenarios (defined by minor or major climate change and weak or strong socio-institutional capacity). The paper presents and discusses the benefit-cost ratios and total benefits for each of the intervention clusters in each of the future scenarios. It emphasizes how these are influenced by choices of time frames. It also highlights how the most efficient interventions across all futures and time frames tend to be socio-institutional – for instance the creation of a cross-sectoral disaster management forum, sea level rise preparedness and early warning system, and creating climate change adaptation capacity within the water services unit. Ecosystem-based adaptation measures had moderate benefit-cost ratios, probably because in Durban the land that needs to be purchased for this is relatively expensive. Infrastructure-based clusters generally had the lowest benefit-cost ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environment & Urbanization is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Environment & Urbanization is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Environment & Urbanization is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Environment & Urbanization is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Organizations such as the Food and Drug Agency can make both type I (approving bad drugs) and type II errors (rejecting good ones). Optimal reliability entails balancing these two kinds of mistakes just so. This paper addresses the question of whether and when an imperfectly rational agency -- in particular, one using an adaptive decision-making policy -- would become optimally reliable. We establish a necessary condition that an adaptive scheme must satisfy if it is to guide the agency to optimal reliability. The necessary condition takes the form of a constraint on the agency's propensity to explore the space of alternatives: it must become 'stoic' in the face of errors. The paper supplements this normative analysis by providing a descriptive examination of a common class of adaptive rules that could be used by an agency coping with type I and type II errors. Here we analyze how technological factors, external political pressure, and changes in the quality of information affect the agency's reliability, both dynamically and in the steady-state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses benefits that informal wetland communities in Kampala, Uganda derive from their location in the wetland and how they adapt to minimize vulnerability to hazards such as floods and disease vectors. We focus on the mechanisms, preferences and ability to adapt. A total of 551 households were interviewed in addition to four focus group discussions and five key informant interviews. Free water from spring wells and cheaper rental units topped the benefits from location, while the main benefit associated with the wetland is that it supports crop farming. Tenure status was significantly associated with the preference and perceived ability to adapt: tenants were less likely to prefer to adapt, and less likely to perceive themselves as able to afford adaptation, than landlords. There is a need for coordinated adaptation strategies that involve all stakeholders and that enhance equitable utilization of wetland resources without compromising their ecosystem services and economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over the past 5 years, the number of Vietnamese migrant workers in Japan has grown rapidly to become the largest group of migrant workers in the country. They hold various statuses of residence and are subjected to multifactorial stressors. Aims: The current study's aim is to investigate the association between psychological distress experienced by Vietnamese workers and their work environment. Another aim is to discuss issues involving migrant workers by comparing the characteristics of workers in the major statuses of residence. Methods: The study applied a cross-sectional design, and included a nationwide self-administered online questionnaire that was conducted in Vietnamese in 2022. The questionnaire included the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), workplace interpersonal factors as well as factors related to work and health. A multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate factors associated with psychological distress. Results: Of 933 Vietnamese workers, 37% were grouped as distressed under the K10 cutoff. Fewer opportunities to speak with Japanese co-workers, lower welfare and workload ratings, and the visa statuses including 'Technical Intern Training' were significantly associated with psychological distress. Unexpectedly, those in 'Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services (ESI)' category who are deemed to hold better conditions demonstrated the highest amounts of distress. Conclusion: Outside of unsatisfactory working environments, differing situations depending on status of residence could produce various sources of distress. The difficult aspects of Japan's distinct culture seem to contribute to their distress, especially for those who have more interactions with Japanese co-workers. A push for a multicultural society, where migrant workers can pursue proactive life designs of their own choosing, is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The aim of this study was to adapt the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) in English and Norwegian for use with parents. Methods: The research group evaluated all HLQ items and, where relevant, modified them to refocus the attribution of care to that of a child by a parent. Five cognitive interviews with parents were undertaken to gain a detailed depiction of the meanings and processes they used to respond to the HLQ items. Assessment of the psychometric properties of the revised HLQ was undertaken using data from a cross-sectional survey of 254 parents of children with epilepsy. Analysis included internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results: Some 22 out of 44 items and the names of three domains were modified (e.g. attribution changed from 'me' to 'my child'). Cognitive interviews indicated that parents interpreted the HLQ-Parent items in the way intended. All but three factor loadings were high to acceptable. All nine HLQ scales showed satisfactory to good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.70 to 0.87). When fitting one-factor CFA models, correlated residuals were required for four scales to generate an acceptable fit. One scale, '8. Ability to find good health information', required inclusion of two correlated residuals to generate an acceptable CFA model fit, indicating that further work on this scale is warranted. Conclusions: The results from both the adaptation process and the CFA analysis supported the relevance, understanding and theoretical structure of the instrument in a parental context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The late 1970s design for the Rosie Maternity Hospital on the Addenbrookes campus in Cambridge is a recurring type across the UK National Health Service, a framed three-storey courtyard configuration in brick masonry. It was selected as a case study project for the ‘Design and Delivery of Robust Hospitals in a Changing Climate’ project, pursuing the methodology developed for that research. Temperature data were collected in representative spaces within the hospital, over a two-year period. These revealed overheating in mild conditions relative to an observed 24℃ threshold for sleep but concealed within the customary 28℃ threshold marking the upper limit of acceptable conditions. The building was modelled using current climate data to predict 2010 conditions. The model was then calibrated against the observed 2010 data and used to predict the likely internal temperatures in current and 2030s. The results indicated an increase in peak temperatures. Four adaptive intervention schemes were subsequently developed: an ‘enlightened’ industry standard ‘Passivhaus’-type option providing superinsulation, sealed glazing and heat recovery; a lower technology-based scheme promoting natural cross-ventilation by providing greater opening glazing area, opening up the plan, sunshading and additional insulation; an enhanced natural ventilation scheme glazing over the courtyards to provide supply air winter gardens, and an advanced natural ventilation option pursuing passive downdraught cooling. All four schemes were modelled using the projected current and 2030s weather data and their performance was compared. The schemes were fully costed to yield relative ‘value for money’ guidance to National Health Service Trusts.Practical application: The Heat wave Plan for England 2014 warns National Health Service (NHS) organisations of the risks to patients, particularly the very young, the elderly and the seriously ill, from extreme summer heat events.1 The Chief Medical Officer in her introduction challenges each NHS locality to plan well in advance of hot spells, as appropriate. This paper describes the likely extent of overheating risk and a series of potential adaptation plans for a recurring NHS hospital building type. As a consequence, estates and facilities decision makers in NHS organisations and Public Health England officers charged with the mitigation of risk resulting from overheating of wards and clinical spaces will benefit directly in their necessary decision making from the findings. Policy makers in the Department of Health and policy advisors in the NHS Sustainable Development Unit and the Climate Change Committee Adaptation Sub-Committee will benefit from the evidence presented in advising the NHS and Department of Health. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper analyzes the experience of Bharti-Wal-Mart, a joint venture between Wal-Mart and Bharti Enterprises (an Indian telecommunications company), based on the principles of glocalization theory. By and large, glocalization refers to the adaptation of multinational corporations (MNCs) to local cultures. MNCs achieve this by immersing themselves into local cultures and by adopting unconventional marketing techniques. A major finding of this analysis is that globalization is not monolithic. It is not a homogenizing factor that forces local cultures to follow the norms, practices, and values of a big corporation. In fact, Wal-Mart executives quickly learned that imposing the Bentonville blueprint on local Indian populations would be doomed to failure from the beginning. An important focus of this analysis is to establish a framework for greater understanding of the strategies adopted by Wal-Mart in India. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Extensive studies have been conducted on telerobotic operations for decades due to their widespread applications in a variety of areas. Most studies have been focused on two major issues: stability and telepresence. Few have studied the influence of the operation status of the teleoperator on the performance of telerobotic operations. As subnormal operation status of the teleoperator may result in insufficient and even incorrect operations, the quality of teleoperator (QoT) is an important impact on the performance of the telerobotic operations in terms of the efficiency and safety even if both the stability and telepresence are guaranteed. Therefore, this paper investigates the online identification of the QoT and its application to telerobotic operations. The QoT is identified based on five QoT indicators which are generated based on the teleoperator’s brain EEG signals. A QoT adaptive control method is designed to adapt the velocity and responsivity of the robotic system to the operation status of the teleoperator such that the teleoperation efficiency and safety can be enhanced. The online QoT identification method was conducted on various teleoperators and the QoT adaptive control method was implemented on a mobile manipulator teleoperation system. The experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence-based programs and grassroots programs are often adapted during implementation. Adaptations are often hidden, ignored, or punished. Although some adaptations stem from lack of organizational capacity, evaluators report other adaptations happen in good faith or are efforts to better fit the local context. Program implementers, facilitators who need to adapt during implementation, do not always report adaptations because they fear losing funding if the program is not implemented with fidelity. Program personnel including program evaluators need this information to improve effectiveness of programs, and to determine whether an adaptation is still consistent with the theory of change. Evaluators also need this information for generalizing results to varied settings and populations. Following the PRECEDE–PROCEED model, we recommend a hybrid approach to fidelity and adaptation. We argue in favor of advance planning to accommodate potential adaptations. Such planning also establishes evaluation criteria for determining whether adaptations are helpful, harmful, and appropriate to the context. We illustrate some types of adaptations that can occur, why they may be needed, and how to structure transparent reporting about adaptations to program developers and funding organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global sea-level rise (SLR) is projected to accelerate over the next century, with research indicating that global mean sea level may rise 18–48 cm by 2050, and 50–140 cm by 2100. Decision-makers, faced with the problem of adapting to SLR, utilize elevation data to identify assets that are vulnerable to inundation. This paper reviews techniques and challenges stemming from the use of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) digital elevation models (DEMs) in support of SLR decision-making. A significant shortcoming in the methodology is the lack of comprehensive standards for estimating LiDAR error, which causes inconsistent and sometimes misleading calculations of uncertainty. Workers typically aim to reduce uncertainty by analyzing the difference between LiDAR error and the target SLR chosen for decision-making. The practice of mapping vulnerability to SLR is based on the assumption that LiDAR errors follow a normal distribution with zero bias, which is intermittently violated. Approaches to correcting discrepancies between vertical reference systems for land and tidal datums may incorporate tidal benchmarks and a vertical datum transformation tool provided by the National Ocean Service (VDatum). Mapping a minimum statistically significant SLR increment of 32 cm is difficult to achieve based on current LiDAR and VDatum errors. LiDAR DEMs derived from ‘ground’ returns are essential, yet LiDAR providers may not remove returns over vegetated areas successfully. LiDAR DEMs integrated into a GIS can be used to identify areas that are vulnerable to direct marine inundation and groundwater inundation (reduced drainage coupled with higher water tables). Spatial analysis can identify potentially vulnerable ecosystems as well as developed assets. A standardized mapping uncertainty needs to be developed given that SLR vulnerability mapping requires absolute precision for use as a decision-making tool. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The urgent need to reconfigure and transform urban areas to consume fewer resources, emit less pollution, minimize greenhouse gas production, protect natural ecosystems and increase the adaptive capacity to deal with climate risks is widely recognized. The implementation of improved sustainability measures in cities requires integrated thinking that encompasses a whole range of urban functions, often implying a major restructuring of urban energy systems, transport and the built environment, as well as a new approach to the planning and management of natural systems that service urban areas. Many local governments have a limited capacity to deal with such complex and interrelated problems, and this hampers their ability to deal with climate change. With these issues in mind, teams of scientists, practitioners and stakeholders in Durban (led by eThekwini Municipality) and London (led by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research) developed city-scale integrated assessment modelling tools that represent interactions between different urban functions and objectives by linking climate change issues to broader agendas such as spatial planning. This paper reviews each integrated assessment tool, and critically analyzes their effectiveness in terms of technical approach, extent to which they meet policy needs, role of stakeholders in model development and application, barriers to their uptake and the value of and effort required for integration. While these integrated assessment tools did not provide the detailed design information sought by some decision makers, importantly they have stimulated stakeholders to think strategically and hold cross-sectoral conversations around implementing sustainability measures. Despite the technical and institutional challenges associated with the development and uptake of an integrated assessment model, we conclude that they do contribute to the quest for urban sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Climate change presents cities with significant challenges such as adaptation to dynamic climate risks and protection of critical infrastructure systems and residents’ livelihoods. City governments and inhabitants must continually respond to a variety of urban environmental risks. Understanding how cities have begun to extend these experiences to the context of climate change adaptation as well as mitigation is crucial for the development and identification of climate action best practices. The focus of this paper will be to document and explore how the city of New York has begun to define and implement a set of climate actions over the past half decade. These actions are presented within a discussion of past and future climate risks and vulnerabilities, and of climate and sustainability programmes that the city government has developed recently. Even as a mature, mega-city in a developed country, lessons from the New York City experience can be transferred to a variety of other urban contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper aims to capture and analyze emerging experiences, lessons and tensions evident from several years of work underway through the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network, a network of secondary cities in South and Southeast Asia that have engaged in a process to analyze vulnerabilities and plan and implement measures to address them. With the support of the Rockefeller Foundation and numerous partners, these cities have identified more than 59 specific resilience-building measures, of which 23 are being implemented. Through this work we see 10 critical urban climate change resilience action areas that cities must consider in order to strengthen their ability to anticipate, prepare for and respond to the types of sudden and slow onset impacts. These are: climate sensitive land use and urban planning; institutional coordination mechanisms and capacity support; drainage, flood and solid waste management; water demand and conservation systems; emergency management and early warning systems; responsive health systems; resilient housing and transport systems; strengthening of ecosystem services; diversification and protection of climate-affected livelihoods; and education and capacity building of citizens. We present case studies of how these measures are implemented in specific cities and highlight the tensions and challenges that have emerged. Primary tensions arise around the powerful political economy forces that influence decisions in cities; ensuring that the risks and benefits of resilience-building measures are distributed equitably; aligning incentives of various stakeholders in cities; and developing the mandates, coordination and capacities needed to manage a multi-scale and multi-sector issue as complex as urban climate change resilience. This empirical base of practice provides important learning to help guide further the refinement of both theory and practice in the nascent field of urban climate change resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent research on animal behavior suggests that group decision-making may not be uniquely human. Based on Tinbergen's (1963) "four questions," this paper proposes that linking biological- and social-science approaches is important to a better understanding of human group decisions. Toward this end, we first review some recent findings on collective behavior by social insects (ants and honeybees in particular). We then argue that several fundamental processes (e.g., positive feedback, nonlinear responses to social frequency information, and use of quorums) commonly underlie human and non-human group decision-making under uncertainty, while key prerequisites for the emergence of collective intelligence may be more vulnerable to social nuances in human contexts. We sketch some future research directions to promote cross-fertilizations between the two fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flooding is the most common natural hazard and third most damaging globally after storms and earthquakes. Anthropogenic climate change is expected to increase flood risk through more frequent heavy precipitation, increased catchment wetness and sea level rise. This paper reviews steps being taken by actors at international, national, regional and community levels to adapt to flood risk from tidal, fluvial, surface and groundwater sources. We refer to existing inventories, national and sectoral adaptation plans, flood inquiries, building and planning codes, city plans, research literature and international policy reviews. We distinguish between the enabling environment for adaptation and specific implementing measures to manage flood risk. Enabling includes routine monitoring, flood forecasting, data exchange, institutional reform, bridging organizations, contingency planning for disasters, insurance and legal incentives to reduce vulnerability. All such activities are ‘low regret’ in that they yield benefits regardless of the climate scenario but are not cost-free. Implementing includes climate safety factors for new build, upgrading resistance and resilience of existing infrastructure, modifying operating rules, development control, flood forecasting, temporary and permanent retreat from hazardous areas, periodic review and adaptive management. We identify evidence of both types of adaptation following the catastrophic 2010/11 flooding in Victoria, Australia. However, significant challenges remain for managing transboundary flood risk (at all scales), protecting existing property at risk from flooding, and ensuring equitable outcomes in terms of risk reduction for all. Adaptive management also raises questions about the wider preparedness of society to systematically monitor and respond to evolving flood risks and vulnerabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we provide an analysis of the deployment of labour market and career guidance as an instrument of liberal governmental rationality, and hence as a key tool for shaping attitudes suitable for the labour market. We characterize such processes and their effects on both those in receipt of guidance and those delivering it, on the basis of a three-year study in France, Slovenia, Spain and the UK. This leads us to put forward the problematic character of the notion of ‘conduct of conduct’, especially owing to the conflation implied between adaptation to governmental ends and freedom. We suggest that Max Weber’s categories for depicting active adaptation in bureaucratic capitalism provide a more grounded grasp of the processes involved, and that the radical distinction he establishes between adaptation and the possibility of conduct may provide a new basis for conceptualizing resistance to liberal governmental rationality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper considers the needed adaptation and mitigation agenda for cities in India - where the urban population is likely to grow by around 500 million over the next 50 years. It considers the likely changes that climate change will bring in temperature, precipitation and extreme rainfall, drought, river and inland flooding, storms/storm surges/coastal flooding, sea-level rise and environmental health risks, and who within urban populations are most at risk. It notes the importance for urban areas of an effective rural adaptation agenda - especially in maintaining the productivity and functioning of rural systems. It highlights the importance of today's infrastructure investments, taking into account climate changes, given the long lifespan of most infrastructure, and the importance of urban management engaging with changing risk profiles. One important part of this is the need to connect official adaptation initiatives to the much-improved natural hazard risk assessment, management and mitigation capacity that responded to major disasters. The paper ends by describing a possible urban climate change adaptation framework, including changes needed at the national, state, city and neighbourhood levels, and linkages to mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the risks that the city of Mombasa faces from the direct and indirect impacts of climate change. Mombasa is Kenya's second largest city and has more than 700,000 inhabitants. It is the largest seaport in East Africa, serving not only Kenya but also many landlocked countries and the north of Tanzania. The city has a history of disasters related to climate extremes including floods, which cause serious damage nearly every year and, often, loss of life. The floods in October 2006 were particularly serious, affecting some 60,000 people in the city and the wider province. In addition, around 17 per cent of Mombasa's area could be submerged by a sea-level rise of 0.3 metres, with a larger area rendered uninhabitable or unusable for agriculture because of water logging and salt stress. Tourism is an important part of the city's economy. Thus, sandy beaches, historic and cultural monuments and several hotels, industries and port facilities would be negatively affected. This paper also discusses the measures needed to reduce the vulnerability of Mombasa's population and economic base to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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We demonstrate an adaptation strategy for adjusting the stride period in a hexapedal running robot. The robot is inspired by discoveries about the self-stabilizing properties of insects and uses a sprawled posture, a bouncing alternating-tripod gait, and passive compliance and damping in the limbs to achieve fast (over four body-lengths per second), stable locomotion. The robot is controlled by an open-loop motor pattern that activates the legs at fixed intervals. For maximum speed and efficiency, the stride period of the pattern should be adjusted to match changes in terrain (e.g., slopes) or loading conditions (e.g., carrying an object). An ideal adaptation strategy will complement the design philosophy behind the robot and take advantage of the self-stabilizing role of the mechanical system. In this paper we describe an adaptation scheme based on measurements of ground contact timing obtained from binary sensors on the robot's feet. We discuss the motivation for the approach, putting it in the context of previous research on the dynamic properties of running machines and bouncing multi-legged animals, and we show the results of the experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world's climate is changing and will continue to change into the coming century at rates projected to be unprecedented in recent human history. The risks associated with these changes are real but highly uncertain. Societal vulnerability to the risks associated with climate change may exacerbate ongoing social and economic challenges, particularly for those parts of societies dependent on resources that are sensitive to changes in climate. Risks are apparent in agriculture, fisheries and many other components that constitute the livelihood of rural populations in developing countries. In this paper we explore the nature of risk and vulnerability in the context of climate change and review the evidence on present-day adaptation in developing countries and on coordinated international action on future adaptation. We argue that all societies are fundamentally adaptive and there are many situations in the past where societies have adapted to changes in climate and to similar risks. But some sectors are more sensitive and some groups in society more vulnerable to the risks posed by climate change than others. Yet all societies need to enhance their adaptive capacity to face both present and future climate change outside their experienced coping range. The challenges of climate change for development are in the present. Observed climate change, present-day climate variability and future expectations of change are changing the course of development strategies - development agencies and governments are now planning for this adaptation challenge. The primary challenge, therefore, posed at both the scale of local natural resource management and at the scale of international agreements and actions, is to promote adaptive capacity in the context of competing sustainable development objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent scientific outputs suggest that climate change is likely to cause shifts in the global pattern and intensity of flood events, in some regions increasing the exposure of populations to severe flooding. Potential future risks underline the importance of research and intervention work aimed at strengthening local capacity to cope with flooding, especially for the poor in developing countries. This paper reviews recent theoretical and applied research on vulnerability and adaptive capacity of households and communities in flood-prone areas. It traces the growing tendency for interventions to prioritize action at the local scale and suggests directions for further research to deepen understanding of actual and potential coping strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes an adaptive nonsingular integral dynamic terminal sliding mode tracker/synchronizer for disturbed nonlinear systems along with its usage in safe communication systems. The convergence of the closed-loop structure under unknown uncertainty and disturbances is guaranteed via Lyapunov analysis. Furthermore, a parameter-tuning method is planned to approximate the upper bound of uncertainty and disturbance terms, since this latter is typically unknown in practice. The proposed approach is used to design a digital secure transmission scheme according to the chaotic systems. The effectiveness of the suggested approach is validated using computer simulations on a benchmark example of chaotic system. The obtained outcomes clearly confirm the ability of the planned control approach enables to attain the desired tracking/synchronizing performance despite the disturbances. Additionally, when implemented to the data encryption of a communication system, the proposed control and secure communication techniques enabled the complete and secure retrieval of the original digital sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complexity and uncertainty are long-standing challenges for global development projects. Coping with both requires flexibility and adaptation, the ability to identify unexpected circumstances, seize opportunities, and respond to threats. Vigilance is critical; it resides within the domains of monitoring, evaluation, and learning. In practice, maintaining vigilance is difficult, partly because effective vigilance has a dual nature. Normal, Type 1 vigilance, is anchored in knowing what to look for. It demands focus and attention to designated indicators. Type 2 vigilance looks for what project preparations failed to anticipate. It demands defocusing and openness; it sits outside contemporary design of monitoring and evaluation as it must question the assumptions in project design and implementation. We consider the role of both types of vigilance in global development and difficulties in maintaining both simultaneously. We identify pathways for improving the practice of vigilance and suggest practical steps in a template for pilot efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A changing climate is anticipated to alter hydroclimatological and hydroecological processes across the UK and around the world. This paper builds on a series of reports commissioned in 2012 (Water Climate Change Impacts Report Card [WCCRC], 2012) and published in a special issue of Progress in Physical Geography in 2015 that interpreted and synthesised the relevant, peer-reviewed scientific literature of climate change impacts on the UK's water environment. It aims to provide reliable, clear information about the potential impacts of climate change on hydrology and the water environment. We review new evidence since 2012 for historical and potential future changes in precipitation and evapotranspiration, river flows and groundwater levels, river and groundwater temperature/quality and, finally, aquatic ecosystems. Some new evidence exists for change in most of these hydrological components, typically in support of the spatial and temporal trends reported in WCCRC 2012. However, it remains the case that more research has been conducted on rainfall and river flows than evapotranspiration, groundwater levels, river and groundwater temperature, water quality or freshwater ecosystems. Consequently, there remains a clear disparity of robust evidence for historical and potential future change between the top and bottom of the hydroclimatological-hydroecological process chain. As was the case in WCCRC 2012, this remains a significant barrier to informed climate change adaptation in these components of the water environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technology is gradually changing the organisation of production and work. In this article, the authors explore the implications of such developments for workers through the lens of skill, and the skill needs developing out of the shift towards Industry 4.0 technologies now being employed within the European steel industry. Specifically, the article examines the preparedness of initial vocational training systems to support adaptation to Industry 4.0 and the changes in work and employment that will follow. The article addresses such developments from the point of view of institutional theory, analysing how different institutional architectures influence responses to change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Romantic partners in long-distance relationships tend to adapt their communication and their perceptions of the relationship to suit their relational goals. Guided by this premise, the aim of this study was to provide a more nuanced understanding of how communication and perceptions are adapted. For this purpose, self-reports and behavioral data pertaining to 61 heterosexual dating couples were gathered, who all kept a diary for a week, while communicating via a texting platform. By comparing the daily communication and perceptions of the relationship of couples in long-distance relationships to those of couples in geographically close relationships, the study offered solid evidence of behavioral adaption, as the former self-reported greater self-disclosure and greater self-responsiveness to their partners. These findings were supported by human coding and linguistic analysis results. Moreover, while relative to geographically close partners, long-distance partners demonstrated larger differences between partner perceptions and the partner's self-report for both self-disclosure and responsiveness. The effect of long-distance status on perceived differences was mediated by relationship uncertainty and one's own adaptive behaviors. The findings suggest that long-distance relationships are maintained through behavioral and perceptual adaptations, which are also meaningful for maintaining geographically close relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even as new elements of a research infrastructure are added, older parts continue to exert persistent and consequential influence. We introduce the concept of sedimentary legacy to describe the relationship between infrastructure and research objects. Contrary to common accounts of legacy infrastructure that underscore lock-in, static, or constraining outcomes, sedimentary legacy emphasizes how researchers adapt infrastructure to support the investigation of new research objects, even while operating under constraining legacies. To illustrate the implications of sedimentary legacy, we track shifting objects of investigation across the history of the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network, focusing especially on recurrent ecological investigations of 'human disturbance' as researchers shift to study socioecological objects. We examine the relationship between scientific objects and the resources collected and preserved to render such objects tractable to scientific investigations, and show how the resources of a long-term research infrastructure support the assembly of certain objects of investigation, even while foreclosing others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new Peruvian Water Law (2009) inaugurated a transition phase in the country’s water governance model, in theory changing the power relations among the actors involved in the decision-making process. Formerly excluded actors were invited to participate and bring their particular views into multi-stakeholder spaces. While this diversity of actors, informed by different types of knowledge, has been highlighted as an attribute of more adaptive systems, it does not necessarily lead to a real change in the constellation of power. The case of Arequipa illustrates this shift towards a new water governance system, with the creation of a river basin council based on a prior (and exceptional) example of informal multi-stakeholder water management. Yet the growing participation of a large mining company in financing water-related infrastructure, and its alliances with other actors, might challenge the potential of the new participatory body to represent equally the interests and views of all its members, and therefore to question the existing norms to bring about transformative change.(1) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]