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© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Climate change is predicted to have severe impacts on mountainous regions, including urban settlements, and livelihoods of the urban poor. Adaptive capacity for marginalized groups is largely determined by household-level resources and decision-making capacity. This study investigated the vulnerability status and prevalent adaptation strategies of urban slum dwellers in Dehradun, Indian Himalayas, using a pre-tested questionnaire covering household characteristics and indicators of vulnerability, in face-to-face interviews with the head of 122 randomly selected households in four slums. We found that overall vulnerability was very high, with very low absorptive and coping capacity for potential impacts of climate change. Moreover, vulnerability and coping strategies were socially differentiated in terms of the decision-making capability and resource capacity of households. Two groups per category (good and bad decision makers; poor and poorer households) were distinguished. The exposure dimension of vulnerability differed significantly by resource capacity and decision capability. However, the sensitivity dimension of vulnerability did not differ between the groups, while the adaptive capacity dimension of vulnerability differed depending on decision-making capability. In designing appropriate strategies for long-term disaster mitigation for urban slums, it is thus important to address slum socio-ecology and the capability and capacity of slum dwellers.

A vast amount of knowledge and experience on coping with climatic variability and extreme weather events exists within local communities, and indigenous coping strategies are important elements of successful adaptation plans. Traditional knowledge can help to provide efficient, appropriate and time-tested ways of responding to climate change especially in far-flung communities. However, little is known about how traditional coping strategies translate into adaptation to long-term changes, and to what degree they prevent pro-active, transformational responses to climate change. This paper assesses the use of climate related information for communities in the Himalayan foothills of rural India, and reports on the barriers to adaptation planning and actions. Surveys have been carried out to analyze the current practices and the role of information in planning for climate change adaptation in the rural areas of the Nainital region of India located in Western Himalaya. Respondents perceive the local climate change, the intensity of change, and the negative impacts on the community and landscape. Decreases in water quantity and changes in precipitation patterns are among the major concerns for respondents, however, communities have begun to use traditional knowledge and historical climate information for developing strategies suitable to cope with impacts of climate change. Going forward, additional information is needed to match the high priority community needs with viable adaptation strategies. Lack of money, lack of access to information, and lack of awareness or understanding are considered the three largest hurdles besides low priority for adaptation, recognized by community members as barriers to adaptation planning and actions. Adaptation plans must be integrated into both top-down and bottom-up approaches to plan for enabling sustainable development and the efficient use of information for adaptation. Finally, traditional knowledge seems to be useful not only in contrasting climate change impacts, but also in recovering several ecosystem services that work all together for enanching the quality of life of villagers at local scale.