The transformation-mainstreaming conundrum: Making sense of tensions in adaptation practice

TL;DR

Organizations face a dilemma when trying to adapt to climate change by balancing disruptive changes with maintaining current systems.

Contribution

The paper introduces the Transformation-Mainstreaming Conundrum (TMC) and proposes ways to address its tensions.

Findings

Transformation and mainstreaming imperatives can conflict in adaptation practice.

Recognizing and addressing TMC tensions is crucial for effective adaptation.

Both transformation and mainstreaming must be pursued simultaneously.

Abstract

As the scale of climate change impacts become apparent, organisations globally are seeking to adapt. They face dual imperatives of transformation—going beyond business-as-usual to embrace disruptive changes to their decision-making processes—and mainstreaming—enacting adaptation initiatives with minimal change to existing capabilities and structures. In practice, these important imperatives can conflict, leading to the emergence of multiple tensions in developing and implementing adaptation initiatives, potentially paralysing action or leading to one imperative dominating. We call this the Transformation-Mainstreaming Conundrum (TMC) and suggest that both imperatives can (and must be) pursued simultaneously in practice. This perspective identifies recognisable tensions that can arise when seeking to address both imperatives and suggest steps towards responding to the underlying issues these tensions reveal. The TMC needs to be recognised, and approaches to navigating its tensions must be addressed explicitly in both scholarship and practice, to re-energise the urgency of scaling up adaptation efforts.

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