Stockholm County is currently implementing climate change adaptation, making it essential to distinguish the priorities being made. Previous research has suggested that social dimensions of climate change adaptation in cities, especially in the Global North, are largely ignored. Therefore, this thesis aims to identify how social dimension issues of current local Climate Change Adaptation [CCA] in Stockholm County is perceived by CCA-practitioners and provide an overall understanding of how current local Climate Change Adaptation [CCA] materializes in Stockholm County. Five civil servants working as environmental planners/strategists were interviewed and part of a semi-structured interview study, which was analyzed through thematic analysis and an intersectional framework. The results suggest that current local CCA prioritizes specific climate hazards (Floods and different erosion- related hazards), certain buildings (new developments), and certain evaluations (technical). In addition, heatwaves, existing built environments, and social dimension assessments were shown to be of less focus in current local CCA. The results from the intersectional franmework showed that specific identity categories are considered in certain climate hazards, specifically in heatwaves that have clear health outcomes compared to the other hazards. It also shows that gender seems to be the least explored identity category of vulnerability in current local CCA-practice. / Stockholms län genomför för närvarande klimatanpassnings-åtgärder, vilket gör det viktigt att urskilja hur det tar sig i uttryck. Tidigare forskning har signalerat att sociala dimensioner klimatanpassning av städer, särskilt i det globala Nord, i stort sett har ignorerats. Därför syftar denna uppsats till att ge en övergripande förståelse för hur klimatanpassning inom Stockholms län tar sig i uttryck och vilka sociala perspektiv bedöms relevanta verksamma tjänstemän inom klimatanpassning. Uppsatsen hade två forskningsfrågor: 1) Enligt tjänstemän som arbetar med klimatanpassning inom Stockholms län, vad prioriteras och vad prioriteras inte inom nuvarande klimatanpassnings-praxis för en klimatrisk, och varför? 2)Enligt tjänstemän som arbetar med klimatanpassning inom Stockholms län, vem anses vara sårbar inom klimatanpassning, och var inom nuvarande klimatanpassnings-praxis tas det i åtanke? Uppsatsen har förlitats sig i stort på intersektionalitet som ett analytiskt verktyg och som vägledning i en litteraturstudie. Eftersom klimatanpassning utförs inom fysisk planering av kommunen, har fem tjänstemän som arbetar som miljöplanerare eller miljö-strateger intervjuats i en semistrukturerad intervjustudie. Materialet har analyserades genom tematisk analys. Den tematiska analysen gav tre typer av teman, där en viss prioritering kunde urskiljas. Resultaten tyder på att nuvarande klimatanpassning prioriterar specifika klimatrisker (översvämningar, ras och skred), vissa byggnader (ny bebyggelse) och vissa utvärderingar (tekniska). Dessutom visade resultatet på att värmeböljor, befintliga miljöer och bedömningar av sociala dimensioner är av mindre vikt och fokus inom klimatanpassning. Den tematiska analysen gav även ett fjärde tema kallat Sårbarheter. Under detta tema, presenterades hur sårbarheter inför klimatförändringar uppfattas av de intervjuade tjänstemännen och de angivna sårbarheterna analyserades med ett befintligt intersektionellt ramverk. Resultaten från den intersektionella analysen visar att specifika identitetskategorier beaktas mer i vissa klimatrisker, till exempel vid värmeböljor som har tydliga hälsokonsekvenser jämfört med andra extrema väderhändelser. Den visar också att kön är den minst utforskade i dagens klimatanpassnings- praxis i Stockholms Län.

In times that reveal the consequences of climate change, cities are using urban greening as a potential measure in their climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. Greenery in the city regulates the climate and balances temperature extremes through evapotranspiration and air humidification, spending shade and increased air circulation. Many cities in Germany, such as the City of Cologne, have established funding programmes for private stakeholders to support the greening of buildings. Greened buildings contribute to a reduction of the urban heat island effect by decreasing temperatures through increased evapotranspiration, increased air circulation and air humidification and a higher reflective power (albedo). The greening of buildings also cools down the building itself forming a natural insulation layer, shading and the reflection of sun energy. However, in most cities the potential for houses that could be greened is barely utilized. This study explores variables that influence the residents’ attitudinal and behavioural acceptance towards greening their building in Cologne Deutz. Survey research was conducted based on a theoretical framework that explains how external variables form beliefs that lead to attitudinal acceptance (positive attitude) and eventually behavioural acceptance (actual behaviour). The survey was designed to examine attitudinal acceptance and behavioural intention to act, as behavioural acceptance is difficult to measure. The main variables found to influence the residents’ attitudinal acceptance and behavioural intention towards the greening of buildings were ecological aspects, such as an increase of nature in the urban environment, an improvement of the urban climate, air quality and street cooling, and climate change. Visual-aesthetic aspects also played a major role, while finances and funding possibilities had a special influence on the perceived ease of use of greening one’s building. Amongst the sample of this study attitudinal acceptance and behavioural intention were categorized as high. Reasons that could explain the low amount of greening measure implementation were a possible lack of knowledge (of funding possibilities), a low number of private property owners, and an imbalance in the distribution of tangible advantages and disadvantages amongst tenants and landlords.

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Climate resilience is increasingly an attribute of competitive global cities. Cities that are most responsive to change will continue to prosper. To achieve this, governance structures and decision-making approaches that promote flexible and/or robust adaptation action are required. This thesis introduces a framework for urban adaptation planning that links medium-term risk management with the development and appraisal of long-term adaptation pathways. A long-term plan informed by the appraisal of a range of plausible pathways provides the opportunity to retain the flexibility to respond to future uncertainties, whilst also demonstrating how a city could manage future climate risk. This provides stakeholders with confidence that long-term risk is adequately considered, even if there is not a need to act immediately. To demonstrate how adaptation pathways can support adaptation decision-making in an urban system, the approach and methods developed as part of this thesis are applied in London. Adaptation pathways in response to water scarcity, surface water flood and heat risk were developed, and their appraisal presented as pathways diagrams. These diagrams provide a visual representation of the sequencing of decision points and plausible adaptation actions that may be implemented in the future. Pathways diagrams present climate risk and adaptation information for decision-makers in a salient and actionable manner. The pathways responding to individual risks in London are then brought together to demonstrate how an integrated assessment framework may be used to appraise city-scale adaptation pathways that respond to multiple climate risks. The growing emphasis within adaptation planning on approaches that can react flexibly to change increases the need to better understand the dynamics of climate risk and embed learning about the effectiveness of adaptation actions. To complement the pathways and adaptation decision-making research presented in this thesis, a framework that links adaptation monitoring and evaluation (M&E), risk assessment and decision-making is presented and explored to highlight the potential benefits of, and mechanisms for, adaptation M&E to inform and strengthen iterative risk-based adaptation planning. Demonstrated for the Thames Estuary, where concepts of adaptation planning have been pioneered but the opportunities of linking to monitoring and evaluation have not been extensively explored, we show how the framework can highlight actions and factors that are contributing to improving adaptation outcomes and those that require strengthening. This thesis contributes to the literature on urban climate change adaptation planning under conditions of uncertainty. This thesis also contributes to the evidence base needed to justify long-term planning and realise the benefits of climate risk reduction through the implementation of flexible, long-term integrated urban adaptation plans.