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AdaptNRM > Adaptation Planning > The NRM Adaptation Checklist

Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is where NRM vision and overall goals and priorities are set.

If these are not consistent with the challenges of climate adaptation, it can become difficult to meet climate adaptation challenges in sub-strategies and implementation plans. It is important, as part of an iterative framework, that changes are considered when the need becomes apparent and sufficient flexibility is built into plans.

The following five questions were designed to check steps are in place to build just such a plan:

  • GeneralHave you developed a climate-appropriate vision for your region?

    If you answered yes

    Consider exposing more people from your region to these futures in your extension and outreach materials. If your vision is very high level, you may need to consider multiple futures more closely in your lower level principles and objectives. If you articulated multiple visions, you may need your principles and objectives to be relevant across them. Ensure this is carried forward into your implementation planning.

    If you answered no

    You may wish to undertake a scenario planning or future thinking exercise against which you test your possible visions.

    This report from the SEQ CARI project (South-east Queensland Climate Adaptation Research Initiative) provides a description of the scenario planning process.

    Victoria’s Department of Environment and Primary Industries outlines a process for visioning:

    Have limited resources?

    Setting climate appropriate visions, principles and objectives needn’t require any additional resources – it may simply involve thinking in a different way when envisioning positive futures for your region.  Developing scenarios and using visioning approaches based on multiple climate futures, explored simultaneously with experts and the community, can provide a structured way to do this.

  • GeneralDo you check whether the principles and objectives underneath your vision are also climate-appropriate and whether they are consistent with each other?

    If you answered yes

    Ensure that throughout your planning process you self-assess against these objectives and principles at all levels and stages to help keep your plan appropriate for the future. You can also start to consider whether you have goals related to adaptive capacity.

    If you answered no

    You may wish to work with your Board and stakeholders to get this step right. This will help drive the strategic direction of your planning document and will be a strong driver of success.

    Michael Dunlop from CSIRO led a team that considered what types of biodiversity conservation objectives might be considered ‘climate-ready’ and developed a basic tool to guide practitioners through making these decisions themselves. The basic methodology could be modified for a range of domains, not just biodiversity.

    Have limited resources?

    The degree of effort and resources required to check for climate appropriate principles and objectives will vary considerably between regions, in part depending on whether current objectives are still likely to be appropriate. If recognised early then little additional planning work may be required. Where work is required, it may be a matter of diverting resources that might otherwise be used in implementation planning. If additional resources are required, the key may be to keep these strategic-level objectives relatively flexible, putting in place processes to review them frequently with small amounts of additional effort each time. In that case, the important thing is to ensure that objectives do not inadvertently reduce adaptive capacity or lock you into a maladaptive future.

  • GeneralDoes your plan include goals related to building adaptive capacity?

    If you answered yes

    You are well placed to successfully implement your plan. Continue investing in building adaptive capacity. This is also important in the implementation planning, monitoring and reflection processes.

    If you answered no

    We suggest the following resource that highlights the need to develop capacity so that transformations can be undertaken if necessary:

    The Sydney City Council developed guidelines for Local Governments to build adaptive capacity. This is a useful case study of a comprehensive process to build adaptive capacity in a regional setting:

    Have limited resources?

    The degree of effort and time put into this component will depend on its priority and how thoroughly you wish to explore it. You could base your goals and objectives on detailed studies of adaptive capacity in your region, or on rules of thumb (like legitimising local knowledge and values, simply sharing information to give people the motivation and tools to be adaptive, and increasing native vegetation extent and connectivity).

  • GeneralDo you explicitly incorporate flexibility into either your plan or the plan review process?

    If you answered yes

    You are well placed to deal with future challenges and emerging knowledge. Ensure you maintain flexibility in future decisions and plans.  You are now able to begin to look at consistency between your plan and other relevant plans in your catchment.

    If you answered no

    Travers and colleagues (2013) provide a case study of the Peron Naturaliste coastal region in Western Australia that highlights the tradeoffs between providing a robust, prescriptive project methodology at the initial funding stage versus exploring an emerging pathway that enables project partners to achieve intended project outcomes. This is difficult because often good-practice only becomes apparent during project implementation.

    Have limited resources?

    At the moment, plans are often updated somewhat infrequently because the process is exhaustive and resource-intensive. There are however, several NRM groups who are looking to develop dynamic and ‘living’ plans. Creating flexibility involves being willing and able to truly update rather than completely re-build, and may be more possible with limited resources if many staff have planning skills rather than those skills residing in a single planner.

  • GeneralDo you try to ensure your plan and the plans of your stakeholders are consistent?

    If you answered yes

    You are working well with your stakeholders. Maintain this cooperation and open dialogue as you progress through the planning and implementation process. Also keep track of the processes you followed to do this and ensure that this is redone over time.

    If you answered no

    Ro Hill from CSIRO specialises in collaborative environmental governance. This is a paper she led that outlines and tests specific tools for the process:

    • Hill R, Williams KJ, Pert PL, Robinson CJ, Dale AP, Westcott DA, Grace RA, O’Malley T. 2010. Adaptive community-based biodiversity conservation in Australia’s tropical rainforest. Environmental Conservation. 37 (1):73-82. (available on ResearchGate (www.researchgate.net)

    Consider holding a workshop in order to facilitate a two-way sharing of plans, visions and objectives. Undertake a visioning exercise as part of the workshop to help identify a common vision and priorities (the first question in Strategic Planning). A workshop could also be based on a shared understanding of vulnerability to then build common strategic visions.  The UKCIP have developed a tool for assessing vulnerability using workshops: http://www.ukcip.org.uk/wizard/future-climate-vulnerability/bacliat/.

    Have limited resources?

    This step can be done quickly through a workshop review approach or can be done more systematically with approaches and tools to support decisions and reprioritisation. One way to facilitate alignment and consistency while maintaining individuality is through agreeing on a few climate futures to plan for among all stakeholders, and co-developing associated climate-appropriate visions.