Notes: Dr. Susi Moser is Director and Principal Researcher of - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Notes: Dr. Susi Moser is Director and Principal Researcher of Susanne Moser Research & Consultjng. She is also a Social Science Research Fellow at the Woods Instjtute for the Environment at Stanford University. Her work focuses on adaptatjon to climate change, vulnerability, resilience, climate change communicatjon, social change, decision support and the interactjon between scientjsts, policy-makers and the public. She is a geographer by training with a Ph.D. from Clark University in Worchester, MA. Date: January 10, 2018 Time: 3.00 – 4.00 p.m. (EST)

Collaborative Science for Estuaries Webinar Series • Monthly webinars • Feature research, integrated assessment, and science transfer projects funded by the NERRS Science Collaborative • Feature the efforts of Science Collaborative team members as they engage the reserve system

National Estuarine Research Reserve Notes: System The Natjonal Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) is a network of 29 research reserves protected for long- term research, water quality monitoring, educatjon, and coastal stwewardship. These reserves represent a partnership between NOAA and coastal states. The mission of NERRS is to practjce and promote the stewardship of coasts and estuaries through research, educatjon, and training using a place-based system of protected areas. Reserves pursue this mission in a highly collaboratjve way with a wide variety of partners.

Notes: NERRS Science Collaborative The NERRS Science Collaboratjve, which is currently housed at the University of Michigan’s Water Center through a cooperatjve agreement with NOAA, supports research, assessment, and • Research funding mechanism for the NERRS, which science transfer actjvitjes that address the needs of reserves in order to improve stewardship of coastal and estuarine supports: ecosystems. The research funded by Science Collaboratjve is distjnctjve because it - Reserve management needs integrates end users into the research process itself to produce outcome- oriented products that are used by end - Highly collaborative projects (integrate end users) users and decision-makers. - Outcome-oriented products

Notes: This webinar focuses on Dr. Susi Moser’s Successful Adaptatjon Indicators & Metrics (SAIM) project that has engaged the Natjonal Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) SUCCESSFUL ADAPTATION in the task of tracking successful adaptatjons to climate change by identjfying relevant indicators of change and the metrics to measure implementatjon. The project INDICATORS & METRICS (SAIM) explored what successful adaptatjon looks like at difgerent reserves and how they can develop indicators and metrics (I&M) to PROJECT determine if they are making adequate progress toward their defjned goals and vision of success. From Pilots to System - wide Benefit Susi Moser, Ph.D. NERRS Science Collaborative Susanne Moser Research & Consulting January 10, 2018 NERRS Science Collaborative

Notes: Acknowledgements Susi thanked the many people that contributed to this project and to foundatjonal projects leading to the SAIM efgort. She partjcularly thanked all the NERRS Max Boykoff and 40+ book contributors stafg that have been involved in the SAIM project. Successful Adaptation (Moser et. al.) National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NOAA, UM) Successful Adaptation Indicators & Metrics (SAIM) Project + Dozens of partners, collaborators, & stakeholders James Arnott 6 Project Assistant

Notes: Overview This presentatjon fjrst focuses on what adaptatjon success means; then reports on the SAIM project actjvitjes, and third distjlls some lessons learned to date about defjning, tracking and using indicators and metrics for • A Bit of Background on “Adaptation Success” adaptatjon. • Work with the National Estuarine Research Reserve System – Pilots in developing, selecting, tracking indicators and metrics of success • Sharing lessons across the NERR System, coastal America, others interested in adaptation

Summary Points: Background & Origin This project was based on work that looked at climate adaptatjon success. • The fjrst was an edited volume Susi co- authored in 2013, which pulled together Foundation #1 Foundation #2 the literature on successful adaptatjon to climate change up untjl then and explored some of the key challenges in defjning adaptatjon success. The key message from that efgort was how complicated it is to say what “success” in adaptatjon is. It has many difgerent components and dimensions, including questjons of: o How should adaptatjon success be measured? o When should it be measured? o Who should measure it? o At what scale should it be measured? And so on • Another project providing important background involved a Sea Grant-funded project on the west coast (lower case) that engaged a wide range of stakeholders in an efgort to understand the key dimensions of adaptatjon success. This efgort provided important foundatjonal informatjon about what success looks like when an agency or community is successfully adaptjng to climate change. 9

Summary Points: Findings: Common reasons why people care about Why do people care about adaptatjon success? adaptation success Why is it useful to think about it? • Climate change, partjcularly in coastal areas, is a gloomy topic that people ofuen see as Overarching: Responsibility for safeguarding people, overwhelming and insurmountable. Focusing on ways to measure success engenders hope economy, infrastructure, cultural assets, environment and brings stakeholders together to become part of a co-creatjve process of success. 1. Communication and public engagement • In order to engage in deliberate planning and decision-making, it’s critjcally important to • Communicating hope and desirable goal to work towards set clear goals and align your means and ends toward them. • Defining a common vision among diverse stakeholders • Coastal adaptatjon is one of many prioritjes that requires funding. It’s important to be 2. Deliberate planning and decision-making able to demonstrate the success of specifjed objectjves and criteria in order to justjfy • Setting clear goals, aligning means and ends (internal funding. consistency) • There’s a growing demand for accountability in the public and private sector for • Best fit with other policy goals (external consistency) expenditures. So being able to track how well you have done is also critjcal. 3. Justification of adaptation expenditures • And fjnally, adaptatjon is an ongoing and iteratjve process - it’s important to monitor 4. Accountability/good governance progress toward goals and metrics, learn from what is not going well, and make adjustments 5. Support for learning and adaptive management as needed.

Summary Points: Although there are many reasons why Findings: Good reasons for NOT thinking about success people care about defjning and tracking successful adaptatjon, there are also good reasons why people do not want to want to do it... • It can open up funding and politjcal sensitjvitjes. • Political sensitivities • It takes a lot of work to defjne, track, and fund success. • Funding sensitivities • It’s work, takes capacity, funding… (“It’s too hard” is NOT a good reason!)

Summary Points: Findings: Top-level, cross-cutting insights • Success is diffjcult to defjne and success for one person or group may not be success for another. • There is no one target or metric. It’s multj-dimensional. • What is viewed as “success” depends in part on how you • With contjnuing climate change, “success” in adaptatjon is never fjnal, interpret “adaptation” so it is valuable to think of progress or efgectjveness in achieving something you said you wanted to do rather than • “Success” tends to be more difficult to define than “failure” fjxate on a fjnite notjon of success. • While there may be positive synergies, often “success” in one area involves trade -offs in others (across sectors, scales) • With continuing climate change, “success” in adaptation is never final > “progress” • There is no one target or metric > multi- dimensional

Summary Points: Findings: Six key dimensions of adaptation success • The project came up with six key dimensions of adaptatjon success/ progress. If you do not discuss or measure what is happening in each dimension, you fundamentally cannot tell the story of adaptatjon success. Adaptive Capacity • In thinking about success, it’s important to ask: • Establish enabling conditions • Build up social, technical, human, financial etc. capacities o What process are you settjng up?, o How are you making decisions?, o What actjons are actually taken? o What do they result in?/do they Adaptation Adaptation Adaptation Adaptation achieve a desired outcome?, Decision- Implementation Outcomes Process Making o Is the necessary capacity there? and • Successfully • Find adaptation * Conduct the implement outcomes to be o Are the barriers encountered in that assessment and •Select a “good” specific “good”, or planning process adaptation process being overcome? option adaptation “acceptable” “right” actions, next step •Make a “good” •Avoid * Engage in •Set up ongoing maladaptation adaptation continual process decision assessment of adaptation needs Adaptation Barriers • Identify and develop effective strategies to overcome barriers to adaptation (institutional, motivational, political, financial, scientific etc.)