How to mobilise social capital for collective action? An empirically grounded conceptual model of triggers, motivators, and inhibitors for collective climate change adaptation

Abstract

Adapting to the increasing climate change impacts in hotspots of exposure and vulnerability is a collective action problem that requires broad joint efforts to reduce current and future risks. Local communities in these hotspots are often characterised by a high socio-economic vulnerability; at the same time, they also feature characteristics that may increase their resilience, such as social networks and cohesion, norms of reciprocity, and self-organisation. While there is much research on the role of such social capital in increasing communities’ adaptive capacity in the context of climate change, there is still insufficient understanding of the factors that mobilise it for on-the-ground collective action. Our paper draws on a review of the literature on social capital, social identity and collective action, as well as examples from empirical research across climate change hotpots such as coastal megacities and small islands. We find that different types of factors play a role in individual and collective mobilisation and regarding actions towards long-term adaptation versus short-term coping. Hence, our findings highlight the need to differentiate between different types of facilitators of collective action, namely, initial triggers, long-term motivators, and barriers. Such a temporal differentiation may help to better understand collective adaptation efforts in climate change hotspots. Moreover, our findings are relevant for decision-makers and adaptation planners as they may help to develop targeted advocacy for effective collective action in local communities, avoid potentially maladaptive top-down decision-making, and complement other resilience-building efforts.