September 20, 2024
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change defines maladaptation as adaptation actions that inadvertently exacerbate, redistribute, or introduce new climate vulnerabilities.
At the 2024 Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center’s Annual Gathering in East Lansing, Michigan, postdoctoral researchers affiliated with the MW CASC and the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment hosted a discussion focused on the topic of maladaptation with around 30 participants. Their goal was to build individual and shared understandings of maladaptation for Midwest natural and cultural resource managers and researchers, drawing from the perspectives and experiences of these adaptation professionals.
The discussion was oriented around two questions for session participants:
- How do you define and understand maladaptation?
- How do we move forward from here?
The researchers analyzed the discussion and found that participants coalesced around several themes in their definition and understanding of maladaptation and ways we might increase awareness of maladaptation within the MW CASC and broader resource management communities. Their findings are summarized in this report.