This report by Paul Shabajee and Chris Preist of the Department of Computer Science and Malcolm Fairbrother and John-David Dewsbury of the School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, describes the outcomes of a short project to explore the potential roles of information and communication technologies (ICT) in climate change adaptation, funded by the Cabot Institute’s Open Call for 2012/2013 .

The initial goals of the project were to:

• Gain a high-level overview of the landscape of climate change adaptation, including the range of challenges that climate change presents
• Identify potential roles of ICT in climate change adaptation, with a tentative initial (orientating) focus at the community level and the applications of mobile device applications

The project involved a review of relevant literatures and current practices, as well as informal interviews and conversations, and has led to the development of a prototype framework for the characterisation of ICT projects (ICT4Adaptation) and the proactive generation of ideas for potential ICT4Adapation initiatives.

This report provides an introduction to the potential roles of ICT in climate change adaptation, and outlines the current and evolving practice in ICT for adaptation.

It goes on to describe the prototype framework and its systemic and generative nature.

Read the full report (PDF, 981kB)

Main contact: paul.shabajee@bristol.ac.uk