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Question 1

vulnerability

Answer 1

the degree to which a system is susceptible to, and unable to cope with, the adverse effects of climate change

Question 2

adaptive capacity

Answer 2

the social and technical skills and strategies of individuals and groups that are directed towards responding to environmental and socio-economic changes
OR
actions that reduce the negative impact of climate change, while taking advantage of potential new opportunities

Question 3

resilience

Answer 3

the degree of shock or change that can be tolerated while the system maintains its structure, basic functioning and organization (you need to understand the resilience of a system (e.g. crop production) to a threath/shock (drought/floods). systems can also benefit from shocks)

Question 4

adaptive (water/delta) management

Answer 4

a planning approach for dealing with long-term uncertainties in water management

Question 5

an adaptation turning point

Answer 5

situation where the performance of (water)management policy and practices drop below a decisive level OR situation where, due to climate change, current governance agreements will no longer be able to meet their objectives and alternative strategies have to be considered. if such a situation is thinkable, climate change becomes particularly relevant to decision makers OR situation in which the socio-political threshold is reached, due to cc induced changes in the biophysical system

Question 6

adaptation turning point perspective

Answer 6

timely concept for bringing together concerns and insights about how much stress a system can absorb before losing its function, when this is likely to happen, why people may care, and what can be done

Question 7

identifying/assessing adaptation turning point

Answer 7

gives info on whether and when current management practices fail and other strategies are needed

1. scope the assessment: identify target region and socio-ecological sectors of concern
2. identify key potential impacts of CC (what is (un)acceptable)
3. identify the climate conditions under which the thresholds are reached
4. timing of turning points: use existing scenarios to assess when turning points are likely to occur

Question 8

adaptation pathways

Answer 8

in an adaptive plan, adaptation pathways capture the implementation process by specifying which measures are to be taken now and which are planned to be implemented once certain conditions occur

Question 9

three clusters of approaches to make adaptation pathways plus the desired outcomes

Answer 9

performance-threshold oriented –> meeting short and long-term adaptation needs
multi-stakeholder oriented –> promoting collaborative learning, adaptive planning and adaptive capacity
transformation oriented –> accounting for complexity and long-term change, including a potential need for transformation

Question 10

how do adaptation pathways help to deal with uncertainty?

Answer 10

• they incorporate flexibility into decision-making
• they consider uncertainty and embed flexibility in planning by specifying what measures need to be taken now and what measures need to be taken once specific conditions occur