MHWadapt · Understanding local adaptations to marine heatwaves

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are prolonged extreme oceanic warm water events, which can have devastating impacts on coastal ecosystems. The observed and projected future increase in MHW’s intensity and frequency is a growing threat for island societies that strongly depend on oceanic conditions and resources. MHWs cannot be prevented, but their socio-economic impacts could be limited with sustainable adaptation strategies. Such adaptation will only be efficient if guided by inclusive, place-based but scalable knowledge on the vulnerability of different groups of coastal resource users. I will use the theory of Gender Equity and Social Inclusion to develop a comprehensive understanding of values for nature, nature’s contributions to people (NCP) and anthropogenic capitals to support sustainable climate change adaptation. MHWadapt has three objectives: to (1) understand the relationship between decisions regarding adaptations and values for nature and NCP; (2) identify and characterise the anthropogenic capitals that underpin coastal resource users decisions; and (3) to gain in-depth knowledge of the feedback loops between values for nature, anthropogenic capitals and NCP co-production with climate change adaptation. MHWadapt differs from existing approaches that concentrate on top-down or natural science based approaches to climate change adaptation which overlook that social and ecological outcomes are interdependent and cannot be understood separately. Using novel methods (e.g., photo-voice, participatory GIS) in study areas in New Caledonia and Fiji, I will develop place-based, yet scalable scientific and transformative knowledge. The implementation of MHWadapt will draw on my skills in social science and the host’s research excellence on MHWs, including their ongoing fieldwork in my study regions. This setup ensures a theoretical and empirical foundation for my research and a forum for communicating my results to non-academic actors in the South Pacific and Europe.