Strengthening the knowledge-policy interface through co-production of a climate adaptation plan: leveraging opportunities in Bergrivier Municipality, South AfricaEnvironment and Urbanization

This special issue on urban livelihoods was developed in collaboration with WIEGO.

Despite the growth of adaptation plans and action by municipalities, there are limited examples of opportunities for effectively mainstreaming climate adaptation into policy and practice in local government. This paper uses the experiment of co-producing an adaptation plan for a small municipality in the Western Cape Province, South Africa, to illustrate how opportunities were leveraged. The findings suggest that a shift from strengthening the science–policy interface to the knowledge–policy interface might be more appropriate in the context of adaptation planning that requires an understanding of the local context as well as of global science.