Cities increasingly need to transform public spaces in response to developments such as rapid urbanization, changing public demands, and the impacts of climate change. These transformations create complex public space governance challenges that require coordination and collaboration across policy domains and administrative levels. However, few studies have examined intra-organizational collaboration between civil servants from different departments within a single municipality in the transformation of complex and multifunctional public spaces. This study addresses this gap by analyzing collaboration between two municipal departments involved in the transformation of the ‘Dakpark’ in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. The findings reveal an imbalance between inter- and intra-organizational collaboration, with an emphasis on external collaboration that at times undermines internal coordination. This imbalance is linked to the absence of formal governance frameworks to establish, guide, and sustain effective intra-organizational processes. At the same time, the analysis identifies enabling mechanisms such as actor agency, interpersonal trust, and informal coordination that supported collaboration. Despite a decentralized and subtask-oriented organizational structure, individual and process-level factors, including interpersonal relationships, trust, and a collegial atmosphere, positively influenced collaboration across municipal departments. This article contributes to the international debate on public space governance by highlighting the importance of intra-organizational collaboration in urban transformation and by providing insights from the Dakpark case that may inform similar governance contexts.

Urban climate change adaptation action is urgently needed in light of escalating climate change impacts. As the primary scientific assessment body for climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides crucial knowledge to support global, national and sub-national governance efforts. This paper investigates the pathways via which IPCC affects climate policy, focusing on its role in urban adaptation action. Through a literature review and two case studies in India and the Netherlands, we captured important elements in IPCC policy impact pathways along the dimensions of inputs, outputs and outcomes. We used scientometric analysis of urban policy documents as well as interviews with local policy actors to study whether IPCC knowledge is considered credible, relevant and legitimate (CRELE) to explain its uptake for local adaptation policy processes and outputs. We find that actors in both cities consider IPCC as a highly credible and legitimate knowledge authority, leading to its important role in shaping policy. The IPCC’s relevance and consequently the extent of its influence diverged with local knowledge needs and governance systems, with the Netherlands case study showing substantial, yet indirect IPCC influences, and the India case study more frequent but less extensive impacts. Our results show a variety of impact pathways from the IPCC’s credible knowledge and widely accepted scientific authority: identifying problems, framing issues, inspiring action and legitimizing policy decisions. To further enhance the IPCC’s applicability to diverse contexts while respecting its policy-neutral mandate, several recommendations are made, particularly for increased relevance to the Majority World.

In both scholarly and policy spheres, the importance of international climate finance in enabling developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change is seen as vital. In recent years, studies tracking climate finance flows to developing countries have relied on self-reported data by developed countries on climate finance provided. However, there is limited understanding of what happens once climate finance is received by developing countries, how it is distributed, and what challenges exist in disbursing and using it nationally. We address these knowledge gaps by analyzing adaptation finance flows in Ethiopia. Using a mixed-methods approach, including analysis of a domestic aid dataset, document analysis, and interviews with national-level government officials and donors, we ask: (i) how is international adaptation finance flowing through existing institutional structures and processes; (ii) what is the extent and scope of international adaptation finance received by Ethiopia over the period of 2011–2023? and (iii) what challenges exist in governing these financial flows and with what consequences for oversight of adaptation finance received at the national level? Our findings identify the complex factors and dynamics shaping national-level adaptation finance governance in Ethiopia, including lack of sufficient coordination and institutional tensions. In concluding, we draw out implications for promoting transparency and accountability within developing countries for international adaptation finance utilization, particularly since current debates on climate finance focus on developed country provision of finance rather than domestic dynamics of finance received.

In many cases, addressing climate risks requires transformative climate adaptation (TCA) that goes beyond small adjustments to existing systems. While scholars increasingly argue that participatory governance is key and should embrace conflict rather than push for consensus to enable TCA, this assumption remains underexplored. Therefore, this study investigates how participatory governance deals with conflict to enable TCA, drawing on a historical analysis of the Dutch Hegewarren case-a co-creation process that led to the decision to transform an agricultural polder into a natural peatland. We find that conflict serves TCA indirectly. By allowing for conflict and taking political alternatives seriously, the co-creation process created the enabling conditions for TCA. Specifically, allowing disagreement within the process improved participants' perceptions of the legitimacy of the co-creation process and its outcomes. Simultaneously, the co-creation process reshaped the social and cognitive context, reducing distrust and reframing conflicts as participants' perspectives evolved through sustained interaction. Finally, our analysis highlights the unpredictable nature of transformative change. We consider this the "magic" of conflict: moments when new combinations of problems and solutions spark contestation, yet simultaneously generate the energy needed for continuous improvement in later phases and open opportunities for policy change. By illuminating how participatory governance can productively engage with conflict, this research contributes to a better understanding of the conditions under which TCA becomes possible.

Transformational adaptation (TA) to climate risks has gained broad interest. While existing case studies and frameworks discuss key dimensions and elements that constitute TA to distinguish it from 'business as usual' or 'incremental' adaptation, a universally accepted definition of the concept remains elusive. Here we used a three-round Delphi study with experts from across the globe, to ascertain the level of agreement on key elements of TA, and to assess differences across expert types, geographical focus and administrative levels. We find broad agreement on 13 elements that are important in a definition of TA: root causes, climate resilience, time-horizon, diversity of knowledge, depth of change, distributive justice, context specificity, multiscale, restructuring, persistence, maladaptation, avoiding lock-ins and systemic change. However, notable differences exist in what expert subgroups value as important elements. Clarifying what TA entails is crucial for developing effective policies and strategies, ensuring meaningful progress in addressing climate change.

Funding adaptation action in developing countries through providing financing directly to national governments (direct access modalities) is gaining traction as a viable alternative to more traditional indirect access mechanisms, whereby funding is disbursed to intermediary organizations. Government actors in recipient countries now have greater opportunities than ever to develop their own project proposals and secure direct access finance for local adaptation projects targeting vulnerable communities. However, there is limited understanding of this modality's effectiveness in delivering adaptation projects locally. Here, we examine the implementation of one of the Green Climate Fund's Ethiopian government-led local adaptation projects, financed through the direct access mechanism. Using a case study approach that uses document analysis (n = 28 documents), direct observation, 18 focus groups with intended beneficiary communities (n = 219), and 25 interviews with multi-level government actors, we ask: To what extent has the adaptation project financed through the direct access modality delivered its intended outputs and outcomes at the local level, and what factors explain any implementation gaps? Our results reveal implementation gaps within this direct-access Green Climate Fund-financed adaptation project in Ethiopia, shaped by a complex set of factors, such as power imbalances in adaptation finance governance, weak (inter)national oversight, inadequate monitoring and accountability measures, and failure to recognize local community needs and context. Overall, our findings have important implications for both bilateral and multilateral donors aiming to enhance impactful local adaptation investments in developing countries through experimenting with different financing channels.

Background: The Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) are an essential framework for understanding how future socioeconomic changes could alter the magnitude and pattern of climate-related risks across sectors and the challenges for adaptation and mitigation responses. However, drivers of population health have yet to be formally integrated into the SSPs, resulting in fragmented climate-health modeling approaches and interpretation challenges. Previous global health modeling emphasized estimating changes in disease burdens in response to changing weather patterns, with limited incorporation of additional risk factors. Methods: We rectify this gap by providing health narratives for each of the five SSPs, through a framework detailing the potential population health consequences of changes in social, economic, health system, and other health drivers. The narratives were informed by insights from 63 global climate and health experts, following a June 2025 workshop. Findings: Population health drivers diverge substantially over the century depending on policy decisions and socioeconomic changes under the SSPs. The SSP3 and SSP4 narratives detail many changes that might contribute significant risks to health, while the SSP1 and SSP5 narratives showcase the role of effective governance and adequate resourcing in contributing to positive population health outcomes and health system drivers. Interpretation: The final narratives provide key insights that can improve the robustness and policy relevance of projections of possible future population health and health system risks. These narratives can facilitate decision-making that accounts for a range of climate and development pathways, as well as projections of cross-sectoral issues (e.g., health, water, and energy). Further research will quantify additional key health drivers. Funding: Wellcome Project Grant 313527/Z/24/Z

The complexity of the EU food system poses a significant challenge to the transition towards sustainable and healthy food consumption, as interdependent factors reproduce stable social structures that resist change. The concept of leverage points (LPs) helps identify strategic intervention points to stimulate system change. However, focusing on individual LPs often entails trade-offs between transformative feasibility and depth. Moreover, existing LP approaches tend to overlook the long-term co-evolution of interrelated social structures. To address this gap, we connect LP categories to mechanisms that accelerate progress along four transition pathways that predict potential future dynamics. We apply this synthesized framework to expert focus group data, demonstrating how specific LP configurations can deliberately accelerate system transitions. Taking innovations as entry points, we identify LP configurations that support the upscaling and spreading of these innovations throughout the system. Our findings suggest that blending deep and shallow LPs may help to overcome system inertia. Nonetheless, multiple, co-existing transition pathways across diverse subsystems may be required to fully confront the scale and urgency of sustainability and health challenges in the EU food system.

ABSTRACT The need to adapt to current and future climate impacts and the importance of tracking progress across time‐scales and locations has long been called for. Yet designing and implementing tracking frameworks for climate change adaptation (CCA) remains a challenge for various conceptual, empirical, and methodological reasons. Part of the challenge also lies in the politically contested nature of CCA tracking, which is important to understand but often overlooked, as tracking tends to be framed as a scientific and objective process. To address this gap, we review 47 peer‐reviewed articles found to discuss aspects of political contestations of tracking CCA. Through a thematic analysis, we interpretatively identify and theorize three areas of political contestations underpinning CCA tracking: (1) underlying assumptions and motives to track; (2) design of tracking metrics; and (3) the use and consequences of metrics. Our analysis reveals that although political contestations may not always be explicitly mentioned in peer‐reviewed literature, they are recognized, even as they receive limited empirical examination. We conclude with critically drawing out implications of these political contestations and discussing how tracking CCA can reinforce or contest what is included and supported within CCA policy through its performative impacts on authority, recognition, responsibility, and participation. These insights provide a comprehensive overview of the politically contested nature of CCA tracking and offer practical insights on these contestations and their real‐world implications. This article is categorized under: Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change > Institutions for Adaptation

Global evidence of climate change adaptation is increasing faster than assessment capabilities of conventional systematic review approaches. To inform better decisions based on this growing literature, the Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative deployed AI-assisted and crowd-sourced methods for synthesising and tracking adaptation globally, offering important knowledge for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Global Stocktake. Here we present results of a survey with Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative researchers regarding the lessons learned and recommendations for future global evidence syntheses on adaptation: transparently reflect on the compromises regarding breadth vs depth of the synthesis; employ the highest standards of quality assurance for human coding; promote justice and equity within synthesis teams; extend the scope beyond academic literature; and further integrate machine learning methods. Building on these learnings, future work can contribute to a more holistic understanding of adaptation progress and raise the standard of adaptation evidence synthesis. Future adaptation syntheses need to balance the scope trade-offs, ensure rigorous coding standards, promote justice and equity in teams, include non-academic evidence, and better integrate machine learning, according to a survey of Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative researchers.

Cities play a crucial role in adapting to climate change. Climate services for adaptation are increasingly developed by scientists, knowledge brokers, consultants, and other producers, to assist cities in their adaptation efforts. It is widely advised that these knowledge products and processes be co-produced with city users to ensure their usability and uptake. The assumption is that a better process leads to better outcomes, facilitating learning about the needs of cities and the potential of climate services for adaptation. Consequently, what producers and users consider a successful climate service may evolve over time. However, the mechanisms and reasons behind the evolution of these success perceptions remain unexplored. This study aims to fill this gap. Using an explaining-outcome process-tracing approach, this study analyzed the success perceptions of key stakeholders in a climate service co-production case for the city of Logrono, Spain. The study reveals that what defines success is socially constructed, can change over time, and is influenced by personal characteristics, interactions with others, and the context in which the process takes place. Success perceptions were shaped through a dynamic interplay between individual and social learning among stakeholders, while factors such as experience, trust-building, and resources for co-production played important roles. 'Learning-by-doing' and 'reality-check' mechanisms explain changes in success perception, while a 'self-reinforcement' mechanism accounted for a stable success perception. The finding that the concept of success is dynamic and not fixed should be taken into account in future research and practices aimed at developing successful climate services for adaptation.

The 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) marked a key moment in deliberating a transformation of the global food system. At the same time, the UNFSS process received considerable criticism for alleged industry capture and high symbolism. Here we assess the extent to which the summit has contributed to ambitious policy follow-up at national level. Using natural language processing tools, we systematically analyse and compare the content of 124 national food system pathway documents. We find that food production dominates these pathways, while issues such as food distribution, processing, consumption, environmental impacts, labour conditions and animal welfare receive minimal attention. Despite different national food system challenges, the pathways show limited variation in topics raised, closely following predefined global agendas. Our results suggest that the policy directions of UNFSS national pathways are mainly within the current food system, while more fundamental critiques of the food system are not raised.

Climate change adaptation occurs within a complex interplay of science, media, politics, policy, and the public. Using comparative longitudinal data (2012-2021) from online newspaper articles, parliamentary debates, policy documents, and social media, we analyze agenda-setting dynamics in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Vector autoregression models, incorporating scientific output as an exogenous variable, reveal traditional agenda-setting effects in both countries. In the Netherlands, however, social media positively influences traditional media, while in the United Kingdom, traditional media negatively affects social media. These findings enrich our understanding of the factors shaping public awareness and policy responses to this critical global issue.

While coordination within the European Commission is crucial for shaping policy proposals, existing research has yet fully to explain the conditions under which these proposals undergo substantial change before they are adopted. This article analyses what explains the occurrence of substantial change in draft Commission Strategies between their introduction in the Commission's Interservice Consultation (ISC) process and their final adoption. Using fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and an original dataset of 30 Strategies adopted under the first Von der Leyen Commission, we identify a number of (combinations of) conditions that explain substantial change in a draft Strategy during these internal coordination processes. The analysis shows that three specific configurations of conditions - or paths - may lead to substantial change. These relate to external pressure, bureaucratic politics and policy insider dynamics, respectively. Although these findings partly confirm the conditions that have been put forward in the literature, they also show that substantial change can be triggered by different combinations of conditions, which reflect either external or internal dynamics in coordination processes within the Commission.

Climate services are increasingly developed and used to plan for climate change adaptation, but their success is poorly evaluated. A main reason is that an operational framework to support climate service researchers and practitioners pursuing evaluation is lacking. This study addresses this gap by developing and testing a robust and systematic evaluation framework in three steps. First, we designed a framework by operationalising agreed upon criteria for assessing climate service success. Second, the framework was tested in two climate service cases. Third, the usability, credibility, and transparency of the framework was assessed by climate service researchers and practitioners, including those engaged in the cases.Our findings show that developed framework offers a standardized approach to evaluation, providing indicators, metrics, and guidance that enable the evaluator to provide a quantitative rating for each criterion. However, the robustness of ratings in the two cases was compromised due to limited interaction with targeted users during the development process and lack a of clear goals set from the beginning. This hampered incorporating the perception of a representative group of users and measuring impacts. Overall, the framework was considered usable by researchers and practitioners for various applications, including using it as design criteria, to facilitate learning, to guide development, and to support monitoring and evaluation. While generally perceived as credible and transparent, the framework would benefit from further testing and elaboration into practical materials. The study highlights that evaluation is done best when evaluation criteria are considered early in the development of the climate service. Practical implications: Climate services are seen as important means to support and accelerate adaptation action. While investments in climate service development and use are increasing, their evaluation typically falls short. One reason for this is the lack of a sound evaluation framework. This study aimed to develop a robust and systematic evaluation framework that can be used in both science and practice settings. The framework was tested in two implemented climate service cases, and evaluated by climate service users, practitioners, and researchers, as well as by the evaluators themselves. Supplementary file 2 provides the framework, and an accompanying protocol describing important process steps to apply it. It also offers guidance on how to consider the success criteria during the development stages of a climate service, through guiding questions and a checklist. Here we present the practical implications of this study by (1) outlining the basic principles of the framework, summarizing the results of (2) testing and (3) evaluating the framework that have most practical relevance, and (4) highlighting suggestions for improving evaluation practice.1) Basic principles of the framework are: • It can be used for different types of evaluation (e.g. summative, formative, developmental) and applied to the broad range of possible climate services. • It is based on 12 success criteria selected in a Delphi study, where experts evaluated which elements are most relevant to define the success of climate services for adaptation (Boon et al., 2024). If deemed necessary for a specific climate service or context, criteria can be added. • It offers a total of 20 indicators with supporting metrics and directions to measure the criteria. Indicators were selected based on literature review, considering the most robust approach for measurement while dealing with time and budget restrictions. • Each criterion is evaluated on a scale from 1: unsuccessful to 5: successful, allowing easy comparison between climate services and monitoring over time. The robustness of the rating is assessed by considering the representativeness of the sample and the extent to which evidence was validated through multiple sources.2) Testing the framework in two cases shows: • The framework was usable to evaluate the criteria consistently, supported by clear metrics and instructions for measurement. • Challenges emerged for evaluating those indicators that require a clear definition of targeted users and goals, and for those that are measured through user perception. In both cases, users and goals were described only in general terms, which made it difficult and sometimes impossible to measure results for these indicators. Furthermore, the robustness of many ratings was compromised due to the difficulty in accessing a representative group of targeted users. • The evaluation results, including identified learnings, were recognized and appreciated by the involved stakeholders.3) Evaluating the evaluation framework by climate service users, practitioners, and researchers shows: • The framework was considered usable for various applications, such as including it in the terms of reference of calls for tenders, developing business models, using it as design criteria, guiding development processes, supporting monitoring and evaluation, and facilitating learning about what works and what doesn’t work. • It was considered credible and transparent, although it needs further testing in different types of services and contexts, and may require further development of easy-to-use evaluation materials. • Especially the climate service producers and practitioners valued the framework.4) Suggestions for improving evaluation practice: • The study highlights once again that good evaluation is done best when it is integrated early in the development process of a climate service. This approach not only allows for efficient data collection, but also helps establish more robust ratings by clearly defining users and goals of the climate service and setting up user interaction channels. This may lead to more successful services. • To stimulate the uptake of the framework and foster a culture for evaluation we see two promising pathways: 1) promoting the use of the success criteria as a helpful tool to guide and structure the climate service development process. Increasing awareness of the criteria may pave the way for more systematic efforts to evaluate the services; 2) promoting the necessity for evaluation, for example to be able to mitigate misguided or ineffective services. This could be done through mandatory use and evaluation of the success criteria through design or reporting requirement by commissioning parties.

Transformational adaptation to climate risks is an emerging topic in international climate negotiations. However, political views diverge on the desirability and feasibility of introducing transformational adaptation as a new concept. While scientific efforts to clarify its meaning are necessary, only by critically reflecting on the political nature of the concept can the negotiations move forward.

1.The accelerating decline of biodiversity necessitates transformative change to protect nature and society, requiring innovative actions and governance strategies. This paper focuses on developing diverse transformative pathways for biodiversity in Europe and advancing methodologies for co-creating these pathways to inform such actions and governance strategies in a transformative and anticipatory manner. 2.Three distinct pathways for a nature-positive Europe from 2024 to 2050 were co-created with 23 participants during a 2.5-day workshop, through backcasting and by using the Nature Futures Framework. Post-workshop interviews with nine participants helped map their understanding of transformative change and its connection to the pathways. The pathways and interviews were then analysed to understand the main patterns of change in the pathways. 3.The analysis identifies distinct patterns of transformative change, each shaped by participants’ views on how change might unfold over time, as reflected in pathway actions and milestones. The first pathway, called Dòigh Nàdair, centres on the institutionalisation of biocultural principles, community stewardship, and redistribution toward rural economies, with early emphasis on phasing out unsustainable practices, shifting societal norms through education, and later embedding polycentric and watershed-based governance. The second, NaturAll, focuses on sufficiency and ecological limits, combining restrictive regulation with participatory programmes, progressive caps and land reallocation, and staged policy development from pilots to broader implementation. The third, Return to Nature, emphasises strengthened governmental mandates, expert consultation, and the mainstreaming of climate and biodiversity goals through innovation and coordinated governance, with crises reinforcing support for reform. 4.The pathways demonstrate how diverse patterns and understandings of transformative change can result in a range of desired nature-positive futures, effectively turning concepts of transformative change into practical actions. The techniques employed in creating these pathways play a crucial role in shaping the results, necessitating intentional design that aligns with specific objectives. This highlights the importance of developing plural pathways to investigate multiple potential nature-positive futures, all while preserving a strong sense of ambition and urgency for transformative action.

The voluminous, highly unstructured, and intersectoral nature of climate policy data resulted in increased calls for automated methods to retrieve information relevant to climate change adaptation. Collecting such information is crucial to establish a large-scale evidence base to monitor and evaluate current adaptation practices. Using a novel, hand-labelled dataset, we explored the potential of state-of-the-art Natural Language Processing methods and compared the performance of various Transformer-based solutions to classify text based on adaptation-relevance in both zero-shot and fine-tuned settings. We find that fine-tuned, encoder-only models, particularly those pre-trained on data from a related domain, are best suited to the task, outscoring zero-shot and rule-based approaches. Furthermore, our results show that text granularity played a crucial role in performance, with shorter text splits leading to decreased performance. Finally, we find that excluding records with below-moderate annotator confidence enhances model performance. These findings reveal key methodological considerations for automating and upscaling text classification in the climate change (adaptation) policy domain.