As climate services transition from pure data provision to tailored decision support systems, they require a mechanism to translate heterogeneous user needs into functional design. Despite the consensus on user-centeredness, systematic frameworks focusing on usability and uptake remain scarce. This study addresses this gap by developing prototypical Personas through a multi-stage co-creation approach. Based on quantitative survey data [n = 171], qualitative interviews [n = 23] and four focus group discussions, we identify key traits and selection criteria that categorize users not just by profession, but by their specific decision-making contexts and technical capabilities.Our results identify six distinct Personas – Spatial Planner (m), Manager for Climate Change Adaptation Model Regions (f), Actuary (f), Environmental Lobbyist (m), Tropical Medicine Specialist (f), Journalist (m) – that highlight distinct user requirements relevant for climate service design. Rather than representing every potential user, these Personas synthesize the most critical target groups and their requirements. Our findings reveal that while professional groups differ in their service usage, the primary determinant for design is not a user's profession, but their specific application context and interpretation needs.We show that different sectors often require similar products. While some users need easily accessible pre-processed information like ready-to-use maps, factsheets and text descriptions, others require data for custom interpretation and performing specific assessments. This study proposes the use of Personas as a strategic transition layer between scientific complexity and user-centricity. We discuss the potential of this approach to support the design of climate information that is not only scientifically robust but actionable.

Rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns require substantial adaptation strategies in the agricultural sector to prepare for future drought hazards. The semi-arid region of Seewinkel in Austria faces a falling groundwater table and tightening water resource conflicts. Consequently, policymakers initiated regulations and funding instruments in line with European agricultural policy and issued regional water management plans. Based on 20 semi-structured qualitative interviews with farmers, the present paper investigates the cognitive, social, policy, economic and agronomic factors underlying the implementation of specific drought adaptation measures on a farm scale. Agronomic considerations such as production practices, timing of management steps, pest control or soil conditions play a central role. Policy instruments and farmers' capacities are misaligned, however; farmers take funding only if it aligns with their prevailing production strategy or forego funding because requirements are deemed too restrictive. Thus, current policy instruments have only marginal effects on drought adaptation and fail to encourage transformation, which may similarly apply to other semi-arid regions beyond Austria. Policy instruments should better support the transition from adaptive to transformative capacity by means of progressive subsidies, higher flexibility within funding frameworks and support for tackling practical obstacles. Targeted incentives for comprehensive adaptation strategies should address the farm scale, regional approaches and intersections with other policy domains. The need for a coherent long-term strategy and corresponding policy instruments to foster substantial transformation on a farm scale and beyond is even more pressing, considering that the ongoing structural change of the agricultural sector is exacerbated by climate change.

Ambitious transport policies are widely considered necessary for reducing carbon emissions but are politically constrained by assumed public resistance. This study looks beyond individualistic determinants of policy acceptance to investigate whether citizens adopt a civic-collectivistic perspective and whether their policy literacy influences their support. 2,041 Austrian residents were surveyed to identify determinants influencing the acceptance of an overall policy package and eleven specific policies (e.g., speed limits, fuel tax, road pricing, public transport improvements). Controlling for established determinants of policy acceptance (e.g. socio-economic characteristics, environmental attitudes, trust in government, effectiveness), we introduce three underexplored determinants: collective efficacy, the belief that all Austrian citizens can jointly advance climate protection; differentiated responsibility, the consideration of individual needs and capacities; and policy literacy, the correspondence between respondents’ subjective ranking of policy effectiveness and expert-based objective rankings. Socio-economic characteristics explain little of the observed variance in acceptance, while perceived co-benefits and effectiveness represent the strongest determinants, proving support for previous findings. Collective efficacy and differentiated responsibility exert small but significant, unique effects, particularly on the support for an overall policy package. Citizens display substantially variable levels of policy literacy, but it is on average low; nevertheless, the literacy plays a consistent role in shaping their acceptance. Thus, citizens consider collective interests in addition to their private needs when evaluating transport policies but hold widespread misconceptions about policy effectiveness. Transport and climate policymakers should therefore communicate more explicitly by referencing common goods and explain not only expected policy impacts but also the underlying mechanisms.

Climate-scenario materials such as data visualizations, maps, factsheets, and reports become increasingly relevant in multiple professional fields, yet empirical evidence on their use and user acceptance remains scarce. This study investigates the frequency of use and determinants of user acceptance of the Austrian climate scenarios (O & uml;KS15) using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology as a theoretical framework. Combining quantitative survey data (N = 171) and qualitative interviews (N = 20) across five professional groups-science, public authorities, private companies, non-profit organizations, and journalism-we identify key factors shaping the uptake and satisfaction with three different types of climate-scenario materials (raw data, visualizations, and reports and fact sheets). Results show that performance expectancy (perceived usefulness) is the most significant factor for user acceptance, followed by effort expectancy (perceived ease of use), whereas facilitating conditions, social influence, and hedonic motivation play minor roles. Although professional groups differ in their frequency and purposes of use of the respective materials, differences in the factors of user acceptance are fairly small. Users across professions value the scientific robustness of O & uml;KS15 but criticize the complexity of data retrieval and the high level of expertise required. These findings highlight the importance of maintaining scientific quality while improving usability through tailored communication and interface design. Future development of climatescenario materials should build on empirically grounded user typologies that narrow down broad professional groups to more specific use cases and personas. Materials should be provided at different levels of complexity to cater to lay audiences as well as experts.

Ongoing and future climate change impacts call for climate-resilient development that integrates adaptive and mitigative approaches. Climatic and non-climatic shocks, which are rare and disruptive events, might promote transformative changes and effectively improve climate resilience. Following the IPCC’s concept of Climate Resilient Development Pathways (CRDPs), we use document analysis and semi-structured interviews with n = 41 stakeholders and n = 46 affected individuals to analyse three case studies in Austria: residential relocation after a flood, agricultural water management during a multi-seasonal drought, and tourism investments during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case studies track policy strategies and individual reactions across three distinct phases: strategy development prior to the shock, strategy application during the shock, and strategy impact following the shock. The shocks revealed that the existing policy strategies may fix or at least alleviate the policy problems in the short term but do not catalyse the entry into CRDPs. Several policy strategies were adapted and implemented to support affected individuals but are not transformed by the shocks. The policy strategies mostly fail to promote climate resilience because of disconnected governance levels, fragmented sectoral perspectives, and a lack of horizontal policy coordination. If individuals realise measures that are effective for both climate change adaptation and mitigation, they do so on their own accord and are not triggered by specific policy instruments. Shocks do not emerge as distinct milestones on CRDPs. Future climate-resilient policy strategies should include binding regulations, regional differentiation, and flexibility for individual needs.

As the management of extreme weather events becomes increasingly important, climate adaptation strategies are paramount. However, current climate adaptation strategies often overlook aspects of social inequality or even risk exacerbating these. An example is the implementation of Nature-based Solutions (NbS). These approaches can result in green gentrification; the displacement and exclusion of marginalized groups due to increased attractiveness and value of nearby property. The consideration of social impacts into climate adaptation policies represents a significant challenge because climate policies are usually determined independently from social policies (policy siloing). Here we demonstrate a decision-making process that ensures socially equitable climate adaptation in an urban area. The proposed decision-making framework consists of three sequential stages: (1) climate risk assessment, (2) adaptation analysis, and (3) impact analysis. This decision-making method is applicable to cities worldwide. The City of Vienna, Austria and NbS are used to illustrate how climate adaptation policy can be integrated with social policy to achieve socially equitable urban heat risk management. We showcase that breaking current policy silos is necessary to achieve a socially equitable climate change adaptation strategy.

Flood risk is often unequally distributed. These inequalities highly depend on socio-political decisions. The recognition of the needs of individuals within a floodplain needs to be considered as a precondition for reaching justice in flood risk management, especially as people differ in their vulnerabilities and capacities to deal with floods. This paper addresses the question of how vulnerable population groups are recognized in flood risk management used in the federal state of Upper Austria. We use a qualitative research method, which is based on policy, legal documents and strategies and on 32 semi-structured interviews conducted at different levels. Even though clearly stating the overall policy goal of reducing social vulnerability and inequality, most risk reduction strategies neglect these aspects, which creates an implementation gap regarding recognition justice. Strict adherence to the principle of equality leads to, among others, uniform design levels and cost contributions that undermine the notion of differentiated vulnerability. By contrast, disaster aid payments do use eligibility criteria that recognize social inequalities. However, even if justice principles are implemented, they lack transparency and accountability, which creates a legitimacy gap. Restricting the role of civil servants in the public administration through hybrid governance may narrow implementation and legitimacy gaps.

Carbon pricing is a core pillar in the policy mix required for the transition to carbon neutrality. Carbon pricing raises energy prices and related service costs, but distributes the burden unequally among the population, which though can be mitigated by accompanying compensation schemes. For the example of the Austrian Province of Styria, we analyze the impacts of national carbon pricing for heating and motor fuels. Using the Exact Affine Stone Index (EASI) demand system and applying different definitions of fuel poverty, we compare how five compensation schemes mitigate impacts on fuel poor households. Uncompensated carbon pricing has nearly twice the negative welfare impacts on fuel poor households than on the average Styrian household, in particular if they live in rural regions and if the fuel poverty definition includes transport expenditures. All analyzed compensation schemes achieve similar carbon emission reductions as uncompensated carbon pricing, but additionally reduce inequality and increase overall welfare. In particular, they increase welfare among poor households and dampen the negative welfare impacts of uncompensated carbon pricing on the wealthiest. Accounting for low income in fuel poverty definitions and compensation schemes yields the highest welfare benefits. Price changes in motor fuels are the dominant impact channel, emphasizing the importance of considering transport in the debate on vulnerability to carbon pricing.

Future shocks from climate change impacts will likely overstretch current individual coping capacities. Integrated policy strategies could foster sustainable and resilient reactions of households and businesses by rebuilding for transformative recovery instead of bouncing back to the pre-shock status. We present the Strategy Shock Implementation Reaction (SSIR) framework as a conceptual framework for bridging the design of policy strategies to their implementation after a shock and the following reactions of the affected households and businesses. We illustrate the SSIR framework using examples of climate resilience pathways that integrate climate change adaptation and mitigation policy: planned relocation and building renovation. The framework details how a shock converts a strategy and how this conversion influences the strategy’s effect on individual reactions. It thus re-conceptualizes shocks from mere policy windows to policy filters. We discuss how the framework may be operationalized in research on how policy strategies evolve and function over time.

The CAPS (CAPacity building through Shared understanding) framework presents a comprehensive approach to endogenous governance capacity building for local climate action. Combining previous research on governance capacity, shared understanding and social learning, the framework outlines the process whereby local governance capacities evolve through social learning cycles, leading to increasingly ambitious climate actions; however, previous research remains opaque regarding the specific mechanism underlying this process. To close this gap, the CAPS framework introduces the concept of shared understanding, operationalised using Protection Motivation Theory, which measures the convergence and eventual congruence of risk appraisals, coping appraisals and protective or non-protective responses among local actors. We present and explain the CAPS framework, but also offer potential applications in transdisciplinary research on local transformation processes as well as reflect on enabling conditions and challenges in terms of scope, methods, involved actors and potential counterproductive outcomes of capacity building.

Climate-resilient development pathways call for integration of climate change adaptation and mitigation; however, implementing climate resilience requires coordination between policy domains. Residential buildings may shed light on climate resilience, being vulnerable to climate-related natural hazards and contributing significantly to carbon emissions. We analyse how residential buildings in an Austrian peri-urban area after the 2013 Danube flood were reconstructed to be not just flood-proof but also energy efficient. Five main policy instruments and their underlying governance process are described and their outcomes are assessed using public statistics, interviews with 15 policy actors, streetside observation of 126 buildings and six ethnographic case stories of specific households. The policy instruments are uncoordinated and address only their own policy domain. Households remodel their buildings minimally after the flood. Transformation to climate resilience mostly occurs in new buildings that are no longer exposed to flooding and have to comply with building regulations. Overall, the ambitions for climate resilience put forward in policy strategies hardly manifest in the reality of the case study. Funding criteria for disaster aid and renovation subsidies should be adapted to incentivise both flood protection and energy efficiency. Local authorities could be intermediaries in the rollout of policy instruments.

With rising global temperatures, cities increasingly need to identify populations or areas that are vulnerable to urban heat waves; however, vulnerability assessments may run into ecological fallacy if data from different scales are misconstrued as equivalent. We assess the heat vulnerability of 1983 residents in Vienna by measuring heat impacts, exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity with mirrored indicators in the mapping paradigm (i.e. census tract data referring to the geographic regions where these residents live) and the surveying paradigm (i.e. survey data referring to the residents ' individual households). Results obtained in both paradigms diverge substantially: meteorological indicators of hot days and tropical nights are virtually unrelated to self -reported heat strain. Meteorological indicators are explained by mapping indicators (R 2 of 15 - 40 %), but mostly not by surveying indicators. Vice versa, experienced heat stress and subjective heat burden are mostly unassociated with mapping indicators but are partially explained by surveying indicators (R 2 of 2 - 4 %). The results suggest that the two paradigms do not capture the same components of vulnerability; this challenges whether studies conducted in the respective paradigms can complement and cross -validate each other. Policy interventions should first define which heat vulnerability outcome they target and then apply the paradigm that best captures the specific drivers of this outcome.

A holistic understanding of human behaviour is considered key for a successful fight against climate change and environmental degradation. In the pursuit of a holistic understanding, empirical research frequently applies the concept of "lifestyle". The concept, which plays a significant role in segmenting customers in the field of marketing, is increasingly used in the cross-domain analysis of behaviour in the field of sustainability. This increase is tied to the challenge that the meaning and operationalisation of the lifestyle concept are still highly fragmented after decades of empirical studies. While this methodological heterogeneity and pluralism of research traditions bring creativity and dynamic to the field, it makes the orientation and a comparison of studies challenging. Previous attempts to streamline lifestyle oriented research have often aimed for a single mode of operationalisation, but this does not meet the diversity of possible applications of the concept. Therefore, a better understanding of the field seems necessary. To fill this gap, we review the understanding and use of the “lifestyle” concept in 53 empirical studies in the field of sustainability and identify 12 variants of lifestyle related research, differing along three dimensions. According to our results, (I) lifestyle can either be used as a cause or as a consequence, (II) the analytical scope can be on a micro-, meso- or macro level, and (III) the behavioural scope can be either limited to a single behavioural domain or cover multiple domains. The three dimensions allow a mapping of existing and future empirical research using the “lifestyle” concept, improve the orientation in the field, facilitate the identification of relevant studies, and avoid imprecise comparisons due to methodological differences.

Path dependency occurs when a contingent event predetermines what further steps can be taken and self-reinforcing mechanisms lock-in any further development on a sub-optimal trajectory. Path dependency is a prominent concept in the adaptation pathways literature, but insufficiently defined and operationalised. The present paper empirically tracks all constitutive elements of path dependency for four decades of flood risk management (FRM) in two alpine mountain regions in Austria, the Ennstal and Aist river catchments, using a mixed-methods approach. FRM governance has a critical role whether decisions lead to path dependency. Lock-in manifests not just in technical structures, but also in inertia of incumbent actor coalitions and management paradigms. Sub-optimality is hard to assess for lack of clearly defined protection targets; however, it appears in the ways that structural measures are implemented-too little, too late or with negative impacts on nature conservation. Past floods do not qualify as contingent events, as they have not fundamentally changed FRM practice. By contrast, technological and institutional shifts over longer periods, such as digital hazard maps and EU directives, have gradually reoriented FRM strategies. Institution-based self-reinforcing mechanisms are more prevalent than technology-based self-reinforcing mechanisms. Established actor coalitions combined with institutional density illustrate how those in charge uphold a path to defend their position, power and resources. Our recommendations for how to overcome path dependency in FRM governance are: encourage niche experiments, link FRM more closely with climate change adaptation, revise the national policy framework towards polycentric governance approaches and improve professional training.

Compensatory green beliefs (CGBs) denote beliefs that unsustainable behaviours can be compensated for by performing other sustainable behaviours. We propose to differentiate between efficacy, normative, and general beliefs (ECGBs, NCGBs, GCGBs). ECGBs refer to effectively offsetting previous lapses. NCGBs denote feeling morally obliged to make amends. GCGBs refer to trading off unspecified efforts in overall consumption. Employing survey data from n = 502 high school graduates and an n = 145 longitudinal subsample, we find a three-factor structure of CGBs. ECGBs, NCGBs, and GCGBs intercorrelate moderately, indicating their status as different constructs. NCGBs are positively associated with pro-environmental values, self-identity, and social norms, whereas GCGBs are negatively associated with these constructs. CGBs, in particular NCGBs, have unique explanatory power for sustainable behaviours. NCGBs show substantial temporal stability over one year. CGBs need not be destructive, as NCGBs may encourage sustainable action. Persuasive messages could be tailored to specific CGBs in specific behavioural domains.

Efforts to promote climate-friendly consumption need to address groups of interrelated behaviours; however, experts and laypeople have different perspectives on which climate-relevant behaviours belong together. Understanding laypeople's mental representations, or the perceived similarity of behaviours, may provide orientation on which behaviours should be promoted in concert in order to communicate comprehensibly and to catalyse spillover. The present study uses data on perceived similarity between 22 climate-relevant behaviours collected from 413 young adults in Austria in an open card sorting task. Five posited categorisations by domain, location, impact, difficulty, and frequency are tested in a confirmatory approach for their fit with the observed similarity patterns. By analysing co-occurrence matrices, edit distances and similarity indices, the best fit is found for the null hypothesis of random assignment. Ranking by test statistics shows that the domain categorisation fits next best, followed by impact, frequency, difficulty, and location. The categories of waste and advocacy behaviours emerge consistently in lay mental representations. The categories of behaviours with a high carbon footprint and difficult behaviours that are performed by few other people stand out from other, less extreme behaviours. Categorisation fit is not moderated by personal norms, stated competencies, and environmental knowledge. The analytical approaches for confirmatory testing of expected categorisations against observed similarity patterns may be applied to analyse any card sorting data.

Since almost half of the world’s population lives in cities and another third in settlements with similar characteristics, the current and future impacts of climate change in cities is of greatest importance. The characteristics of urban environments (reduced long-wave emissions towards the sky due to the blockage effect of the surrounding buildings, construction materials, anthropogenic heat production, lack of green and blue infrastructure) further increase ambient temperatures and cause urban heat islands. Nature-based solutions (NbS) have widely been investigated as a remedy to this challenge, which is quickly worsening due to the combined effects of climate change and the rapid densification of urban settlements. NbS cover a wide scope of measures such as planting roadside trees, greening facades or roofs, re-naturalizing rivers or unsealing of parking spaces to allow rainwater to penetrate and enable evapotranspiration. Yet, the widespread implementation of NbS often meets political, social, legal, financial or spatial barriers. In the presented study we combine interdisciplinary expertise from natural to social and economic sciences and a wide range of methods to evaluate and illustrate, exemplarily for the city of Vienna, how urban areas can implement NbS and overcome the aforementioned barriers. Therefore, (1) a list of possible NbS is compiled; (2), their performance is quantified through numerical micro-climate simulations, (3) their impact and potential trade-offs applying a socio-spatial analysis and survey, (4) individual preferences and willingness to pay are analyzed for a representative sample of 2,181 Viennese residents using a choice experiment, and finally, (5) a consolidated list of NbS is validated within policy workshops.Using this approach we find that substantially transforming an existing quarter by implementing green and blue infrastructure, as well as technical solutions (e.g. sun blinds) may reduce the ambient air temperature by up to 2°C and the mean radiant temperature on some surfaces by up to 45°C, with natural measures being more effective than technical ones. Implementing these measures within the whole city of Vienna may yield a similar temperature effect. The socio-spatial vulnerability assessment identifies few areas where a strong overrepresentation of vulnerable age groups, low-income residents and housing vulnerabilities coincide. In the city of Vienna, green gentrification owing to rising housing prices for already vulnerable groups thus seems to be very limited, especially as long-standing social housing policies and a rather strict regulation of the private housing markets lead to comparatively stable rent levels. The choice experiment shows a substantial willingness to pay for NbS, suggesting that Viennese citizens would financially support the implementation and maintenance of extensive greening measures. However, the politicians fear the conflicts with the citizens and other political parties as well as stakeholders. Stakeholders from the city authorities map potential physical and legal barriers for local implementation, such as building codes, administrative procedures for permits and inspections, or conflicts over scarce public space.

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of most economies across the globe. They are particularly vulnerable to floods because they typically have less structural adaptation measures and less resources and financial access for recovery than large companies. In SMEs, economic and personal interests in risk governance intersect, such as when business crises after flood impacts spill over to personal crises of entrepreneurs. Applying a qualitative research method comprising policy document analysis, interviews and workshops with 11 flood-affected owner-entrepreneurs and 10 local and federal experts, this article analyses SMEs in the manufacturing sector in Austria. SME vulnerability and coping capacity emerge from the close interaction of (1) the governance framework, foremost the public disaster compensation scheme; (2) enterprise-oriented factors, e.g. availability of capital, customer loyalty, labour force flexibility; and (3) entrepreneur-oriented factors, e.g. psychological resilience, social networks, political efficacy. Flood impacts may increase bankruptcy risk when coinciding with economic and personal challenges. SMEs merit special consideration in disaster risk management, therein accounting for the interplay of enterprise- and entrepreneur-oriented factors. Flood risk managers could introduce mentoring by flood-experienced entrepreneurial peers, consolidate informal local business and political networks, train risk competences of entrepreneurs and promote private insurance.

Recent examples of climate-driven catastrophes both internationally (e.g. US and Australian wildfires in 2020) and nationally in Africa or Europe, as well as climate scenarios highlight that climate change impacts will likely reach dimensions which pose substantive shocks to social, economic and ecological systems in the near future. At some point, this increased number of shocks will overstretch current individual and collective coping capacities. However, on the other side catastrophic shocks may enable the transformation to decarbonisation and resilience of our society, if the rebuilding phase after an event is used for a broad societal transformation process and not only for quickly bouncing back to the pre-shock situation. A rushed return to normality may come at the cost of forgoing lengthy and challenging transformation processes, which may ultimately reorient a system to higher resilience. Fast recovery from shocks typically mobilizes extensive resources but often lacks an integrated perspective on climate change adaptation and mitigation policies (‘adaptigation’) that could leverage synergies and build up for long-term responses to climate impacts. Instead, many policies implemented after shocks act in isolated or even competitive silos, cater to immediate demands by affected citizens and businesses, and have different goals, instruments, financial resources, administrative practices, time perspectives, or lack of imagination how to implement. The aim of the paper is therefore to illustrate how the transformative potential of shocks can be leveraged to lower carbon emissions, higher climate resilience and encompassing adaptigation policy. This contribution presents a conceptual framework that focuses on the interaction between the individual actors affected by a shock, and the policy instruments in place in the aftermath of a shock. We strive to learn from past and current reactions to inform the future with the aim of directing post-shock learning to transformation outcomes and to avoiding maladaptation, backfire or inaction pitfalls. The paper derives guidance how to leverage the transformative potential of shocks by dedicated policy action, in order to promote outcomes congruent with the Sustainable Development Goals and the targets of European and Austrian climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. The conceptual framework can be expected to apply to a wide range of emerging, novel or familiar shocks.

The need for rapid decarbonization of the energy system calls for an improved understanding how policy action may accelerate the market diffusion of low-carbon technologies. Turning points, in other words, i.e. points in time when market growth curves change direction, occur when politics, policy, and technology streams converge. Investigating photovoltaics, residential heat pump, and electric vehicle diffusion in Austria from 1970/1990 to 2018, we constellate when and why turning points occurred. Analyzing market statistics with the mathematical method of change point analysis allows identifying turning points and growth functions in diffusion curves. We used the Multiple Streams Approach to structure archival documents and findings from expert interviews to reconstruct critical events in past socio-political and socio-technological developments which triggered turning points. We find that observed diffusion processes change direction and pace at specific moments in time, rather than following a uniform s-shape. Mandatory regulations are key levers, but need to be supplemented by events in the respective streams: In the politics stream, overarching political strategies and model policies in other countries set the stage for low-carbon technologies. In the technology stream, R&D programs, product development, and quality labels support technological advancement. In the policy stream, however, ad-hoc subsidy programs tend to produce patchwork policies or only temporarily boost market diffusion. Continuously monitoring market processes may allow anticipation of upcoming turning points when the implementation of integrated policies can push combinations of complementary technologies.