Abstract
This study examines how externally driven adaptation policies and programs influence collective action across multi-scalar climate change adaptation governance. It contends that addressing the climate crisis effectively requires collective action underpinned by social capital—trust, reciprocity, and sharing—while ensuring the inclusive participation of vulnerable social groups and integrating their traditional knowledge and practices into governance systems. Focusing on Nepal’s three-tiered governance structure, the research investigates the effects of externally imposed policies on social capital and collective action across local, provincial, and national levels. Based on ethnographic methods, the findings reveal that farming communities have historically adapted to socioeconomic and climatic challenges through informal collective actions, such as sharing seeds, labor, financial support, and disaster-related information. Community institutions, including forest user groups and cooperatives, further strengthened these efforts by fostering cultural cohesion and collective resource management. However, as social capital interacts vertically and horizontally across multi-scalar governance systems—encompassing governments, NGOs, and private institutions—the strength of collective action diminishes. National political instability, elitism, and institutional gaps weaken trust and collaboration, undermining the effectiveness of adaptation policies. This paper highlights the tension between traditional community-based practices and externally driven adaptation programs, which, while offering short-term benefits, often disrupt social cohesion and exacerbate vulnerabilities. The study concludes that meaningful integration of local institutions, knowledge, and collective identity into multi-scalar governance systems is essential to enhance adaptation efforts. It calls for policymakers to prioritize local-level collective actions and align them within broader governance frameworks to foster inclusive, sustainable climate adaptation strategies.
Presenters
Suman AcharyaStudent, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Central Florida, Florida, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
Technical, Political, and Social Responses
KEYWORDS
Climate Change, Governance, Adaptation, Collective Action, Social Capital
