Purpose: The purpose of this working paper is to present an innovative and participatory methodology to identify and overcome climate adaptation barriers and an example of its application in St Lucia.

Design/methodology/approach: The approach builds upon stakeholder mapping (i.e. Net-Map) and uses barrier and practical actions cards to support stakeholders through the process of identifying together potential adaptation barriers and potential actions that can be implemented to overcome them. The approach was used in workshops in four Small Island Developing States (SIDS): Jamaica, Mauritius, Seychelles and St Lucia. In each island, the workshops involved national and local level actors from three sectors: agriculture, fisheries and tourism.

Findings: In St Lucia, the methodology highlighted the predominance of the national government and national agencies in planning climate adaptation and the still limited inclusion of local actors in planning or implementing adaptation actions. It also allowed the identification of three adaptation barriers, two being policy-related and one culture-based. Land use tenure and land use planning in St Lucia seems to be a major issue as it was recurrent across all the three sectors. Practical actions to overcome these barriers point towards not only the development of a comprehensive national land use management plan but also towards mainstreaming climate change considerations across sectors (i.e. mainstreaming into local policies/plans and existing activities) and across levels (i.e. developing integrated plans that include both national and local representatives).

Originality/value: The participatory identification of adaptation barrier and how to overcome them could be a successful planning process that reconciles national adaptation policies with the implementation of local adaptation actions. It involves different stakeholders devising solutions that not only are in the line with national adaptation policies but also are a step towards reducing vulnerability against climate extremes at local level. Prioritising the identified barriers that are surmountable and that can already be addressed within the islands’ capacities would be the beginning of building climate resilience at national and local level

Picture: Derek Hatfield