Background
After Durban, adaptation is even more on top of the agenda in climate change politics, especially in developing countries. However, there remains a need for clarification of the key concepts. Many social scientists would agree that the “adaptation paradigm” – if one wants to call it so – is still rather vague and unspecified, and that it presents methodological challenges for empirical research. Critical perspectives on adaptation to climate change account for these problems by questioning the object of adaptation (rising temperatures or higher incentives?), by acknowledging scalar dimensions and interactions (for example, adaptation as a “travelling idea” in global-local networks) and by exploring the potential of new approaches and methods to better understand different meanings adaptation (for example, by exploring the role of mediators and “translators”).

Key idea and objective of the workshop
The workshop provided a forum for young researchers (PhD students) to discuss the methodological challenges and empirical findings of ongoing studies on climate change and adaptation in a development context. It focused on questions like the following: Adaptation to what? How to localize climate change and adaptation in a development context? How is the concept of adaptation translated between different spatial levels? What is the role of translators? How is the meaning of adaptation modified during its journey through different levels?

The workshop was organized by the University of Bayreuth (Bayreuth International Graduate School for African Studies, BIGSAS) in cooperation with DIE Bonn and the UNFCCC Secretariate in Bonn. It was supported by the DFG Priority Program 1448 “Adaptation and Creativity in Africa”. For further information please contact Julia Brandt.