2009

ISBN: 9781876851361

Paperback: $29.95 (including GST, postage & handling)

eBook (PDF download): $9.95

If humanity is to successfully respond to the global issue that is climate change effective local responses will determine our collective future. While governments address the politics inherent in restructuring economic and social relations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions ultimately it will be through individual behaviour and community action that we successfully mitigate and adapt to climate change. The social learning approach to community level change is an effective approach for taking action to address climate change impacts.



In this book are case studies of community level approaches to climate change mitigation and adaptation covering communities and governance, farming communities, economics and water. The cases are based on research being undertaken across Australian communities and show how a social learning approach can bring about fundamental change with lasting impacts at the local level. There is no one best way to implement climate change mitigation and adaptation. The book concludes that the adaptive response will work only if it is diverse and varied, and it will demand forms of engagement that have not been embraced seriously before. This presents challenges for governments looking for universal approaches to this diabolical policy problem.

The salience of the local approach empowers communities recognising that they are unique and that they can take action to respond. It is essential for their survival that they do so. If ever there is time for governments to decentralise action it is now