This publication presents the Local Building Culture (LBC) approach within

the current international Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) framework.

This work is part of LabEx AE&CC research that was conducted in 2017. The
purpose of this publication is to inform CRAterre’s and LabEx AE&CC team
members and its partners on the results of the research.

The reason behind this research lies in the momentum that climate
change takes in international development. Institutionalization of Cli-
mate Change action raises political, economic, social and environmental
debates. The nature of these debated is different across fields. Hence, it is
imperative to reflect on current climate change science.
LBC - CCA

The Local Building Culture Approach

and Climate Change Adaptation
3
The Local Building Culture Approach and
Climate Change Adaptation

4
This publication is supported by the Investissements d’Avenir program managed by the National Research Agency
of France ANR-10-LABX-78 (Labex AE & CC). I would like to thank Philippe Garnier for the provided opportunity, sup-
port, and contribution to this work. I am thankful to all CRAterre and LabEx AE&CC team for the insightful comments.
Finally, my gratitude goes to Giulia Sala and Léa Génis for the continuous support and inspiration.

author
Vuk Marković

contributions
Philippe Garnier
Giulia Sala
Léa Génis
Thierry Joffroy
Bakonirina Rakotomamonjy
Gregoire Paccoud
Olivier Moles
Alexandre Douline
Christian Belinga Nko’o
Nuria Sánchez
Sebastien Moriset

image credits
Photos that are not sourced fall
under the Creative Commons
CC0 license.

graphic design
Vuk Marković
Giulia Sala

The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of its author and may not reflect the views of the institu-
tions or organizations mentioned.

5
table of contents

chapter 1
p.13
Climate Change

chapter 2
p. 22
Climate Change Adaptation

chapter 3
The Local Building Culture p. 27
Approach

chapter 4
p. 29
Discussion

chapter 5
p. 37
Opportunities for future

annex
p. 38
Tools for practitioners

6
abbreviations

CBDR - Comon but Differentiated Responsibility

CC - Climate Change
CCA - Climate Change Adaptation
CCM - Climate Change Mitigation
DRR - Disaster Risk Reduction
GHG - Greenhouse Gasses
IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
LBC - Local Building Culture approach
SD - Sustainable Development
SDG - Sustainable Development Goal
UNEP - United Nations Environmental Program
UNDP - United Nations Development Program
UNFCCC - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

7
figures

Figure 1. Greenhouse effect 13

Figure 2. Carbon cycle 14
Figure 3. Greenhouse gas emissions by the economic sector 14
Figure 4. Widespread impacts in a changing world 16
Figure 5. Climate Change Risk 18
Figure 6. Direct and Indirect Risk 18
Figure 7. Kaya Identity 19
Figure 8. International agreements 21
Figure 9. Adaptation as a reaction to structural change 22
Figure 10. Gross anatomy of adaptation to climate change and variability 23
Figure 11. The relationships among characteristics of adaptive capacity at the local level 26
Figure 12. Habitat project analysis 28
Figure 13. Illustration of the LBC practice 30
Figure 14. Illustration of a resilience pathway 33
Figure 15. Systematizing coping and adaptation as well as impact and change 33
Figure 16. The LBC comprehensive assessment 34
Figure 17. Framework for mapping multiple objectives 40
Figure 18. The illustration of a country profile based on implemented projects 41
Figure 19. Illustration of the CRAterre's Local Building Culture Resilience Path, based on cross-sec- 42
toral and multi-scale practice

tables

Table 1. Climate-related drivers of impact 17

Table 2. Climate Change Impacts in different areas and aspects of life 17
Table 3. The basis for differentiating adaptation 24
Table 4. Key stakeholders in Climate Change Action and Debate 25
Table 5. Why the LBC approach is already part of the climate action 38
Table 6. Weather analysis 39

8
 Summary
Climate Change is a reality that affects global de-
velopment and growth. Climate Change is not only
an environmental problem, but it affects all aspects
of sustainability. From an economic point of view,
it is the biggest market failure, which means that
responding to climate changes requires structural
changes in the way people live their lives and pro-
duce their environment.
Generally, the importance of Climate Change for
CRAterre’s work can be summarized in two state-
ments:
1. CRAterre’s practice is already part of Climate
Change action on distinct levels.
Capitalizing on local building cultures CRAterre’s
practice supports decarbonization of the construc-
tion sector. From a Climate Change Adaptation per-
spective, supporting local building cultures is in
effect an extended adaptation not just to climate
change impacts but also other social, economic, and
environmental conditions [33].
This is important since Climate Change is experi-
enced as a threat to livelihoods, economies, envi-
ronment, and culture where the most vulnerable
9
population is highly exposed and affected.
Understanding climate change science and prac-
tice in relation to what CRAterre and its partners has
done so far provides a new channel for research and
field practice.
2. The Local Building Culture (LBC) approach pro-
motes a different vision of climate than the one
portrayed by western dominated Climate Science.
Local building cultures show how people differently
domesticated and experienced climate across the
globe. This is in opposition to the ongoing global in-
stitutionalization of climate through climate change,
as a biophysical phenomenon ‘outside’ society that
necessitates a materially oriented response.
This means that western scientific construction of
climate is biased and represents a threat to cultural
diversity [39]. Hence, it represents a threat to local
building cultures.
Understanding and actively participating in climate
change discourse means being involved in shaping
a vision of climate change that will be followed.
Currently, there are more and more calls for inter-
disciplinary work, including cultural diversity in per-
ceiving nature and climate.
CRAterre’s opportunities lie in the community-based
approach and continuous work with local partners
that are able to deliver change on the ground (bot-
tom-up). Also, working with international partners
CRAterre’s policy to development is mainstreamed
(top-down).
Climate Change action is an opportunity to extend
the impact of the LBC approach beyond the Disas-
ter Risk Management, as climate change is seen as
a medium to implement a wider agenda [34]. Main-
streaming the LBC philosophy and methodology in
ongoing climate change debates may initiate scal-
ing up the LBC impact and its wider application.
terial solutions (e.g. earth) are becoming ‘trendy’.
The interest in shifting a paradigm is driven by mar-
ket solutions that are part of governmental policies.
The tendency is to develop housing in accordance
with climate change policies of reducing emissions
and energy intensity. However, this does not mean
a support to cultural diversity of construction sys-
tems.
For the time being, these ‘innovative’ climate-friend-
ly alternatives will first take a grip in the devel-
oped world, while developing world could face sec-
ond-hand technologies that will be sold as solutions
for their ‘undeveloped’ state.

The time we live in is characterized by a world of

adaptations to distinct stimuli. Regardless of eco-
nomic changes, social vulnerabilities, environmen-
tal degradation, climate change, or technological
advance, we usually talk about adaptations of a
system to external stimuli. In that sense, the LBC
approach is a state of the art of human settlement
adaptation to external threats that intimately links
distinct levels of habitat production and offers pro-
cess-based solutions.

Climate Change is driving policy of international de-

velopment on many levels. As Climate Change is la-
beled as the biggest market failure economists work
on market-driven solutions to respond to changes.
This generally involves support to carbon economy
as a major component of government and private
sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are
responsible for climate change.

Given the acceleration in carbon economy and the

overall tendency toward decarbonized world, it
should not be taken as a surprise if alternative ma-

10
 Introduction
This publication presents the Local Building Culture
(LBC) approach within the current international
Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) framework. This
work is part of LabEx AE&CC research that was con-
ducted in 2017. The purpose of this publication is to
inform CRAterre’s and LabEx AE&CC team members
and its partners on the results of the research.
The reason behind this research lies in the mo-
mentum that climate change takes in interna-
tional development. Institutionalization of Climate
Change action raises political, economic, social and
environmental debates. The nature of these debat-
ed is different across fields. Hence, it is imperative
to reflect on current climate change science.
This research provides a pioneer work that enables
CRAterre team members and its partners to read
through the Climate Change discourse. The overall
aim was to develop new research axes and practice
opportunities within the global Climate Change de-
velopment framework.
11
The specific aim of the research is to:
- identify conceptual similarities between the LBC
approach and current theory and practice in the CCA
field that contributes to the theorization of the LBC
approach;
- create opportunities for scaling up the impact as
Climate Change is widely recognized as a cause to
implement a range of urgent issues that contribute
to sustainable development;
- ‘cut through the noise’ of climate change debates
and try to understand what international develop-
ment community, donor agencies, and research
centers talk about when they talk about climate
change.
This publication aims to be an educational tool for
CRAterre team members and its partners. It is based
on the article entitled The Local Building Culture ap-
proach as an Adaptive Response to Climate Change,
by Vuk Marković and Philippe Garnier [33]. The arti-
cle is expected to be published by Springer in 2018
as part of the proceedings of Cities and Climate
Conference, held in Potsdam in September 2017.
The publication offers additional insights and find-
ings that are the result of desk research and internal
conversations with CRAterre team members.

The publication starts (Chapter 1) with the basic un-

derstanding of the Climate Change science, focus-
ing on why climate change occurs and how human
activity contributes to changes in the global climate
system. It continues with an overview of what are
the human responses to climate change impacts
and how international negotiations are organized.

Chapter 2 focuses on Climate Change Adaptation

explaining what is it, which types of adaptation exist
and how it is implemented in practice.

The second part of this publication (Chapter 3),

briefly focuses on the results of desk research that
has been conducted under the CRAterre’s Habitat
program. It presents the research methodology and
Habitat project analysis. This chapter is based on
the above-mentioned article [33].

Chapter 4 discusses potentials of the LBC approach

that are useful for CRAterre’s practice and reflection
of their work.

Chapter 5 concludes with the research and practice

opportunities for future.

In the Annex, the publication offers some practical

tools that aim to inform team members on weath-
er analysis process and tools that would enhance
management of the vast CRAterre’s implemented
projects.

12
 1.
Climate Change
• definition
• greenhouse effect
• carbon cycle
• climate change risk and impacts
• international politics

Climate Change refers to changes of climate system The changes that scientist observe are the result of
characteristics that are recorded over an extended planet Earth’s global warming that is explained by
period of time [1, p. 5]. These changes are the result greenhouse effect and carbon cycle.
of natural climate variability and human activi-
ties. The Greenhouse effect (Fig. 1) is a natural process
that keeps the mean global temperature of the earth
Climate scientists record any changes in the climate at 18°C and enables life on the planet Earth as we
system by monitoring the Essential Climate Varia- know it. Without Greenhouse effect, the surface
bles (ECV) such as: temperature would be -15°C [4].
• Atmospheric - air temperature, precipitation, wa-
ter vapor, wind speed and direction, pressure, sur-
face radiation, etc.;
• Oceanic - sea level, ocean acidity, salinity, sea sur-
face temperature, etc.;
• Terrestrial - land cover, water use, river discharge,
groundwater, lakes, glaciers, soil moisture, etc. [2].

By monitoring the ECV’s scientists receive feed-

backs that are used to map climate changes globally
or regionally.

In effect, when we talk about Climate Change, from

a Climate Science perspective, we refer to statisti-
cal aspects of weather patterns, and not a single
natural disaster. Climate Change is represented by
two parameters: norms or averages and extremes
Figure 1. Greenhouse effect. Source: Author.
[3, p. 59].
13
The Earth’s surface absorbs and emits back to the
atmosphere the absorbed ultra-violet radiation.
Absorbed radiation warms the surface and lower
atmosphere. Emitted one is absorbed by the green-
house gasses (GHGs). The GHGs reemit the ab-
sorbed energy in every direction, also back to sur-
face, where the process repeats itself.
To understand the human impact on Climate Change
it is also important to get familiar with the Carbon
Cycle (Fig. 2), as it offers an insight on what hap-
pens with GHGs in nature [4].
Figure 2. Carbon cycle. Source: Author.
The carbon cycle refers to a natural process where
carbon is moving between three reservoirs, (a) land,
(b) atmosphere and (c) oceans and these exchanges
are called carbon fluxes.
As a result of human activities, there is more carbon
in the atmosphere than the reservoirs can absorb.
More carbon is a result of fossil fuel burning, while
the capacity of reservoirs is reduced with land-use
change.
This means that more carbon in the atmosphere re-
sults in more solar radiation by the GHGs and more
radiation increases the earth’s surface temperature,
which is familiar as global warming. The result of
this global warming is Climate Change.
Where are the extra anthropogenic gasses-
coming from?
The anthropogenic Greenhouse Gass emissions are
steadily growing globally. The energy-based carbon
emission reached the global high in 2017 [5]. The
main contributor to global GHG emissions is fossil
fuel combustion and industrial activities.
Figure 3. Greenhouse gas emissions by the econom-
ic sector. Source: [6].
14
The total anthropogenic emissions are divided into
five economic sectors:
- AFOULU – Agriculture Forestry and Other
Land Use
- Buildings – Emissions attributed to the pro-
duction of buildings
- Industry
- Transport
- Electricity and Heat Production – Divided
into Direct and Indirect emissions
Buildings contribute to 19% of global emissions and
it is the biggest sector in energy consumption that
counts for 32% of the global energy consumption
[6].
Due to the nature of international climate politics,
emissions are divided among economic sectors.
However, for the practitioners of sustainable hab-
itat development, it is important to say that cities
contribute to 70% of global GHGs emissions and
consume two-thirds of global energy [7].
This means that cities have a major role in re-
sponding to climate change. There is a discrepan-
cy in efforts that cities are making. Major policies,
research, and practical work address cities’ carbon
emissions rather than responding to climate change
impacts. There is a need for a better understanding
of social relations and local context to develop suc-
cessful actions [8].
15
How will Climate Change affect our lives?
“Climate change threatens the basic elements of life
for people around the world - access to water, food
production, health, and use of land and the environ-
ment.” [9, p. 56]
Climate Change leads to consequences that in liter-
ature are referred to as impacts. The IPCC report [1]
talks about global impacts with varying confidence.
The confidence depends on a quality of evidence
and degree of agreement [1, p. 6]. In general, climate
change impacts are subject to uncertainty and some
impacts are more familiar than others.
Symbols show distinct categories of impact, the rel-
ative contribution of climate change (i.e. minor, ma-
jor) and confidence in attribution to climate change
(Fig. 4.).
The strongest impacts of climate change are attrib-
uted to natural systems. Major human systems that
are subject to climate change impact are related to
food production, health, economics, and livelihoods.
Figure 4. Widespread impacts in a changing world. Source: [1].

16
 Water scarcity and Increased flooding Extreme heat events Extreme weather
drought events

Phenomena Phenomena Phenomena Phenomena

Evaporation Malting snow and ice Heat stress Wind speed
Water balance Storm surges Heat-related human Tropical cyclone activ-
mortality ity
Dry spells Changing precipitation Near surface air tem- Wildfires
perature
Changing precipitation Heavy rains

Table 1. Climate-related drivers of impact. Source: [10].

Climate Change leads to climate-related drivers of The phenomena result in consequences in differ-
impact (1) Water scarcity and drought, (2) Increased ent areas and aspects of life (Tab. 2).
flooding, (3) Extreme heat events, and (4) Extreme
weather events. These drivers result in distinct
phenomena that are statistical aspects of climate
change (Tab. 1).

Health Agriculture Forest Water Resource Coastal Areas Ecosystems

Weather-re- Crop yields Forest com- Water supply Erosion of Loss of habi-
lated position beaches tat and
mortality Irrigation de- Water quality species
mands Geographic Inundation of
Infectious range Competition for coastal lands Cryosphere:
diseases of forest water diminishing
Additional glaciers
Air-quality Forest health costs to
respiratory and protect coastal
illnesses productivity communities

Table 2. Climate Change Impacts in different areas and aspects of life. Source: [10].
17
Understanding the risks of CC
The climate change risk varies across the plan-
et. The climate risk is a result of the interaction of
climate-related hazards with the vulnerability and
exposure in human and natural systems (Fig. 5).
Changes in climate and socio-economic processes
are drivers of vulnerability, exposure, and hazards.
Figure 5. Climate Change Risk. Source: [1].
How Climate Change risks manifest on ground
→ Direct and Indirect Climate Change Risk
Direct risks relate to direct exposure to climate
change consequences, such as exposure to extreme
weather, temperature change, sea-level rise, and
water scarcity. This leads toward damage of assets,
disruption of production, and health issues.
Indirect risks are based on local and distant expo-
sure as they include broader effects of climate im-
pacts, such as disruption of infrastructure or supply
chains, and impacts on communities and workforce
(Fig. 6).
Figure 6. Direct and Indirect Risk. Source: Adapted
from [11].
What are the human responses to Climate
Change?
Human climate action encompasses two approach-
es. One that addresses climate change causes and
the other that addresses consequences of climate
change.
Climate Change Mitigation
Climate Change Mitigation (CCM) refers to the hu-
man actions that are aiming to:
a) reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions entering
the atmosphere, and
b) remove or catch the GHGs from the atmosphere
[4].
CCM usually refers to measures such as the use of
renewable energy sources, reduction of fossil fuel
consumption, promotion of low-impact lifestyles
etc.
CCM is as a preventive, proactive measure for cli-
mate change since the reduction of GHG emissions
will withal the severe impacts of climate change.
The current global trends in emissions lead toward
the scenario of +3-5°C higher average temperature
by the end of this century. This means that there will
be significant emission reduction of major emitters.
18
Climate Change Adaptation
Climate change adaptation (CCA) refers to ad-
justments in processes and practices in order to
avoid or take benefit of severe impacts of climate
change [4].
In practice, climate change adaptation takes many
forms and there is no a single definition of adapta-
tion in development studies [12]. Often adaptation
overlaps with sustainable development activities,
especially in vulnerable areas where people are in
need of basic services [12].
Climate Change Adaptation is in detail covered in
Chapter 2.
International climate politics → Complexity d. Carbon intensity is related to decarbonization
and power relations o conversion to lower emissions energy sources.
The complexity of climate change negotiations lies
in (1) uncertainty of expected effects, (2) different
responsibilities for greenhouse gasses emissions,
(3) and uncertainty on how society will evolve.
The complexity that climate change raises for in-
ternational negotiations is illustrated with the Kaya
identity (Fig. 7).
Figure 7. Kaya Identity. Source: [14].
Kaya Identity states that the total global CO2 emis-
sions are the result of four factors [14]:
a. The population that is currently around 7,3 billion
and expected to reach 11,2 billion by 2050. This rep-
resents a challenge as controlling population growth
19
hasn’t been a successful practice (e.g. China’s one
child per family policy).
b. GDP per capita, which has been unevenly growing
around the globe on average 1,4% since 1990. GDP
has been an indicator of wealth and population’s
well-being. This is why countries focus on creating
incentives for GDP growth.
c. Energy intensity is related to the structure of the
economy and whether the energy of a country is the
output of heavy industry or services. There is always
an opportunity for more energy efficiency. The ener-
gy intensity is improving in many countries, such as
Japan, EU & USA that are among the most efficient.
Globally two trends are noticeable: (1) EU & USA de-
crease emissions over time since 1960 (2) China,
India and other developing countries increase since
1960.
Considering these four factors when reducing glob-
al CO2 emissions it is clear that lowering the Energy
intensity and the Carbon intensity are the options
to reduce global emissions. Population and GDP
growth will steadily continue to rise in future.
Reducing Energy and Carbon intensity raises nu-
merous challenges. Population and GDP growth
outweighs gains of decarbonization and energy ef-
ficiency efforts.
Another challenge is different responsibility for
emissions and, thus, climate change impacts. Cli-
mate Change is a result of accumulated Greenhouse
gasses, which means that the problem is not evenly
distributed. EU and USA were the biggest emitters
for decades that are currently surpassed by China.
These dynamics dictate opposing positions in cli-
mate negotiations.
Kaya identity can be criticized as it doesn’t capture
all Greenhouse Gas emissions. It also refers to cur-
rent annual emissions. Climate Change is a result of
accumulated Greenhouse gasses, which means that
the problem is not evenly distributed. The historical
responsibility falls on USA and EU the most, but also
China and Russia. This doesn’t mean that the devel-
oping countries should be excluded from responsi-
bility. These dynamics dictate opposing positions of
UN member states in climate negotiations.
International bodies
The two most important international bodies that
lead to global climate action are the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN-
FCCC) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC).
The UNFCCC was formed at the Rio de Janeiro Earth
Summit in 1992. This UN body has a role to gather
member parties, organize, propose, and monitor na-
tion’s country climate change action. The member
states gather at the Conference of the Parties (COP)
every year to assess the progress in dealing with cli-
mate change.
The UNFCCC objective is “…stabilization of green-
house gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a
level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic
interference with the climate system” [15, p. 4].
UNFCCC goal on GHG emissions is vague. The mem-
ber states should protect the climate system on the
basis of equity and in accordance with their com-
mon but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR).
This concept denies common responsibility for cli-
mate change and poses that developed countries
should take the lead in climate action.
The IPCC has been founded in 1988 by the World Me-
teorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations
Environment Program (UNEP) with a goal to provide
regular assessments of the scientific basis of cli-
mate change to governments and policymakers [16].
This body gathers leading scientists to provide vi-
able assessments. The IPCC’s first assessment has
been published in 1990 and the last, fifth assess-
ment, in 2013-2014. It is expected that parts of the
sixth assessment start to be published in 2018.
At the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties 21 (COP21)
in 2015 Paris agreement has been signed as a glob-
al agreement on climate action. In its nature, the
agreement is not legally binding. However, signature
countries are legally obliged to report their efforts
in reducing carbon emissions and develop action
plans for adaptation. The Paris agreement guides
member states toward the general goal of keeping
the planet temperature well below 2°C above pre-in-
dustrial levels [17].
Connected to this, for CRAterre’s practice it is im-
portant to be aware of the mechanisms for imple-
menting climate change goals and targets set by
nation states. The National Adaptation Program of
Action (NAPA) [18] and National Adaptation Poli-
cy (NAP) [19] are mechanisms that address climate
change impacts in Least Developed Countries and
other developing countries.
NAPA is a mechanism that enables the Least Devel-
oped Countries to identify urgent adaptation ac-
tions and apply for funds at international agencies
World Bank or Global Environmental Facility.
20
 Figure 8. International agreements. Source: Author.

Post-2015 Development Agenda

Importance of Climate Change as a development is-
sue is recognized within the Post-2015 Development
Agenda that is a universal call for action. It consists
of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and
each goal has targets to be reached by 2030. The
SDGs are promoting sustainability across sectors
and scales of economy, society, and environment.
Numerous SDGs are focused on climate change
such as SDG 13 that is solely addressing climate ac-
tion. Other SDGs that are closely linked with climate
action are: SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy), SDG
8 (Decent work and economic growth), SDG 9 (Indus-
try, Innovation and Infrastructure), and SDG 12 (Re-
sponsible production and consumption). [20]
SDG 11 is giving importance to the inclusiveness,
sustainability, and resilience of cities and human
habitat. CRAterre has been part of defining a set of
criteria to measure the 11.c.1 indicator of the SDG 11.
Figure 8 shows the international agreements that
are aiming to drive collective action toward a sus-
tainable and resilient world. It is worth noticing the
effort that global agencies have put to set 2015 as
a year of agreements on climate change, disaster
reduction, and sustainable development. These ef-
forts culminated in 2016 when New urban agenda
has been signed. It is also worth noticing that these
agreements set progressive research and policy
agenda. However, these agreements are on a volun-
tary basis, except Paris Agreement, which obliges
signature countries to set climate change goals and
plans of action.

21
 2.
Climate Change Adaptation
• concept and definition
• practice
• types of adaptation
• key stakeholders
• adaptive capacity, vulnerability, and resilience
• climate finance

The concept of adaptation
"The concept of adaptation usually refers to a pro-
cess of change triggered by external or internal
stimuli. Research findings of Smit & Wandel [3] show
that adaptation in diverse fields is defined by pro-
cesses that lead to the survival of species or culture
[3, p. 283]. As anthropologist Oliver-Smith concludes
“human adaptation is constituted in forms of belief,
behavior, or technology that have become part of
culture, enabling its members to survive and repro-
duce in its total environment” [4, p. 62].
adjustment to expected climate and its effects” [1].
This definition talks about the Climate Change Ad-
aptation on a global scale. However, there is no uni-
versal definition of adaptation in development stud-
ies [12].
From an economic perspective, Climate Change
drives a structural change of the global economy
(Fig. 9).

The scientists agree that adaptation can influence

economy, political stability, environmental sustain-
ability, and culture, but what adaptation comprises
in total is still debatable [12].
Figure 9. Adaptation as a reaction to structural
Climate Change Adaptation definition change. Source: [21].

The commonly accepted definition of Climate
Change Adaptation (CCA) refers to “a process of ad-
justment to actual or expected climate and its ef-
fects. In human systems, adaptation seeks to mod-
erate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. In
natural systems, human intervention may facilitate
Humans with its actions (i.e. economy) impact glob-
al Climate, which in return impacts the global econ-
omy. In this sense, from an economic perspective,
the Climate Change Adaptation “is the collective re-
action of all actors within an economy to a structural
change that is driven by climate change” [21].

22
Climate Change Adaptation in practice

Climate Change Adaptation raises questions

(Fig. 10):

a) On what to adapt to?

We are adapting to changing climate conditions
(e.g. temperature change, precipitation change) or
on the effect that climate change has on human sys-
tem (e.g. crop failure, health issues, loss of habitat).

b) Who adapts?
All the stakeholders of a system affected by the ef-
fects of climate change (e.g. if farmers are affected
by drought adaptation is related to improving irriga-
tion systems of changing crops).

c) How it occurs?
There are different types and forms of adaptation.
The most common division is on autonomous and
planned adaptation [24]. Figure 10. Gross anatomy of adaptation to climate
change and variability. Source: [23, p. 230].
Understanding the anatomy of adaptation helps
practitioners to relate to donors, policy, and deci-
sion makers.

23
 General Differentiating Examples of Terms Used
Concept or Attribute
Purposefulness autonomous planned
spontaneous purposeful
automatic intentional
natural policy
passive active
strategic
Timing anticipatory responsive
proactive reactive
ex ante ex post
Temporal Scope short term long term
tactical strategic
instantaneous cumulative
contingency
routine
Spatial scope localized widespread
Function/Effects retreat – accommodate – protect – prevent – tolerate – spread
– change - restore
Form structural – legal – institutional – regulatory – financial - tech-
nological
Performance cost – efficiency – implementability - equity
Table 3. The basis for differentiating adaptation. Source: [24, p. 208].

The question “How does Adaptation occur?” relates

to processes and forms of adaptation. The pro-
cesses and forms are not independent from “who
or what adapts?” and “adaptation to what?” [24, p.
208]. Most of the criteria are descriptive (Tab. 3).

24
Key stakeholders in Climate Change Action Climate Change Adaptation core concepts
and Debate
Stakeholders involved in Climate Change debate
and action are not homogenous and often have var-
ied interests and goals. Here is the list of key stake-
holders (Tab. 4):
The Public Significantly affected by
climate change impacts and
responsible for the majority of
emissions.
Industry There are companies that are
based on fossil fuel consump-
tion and ones that have car-
bon neutral business models.
Government Have a key role since polit-
ical elites decide on major
international agreements and
policies.
Scientific Important role in shaping a
community perception of climate change
that supports policy develop-
ment.
Media Plays one of crucial and grow-
ing roles in climate action,
where often sensational ele-
ments frame climate debates.
Crucial part of media should
be adequate informing of the
public.
Table 4. Key stakeholders in Climate Change Action
and Debate. Source: [25].
25
The global adaptation goal defined by Paris Agree-
ment [17] advocates reduction of vulnerability, en-
hancement of resilience and increase of adaptive
capacity. These concepts are accepted as ‘univer-
sal’ values to conceptualize climate change and re-
lated transformations.
For the purpose of CRAterre’s practice and research,
it is important to understand how its practice re-
lates to these concepts. Below, the concepts are de-
scribed from a climate change perspective.
Adaptive capacity
Adaptive capacity refers to “the ability or potential
of a system to respond successfully to climate vari-
ability and change and includes adjustments in both
behaviors and in resources and technologies” [26].
Adaptive capacity is latent in its nature and it is be-
ing triggered by the external event. There are differ-
ent framings of adaptive capacity.
Based on the research findings of Haiti post-recon-
struction project (2010) the LBC approach “sup-
ports local adaptive capacity to climate change, by
providing equal access to the asset base, relevant
knowledge and information on local building cul-
tures, innovation in traditional construction tech-
niques, and flow and flexibility in decision-making
process among local and public institutions” [27, p.
62]. This evaluation was based on the Local Adaptive
Capacity framework that defines five dimensions of
adaptive capacity (Fig. 11):

Figure 11. The relationships among characteristics
of adaptive capacity at the local level. Source: [28].
Vulnerability
Vulnerability is “the degree to which a system is sus-
ceptible to/and unable to cope with, adverse effects
of climate change, including climate variability and
extremes. Vulnerability is a function of the charac-
ter, magnitude and rate of climate change and varia-
tion to which a system is exposed, its sensitivity and
its adaptive capacity.” [26]
This definition frames vulnerability as an exposure
to environmental conditions (i.e. climate change
effects), rather than as a result of social conditions
[4]. The advantage of the LBC approach is that it ho-
listically addresses the vulnerability, as a result of
social, economic, and environmental conditions.
Resilience
“Resilience is the ability of a social or ecological
system to absorb disturbances while retaining the
same basic structure and ways of functioning, the
capacity for self-organization and the capacity to
adapt naturally to stress and change” [26].
Climate finance
“Sooner or later, all businesses will have to cli-
mate-proof their operations, from supply chain to
point of sale, from place of production to place of
investment. Adaptation will be imperative if busi-
nesses want to avoid climate change impacts driving
them out of business." [29, p. 2].
There are no clear rules on what counts as climate
finance [30]. In general climate finance comprises
financial flows that support mitigation and adapta-
tion measures, including capacity building and Re-
search and Development [30, p. 7]. Sources of cli-
mate finances are different and heterogeneous. The
total global investments in climate action amounted
to 392 billion [30, p. 19].
For CRAterre’s practice, public finance sources that
are channeled through international organizations
such as UNDP and UNEP are important to develop
research and development projects. Paris Agree-
ment has defined an amount of 100 billion $ yearly
that developed countries should allocate for less de-
veloped areas of the Global South [17].
For example, Nepal has a well developed finan-
cial architecture to support urgent climate action.
Funds have been collected by the multilateral and
bilateral agencies, partners, and banks. 91 % of total
amount spent on climate action have been collect-
ed through grants [31]. The financed activities are
defined by country’s NAPA and NAP policies, men-
tioned in Chapter 1.
This is an example of how global climate policies are
driving financial mechanisms to support climate
change measures. Community-based Adaptation
programs, with which the LBC approach has con-
ceptual similarities, are part of UNDP strategy to re-
duce impacts of climate change [32].
26
 3.
The Local Building Culture approach
• methodology of research
• the Habitat projects analysis
This chapter is based on the excerpts from the ar-
ticle entitled Local Building Culture approach as an
Adaptive Response to Climate Change, by Marković,
V. and Garnier, P., to inform readers on the method-
ology of research and results of the Habitat project
analysis. The article is expected to be published as
part of the Cities and Climate Conference proceed-
ings in 2018. Further reading [33].
Methodology of research
“The conceptual similarities that emerged in the
literature review led to the hypothesis that the Lo-
cal Building Culture (LBC) approach is an appropri-
ate response to climate change. This research is a
pioneer work in making a relation between the LBC
approach and Climate Change Adaptation theory
and practice. The LBC projects were not developed
as climate change adaptation. Thus, to support the
starting hypothesis further research focused on
highlighting features with the potential to respond
to climate change.
Two levels of qualitative analysis were conducted.
First, the analysis of overall experience that is rele-
vant for the LBC approach theorization. This analysis
aimed to draw conclusions on the LBC adaptive na-
ture from recognized patterns (Figure 1). The select-
27
ed projects are part of the Habitat program, which
is responsible for a sustainable human habitat de-
velopment. The secondary data were final project re-
ports and related publications. These were gathered
from CRAterre’s projects report database [19] and
library. The reports are the result of practitioners’
first-hand experience. The informal interviews with
practitioners were conducted to clarify the analyzed
documents.
Second, the research focused on the illustration of
the LBC adaptive nature on a project level (Table 1).
The aim was to understand how the LBC approach is
applied on the ground. Targeted selection of three
projects for an in-depth analysis was based on the
distinct background, context, scope, and period of
implementation. These categories are the result of
the first level of analysis. This allowed further char-
acterization of the LBC approach within the adapta-
tion perspective.
Limitations of this research relate to document anal-
ysis as the only method of research. However, the
final projects' reports are valid documents to under-
stand the LBC approach practice. The long-term im-
pacts of the analyzed projects have not been record-
ed. Thus, the focus here is on the adaptive nature of
the LBC approach and transformational potential of
applied activities.” [33, p. 6]
 Figure 12. Habitat project analysis. Source: Author.
The Habitat project analysis
“Since the 2000s the Local Building Culture (LBC)
approach has been employed in diverse contexts
and across scales to improve living conditions of
targeted communities. The selected projects differ
in scale, trigger, period of implementation, and con-
text.
The experience of CRAterre and its partners in dis-
aster risk reduction was reinforced during this peri-
od. Natural disasters (e.g. hurricanes, floods, earth-
quakes) triggered 13 out of 19 analyzed projects
(Figure 10). These 13 projects display the importance
of traditional housing structures in relation to disas-
ter impact reduction and their wide usage in listed
countries.
The other triggers related to social vulnerabilities
and trends in the construction sector. The triggers
and other factors such as vulnerability of people,
housing safety, capacities, defined areas of inter-
vention and targeted communities. This explains the
distinct scale of intervention in a household, district,
city, regional and national level.
These projects were not developed as climate
change adaptation. Nevertheless, the overall expe-
rience shows the adaptive nature of LBC approach in
addressing a wide range of challenges in the context
of human habitat.” [33, p. 6].
28
 4.
Discussion
• Climate Change as a global perspective
• The transitional potential
• Systems thinking
• Threat to local building cultures
• Culture and Climate Change

Opportunities on different levels

The potential that the LBC practice offers is often
hard to grasp. If we look at the global perspective re-
sults of implemented projects offer a vast material
for the theorization of the LBC approach and theo-
rization of sustainable habitat development. Debate
on global perspectives necessitates a clarity and vi-
sion for further action.
On a national level, CRAterre’s 40-year practice of-
fers an immense material for a reflection and theo-
rization of habitat production in countries across all
continents. A country profile of implemented pro-
jects would enable internal team and researchers to
reflect on CRAterre’s legacy. It would also help for
future project development and anchor CRAterre’s
legitimacy in a given country.
On a project level, the adaptive management of CRA-
terre’s approach (the famous spiral) offers enough
flexibility for practitioners to manage projects
across diverse contexts. Depending on the scope
and project’s nature different assessment options
are available to practitioners. Local context dynam-
ics and “captain of a boat” have the biggest impact
in a given project.
This publication in Annex offers some tools that
would simplify management of projects’ information
and material (i.e. the country profile of implemented
projects and multiple objectives frameworks).

29
Figure 13. Illustration of the LBC practice. Source: Author.
30
Climate Change as a global perspective
Understanding the Climate Change Adaptation sci-
ence, practice, narrative, and international actors
would in effect mean utilizing potential that lies
within climate change discourse to promote CRA-
terre’s approach and vision of habitat development.
Pressures and risks on livelihoods in a globalized
world are numerous across scales and sectors. Many
practitioners, researchers, and donors advocate for
interdisciplinary work. In this sense, an adaptation
paradigm would enable new channels for research
and opportunities to extend local partnerships. This
is particularly related to governments that are le-
gally obliged (i.e. Paris Agreement) to enact climate
action in its respective policies and development
plans.
The transition toward promising future based on fru-
gal innovation, local knowledge, and social capital is
a missing paradigm in climate change discourse.
Also, ability to deliver real change on the ground is
the aspiration of many international organizations.
This is where CRAterre holds the greatest potential.
Certainly, climate change is not the only threat that
people are facing. Natural disasters are also relat-
ed to other factors, such as seismic. However, cli-
mate change has the global attention that initiates
debates and policy development with far-reaching
potential.
The LBC approach and Adaptation concept
and practice → Local Building Cultures as Lo-
cal Adaptation Cultures
The LBC approach has conceptual similarities with
climate change adaptation concept and practice.
31
“The LBC approach reinforces local practices that
are part of the human adaptation to environmental,
social and economic conditions. This is in effect an
extended adaptation to new circumstances, which
implies the conceptual similarity between the LBC
and the concept of adaptation.” [33, p. 5]
“Regarding the climate change adaptation practice,
the LBC approach has conceptual similarities with
the Community-Based Adaptation (CBA) approach,
given the way these approaches develop field ac-
tivities that are rooted in local culture. The LBC and
CBA put people at the center of their activities and
focus on why and with what knowledge something is
done, and rely on people’s ability to respond to their
needs. The CBA approach is applied across sectors,
while the LBC targets human habitat. The LBC ap-
proach revolves around the local building cultures to
improve resilience of the built environment to natu-
ral disasters. The co-benefits of its actions address
a wider range of challenges often related to social,
economic, and environmental conditions.” [33, p. 5]
The Annex of this publication describes the Weath-
er Analysis applied in the CBA approach. The aim is
to inform the LBC practitioners in the way weather
conditions are recorded in a given context.
Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate
Change Adaptation (CCA)
Given that the LBC approach gave extensive results
in Disaster Risk Reduction, particularly in last two
decades, reflection should be made on how DRR re-
lates to CCA.
There are researchers advocating for a clearer fram-
ing of climate change especially in the context of
Disaster Risk Reduction. Kelman and Gaillard [34]
are arguing against promoting climate change as
the only driver of disasters. According to the au-
thors when we talk about climate change we should
have in mind that:
a. Climate change is one of many disaster drivers
and it should not be ignored or put above others;
b. Climate change is one of the human-induced en-
vironmental changes, which cumulate over time.
With such threats a major impact is seen after a cer-
tain threshold is reached;
Nevertheless, climate change has necessary public
attention and political importance that represents
an opportunity to implement a wider agenda and
comprehensive disaster management. This entails
embedding Climate Change Adaptation in Disaster
Risk Reduction [34, p. 40].
Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) encompasses Cli-
mate Change Adaptation (CCA). However, CCA has
the global attention that is recently being institu-
tionalized with Paris Agreement that defines global
adaptation goal. In this regard, following the climate
change agenda to extend sustainable habitat devel-
opment should not be taken for granted.
The transitional potential
“Transitional action is targeted at reform in the ap-
plication of governance.” [35]
The transitional potential of the LBC approach
comes from the way actions are developed (i.e.
project cycle + methodology) that has adaptive na-
ture as it can be applied across distinct contexts.
Through a spiral decision-making process, the LBC
approach combines Adaptation and Coping strat-
egies (i.e. re-engineered LBC) to give an answer to
new circumstances. This is done by promoting hori-
zontal scale-up (scale-out), as CRAterre’s combines
extensive local knowledge of coping strategies from
around the globe.
In situations when extreme events are a new ‘nor-
mal’ (e.g. frequent hurricanes), and local knowledge
has limited capacity CRAterre’s methodology is to
focus on the first principles and from scratch create
development strategies.
First principles mean that practitioners get to the
basics of the problem: what we have on the ground
(around us), how we can use it and how to dissem-
inate it among people. This is all done with an ex-
tensive network of local partners that are trusted by
community members, which creates a ground for a
sustainable process.
Activities implemented by the LBC approach aim
to improve the way habitat is built. The transition
comes from an intentional aim to reform or replace
decision-making process that leads toward not sus-
tainable or not resilient housing. This is done by pro-
moting local building cultures and enabling people
to act on their behalf.
The overall goal of the LBC approach usually refers
to increase the well-being of people. However, sec-
ondary effects of the LBC approach may refer to:
(1) ecosystem sustainability (e.g. project in Uganda
contributing to deforestation problem);
(2) impacting education system (e.g. extending
school season in Afghanistan);
(3) increase of overall resilience to natural disasters
(e.g. Haiti reconstruction) [33].
Co-benefits of the LBC approach are also empower-
ing marginal groups and balance power relations.
Every LBC project has a particular pathway that
leads toward sustainable habitat. “The pathway is
32
considered to be a chain of actions, where a new ac-
tion is activated once its predecessor is no longer
able to meet the definition of success” [36, p. 53].
Mapping these pathways (Fig. 14) have the potential
for a theorization of the local building culture resil-
ient pathway. This can provide a better understand-
ing, justification, and importance of supporting lo-
cal building cultures.
Figure 14. Illustration of a resilience pathway.
Source: [1].
Coping vs Adaptation
For the scientific and practical purposes of the LBC
approach, it should be made a clear distinction be-
tween coping and adaptive strategies (Fig. 15).
According to the anthropologist Oliver-Smith [4], ad-
aptation refers to an “evolved practice” that is part
of a given culture, and it is practiced for an extended
period of time. On the other hand, coping strategy
33
refers to the solutions developed after a single par-
ticular disaster that involves innovation, creativity,
and an “immediate problem solving” [4, p. 62].
In other words, local building culture that is practiced
for an extended period of time would be considered
as an adaptation strategy, while construction prac-
tice that is developed more recent (i.e. due to lack of
resources, cheaper materials, new extreme weather
events etc.) would be a coping strategy.
The LBC approach in practice supports adaptation
and coping strategies, and it promotes synergy
among them. This distinction has scientific, politi-
cal, and practical implications for CRAterre’s prac-
tice.
Figure 15. Systematizing coping and adaptation as
well as impact and change. Source: [37].
The comprehensive LBC assessment is con-
ceptually related to systems thinking
The Local Building Culture approach is based on a
comprehensive assessment (Fig. 16). This assess-
ment involves identification of system properties
that informs a decision-making process. This com-
prehensive LBC assessment could be conceptually
connected with a system thinking theory.

Figure 16. The LBC comprehensive assessment.
Source: Author, based on [38].
The assessment of different parts (e.g. habitat ty-
pology, construction process, risks, materials etc.)
of a system (e.g. community) provides a thorough
understanding of a given a context. This creates an
opportunity for a real change on the ground.
The importance of introducing systems thinking
is in resolving complex problems related to hybrid
threats that humans are facing.
Risk management results in risk typology (e.g. so-
cial, natural and technological risks). However, in
practice, this does not embrace the complexity of
social interactions and decision-making process.
We live in a hyper-connected world, where there is no
a clear distinction between natural and social risks.
Human actions are shaping the world that cannot be
perceived as ‘external’ to us. Instead, all risks should
be perceived as ‘manufactured’ because of direct or
indirect relation with human decisions. [39, p. 92].
The response to hybrid risks is in resilience thinking.
Enhancing resilience means enhancing functional
relationships that exist between the various compo-
nents of a given system [28].
This is the focus of the LBC approach where solu-
tions extend from responding to one natural disas-
ter, but rather on building resilience upon the exist-
ing assets. This leads to a mindset of being prepared
for uncertainty and unexpected failures.
Results in this regards may serve for the theoriza-
tion of applying systems thinking in habitat devel-
opment.
Climate Change as an opportunity for prac-
tice and a threat to local building cultures
“How we conceptualize climate greatly shapes the
parameters of what we subsequently consider to be
climate change, its causative dynamics and the po-
tential implications we draw for social and environ-
mental transformation.” [40 p. 26].
Marc Taylor [40], argues that the way Climate Science
constructed climate is “outside (of) any specific so-
cial context and is divorced from entanglements of
human actions” [40, p. 27]. The standardization of
climate as something ‘outside’ or ‘extracted’ from
social world creates a binary image of nature vs.
society. As the author states, this dualism defines
climate and society as two separate systems that
influence each other [40, p. 28]. In other words, an-
thropogenic activities impact a ‘naturally’ ordered
system (i.e. global climate) that reacts in a form of
biophysical impacts. This dualism is understanda-
ble from a Climate Science point of view, but it rep-
resents a problem for Climate Change Adaptation
practice.
According to the author since the first agricultural
revolution, human activities impacted local climates.
Climate has been described as part of daily hab-
its until XVIII c. Later, Climate Science established
standardized weather parameters to define climate,
which abstracted it from society.
34
The problem with climate parameters is that any
change in weather parameters is associated with
climate change. This can be a biased view since a
change of land-use (e.g. building industrial zone)
can impact local weather parameters, which can-
not be simply related to global climate change. This
means that people co-created climate for millenni-
ums [40].
Taylor, M. [40] does not negate achievements of Cli-
mate Science or that climate change is a result of
human actions. However, he argues that a rational-
ist idea of climate has political consequences [40,
p. 31].
Institutionalization of climate and society dualism
results in governmentality that creates a ‘world of
adaptation’ (illustrated in Chapter 1 and 2 of this
publication) where everyone should respond and
adapt to external climate stimuli [40, p. 31]. This
neglects involvement of society in co-producing
climate, it creates a global, Western-dominated,
knowledge on what climate is and neglects cultural
experiences of climate.
→ It is because of these global trends that CRA-
terre and its partners should focus on under-
standing the politics of climate change adap-
tation. It can be beneficial to understand ‘whose
climate agenda we follow’ and how climate change
policy impacts the LBC approach. Hypothetically, a
certain material or a construction solution that is
‘climate-friendly’ and supported by a government’s
policy may have the exact negative impact on local
building cultures as current non-sustainable prac-
tices. In other words, ‘climate-friendly’ solutions
may be a Trojan horse for the CRAterre’s practice.
Among other things, CRAterre analyzes how people
through Local Building Cultures domesticated cli-
35
mate over a long period of time. Bioclimatic archi-
tecture demonstrates a diverse relation to climate
across the globe. This also explains distinct re-
sponses to the same environmental risk.
Hence, by supporting this knowledge and principles
through a participatory process there is a potential
to challenge the international practice that defines
climate change as a statistical artifact that exists
outside of a specific context. The LBC approach can
be a medium that consolidates the tension between
traditional and scientific climate knowledge.
It can also be a strong reminder of how new weath-
er extremes become devastating when sustainable
habitat development principles are not followed.
Culture and Climate Change
Culture affects adaptive pathways since people in
different areas around the globe perceive and expe-
rience the environment in different ways. Most of
the adaptation to climate change try to fit into the
simple cause-and-effect relationship between en-
vironmental risk and social responses. Researchers
argue [41] that the importance of addressing cultur-
al dimension impacts the results of adaptation ac-
tivities on a long term.
The LBC approach supports local building practic-
es that are still in use in areas with frequent natural
disasters. In the face of recurrent disasters, people
modified and improved building systems, which re-
sulted in responses to risks on a household level.
These responses evolved with customization of lo-
cal construction techniques and ways of living. The
responses “vary from hazard to hazard, from region
to region, and even among members of the same
communities” [38, p. 13].
This can be associated with the “place attachment”
[40, p. 2], a concept that defines peoples sense of
belonging to a community and attachment of peo-
ple to the environment they live in. This is becoming
a growing factor in Climate Change Adaptation field
since the sense of belonging inspires people to
develop adaptive strategies. Importance of culture
in the way people create their environment and hab-
itat is crucial for integration of communities that are
affected by climate change, particularly in the face
of expected climate change migrations.
Climate Change and Urbanization
Due to the nature of climate politics and necessity
to manage problems by economic sectors, there is
a lack of focus on cities. Complex systems like cit-
ies haven’t been taken into account at the begin-
ning of climate negotiations. Nowadays, cities are
becoming major areas to address global problems.
Addressing urbanization is a part of every develop-
ment strategy.
The LBC approach has been presented in an inter-
national scientific environment at the Cities and
Climate Conference in September 2017, in Potsdam,
Germany. This is a beginning of creating opportuni-
ties for a new research and practice under the Cli-
mate Change Adaptation framework.
CRAterre’s practice and Climate Change Miti-
gation → Reduction of carbon emissions and
This potential also includes continuity of CRAterre’s
energy intensity
As it is said in Chapter 1, Climate Change action in-
volves Mitigation and Adaptation measures.
To withal climate change impacts global economies
are focusing on energy efficiency and reduction of
carbon intensity. These are human actions aiming
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Governments
are developing policies that lead toward the decar-
bonized world. This entails development of carbon
economy where incentives are given to business
models that have significantly lower GHGs emis-
sions.
Habitat development based on local building cul-
tures promotes energy efficiency and reduces car-
bon intensity. The impact is proportional to a scale
of the project and a global application of the meth-
odology.
As far as existing CRAterre practice is concerned the
project Building with local materials in North-Kivu
(2014) is the first project that used multi-criteria
analysis to calculate the environmental impact of
the proposed materials [11].
Calculating contribution of the CRAterre’s projects
to GHG emissions is a challenging task due to a lack
of data and resources in a given context. Based on a
project’s scale a relevance of calculating emissions
is determined.
Developing research on carbon neutrality of earth-
based materials and construction methodology
holds great potential. As an example, Auroville Earth
Institute calculated emissions of compressed stabi-
lized earth block in their context [42].
experience in bioclimatic architecture that leads to-
ward energy efficiency.
Partnerships can be developed across international
organizations that are striving toward carbon neu-
tral settlements, such as C40 Cities and Climate
Leadership group [43].
36
 5.
Opportunities for future
What has been done so far regarding the re- ing practice in DRR and inclusion of CCA theory and
search of the Local Building Culture approach practice;
and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA)? (3) Focus on the indigenous domestication of cli-
1. Master thesis showing how the LBC approach im-
pacts Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change based
on the Haiti post-disaster reconstruction [27].
2. Scientific article that has been presented to the
international scientific audience in Potsdam, Ger-
many at the Cities and Climate Change Conference.
Proceedings are expected to be published in 2018
[33].
3. This publication to sensitize internal team on the
importance of climate change for developing pro-
jects and theorization of the LBC approach and con-
tribution to Climate Change Adaptation practice and
science.
Climate Change theory and practice holds opportu-
nities for a research and practice development.
Depending on the focus potential lies in developing
research related to:
(1) Cities and Climate Change, with the development
of a climate-friendly human habitat by reinforcing
local know-how and capacity;
(2) Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change
Adaptation that focuses on the extension of exist-
37
mate with local building cultures, and how current
climate changes impact local building practices;
(4) Research and Development projects capitalizing
on opportunities related to climate change (e.g. Ty-
pha project),
(5) Decarbonization of economies by using local
materials and building systems in the construction
sector.
Developing ‘projet située’
As it is described part of LBC assessment content
is the ‘site analysis’ and ‘risk reduction’. These as-
pects include gathering information about weather,
climate, adaptation, and coping strategies. Climate
data may be crucial in understanding the adequate
evolution of local building cultures.
Integrating within SHERPA
SHERPA is a methodology that aims to provide sus-
tainable housing projects by guiding the project
process through multiple indicators based on sus-
tainable development.
Integrating climate change related indicators should
be part of future tool options.
 6.
Annex
• Tools for practitioners

Why the LBC approach is already part of climate action?

Climate Change Mitigation

1. Reduces CO2 emissions in the construction and building sector.
2. Promotes energy efficiency in the building sector.
Climate Change Adaptation
4. Promotes low-impact lifestyle based on local knowledge and resources.
5. Increases adaptive capacity to climate change.
6. Provides coping strategies for new extreme disasters.
7. Challenges ‘business as usual’.
8. It promotes frugal innovation and transformation of latent capacity into action.
9. The LBC approach is adaptive in its nature.
10. The LBC approach is not just a DRR response; it promotes continual adaptation to new circum-
stances.

Climate Change and Culture

11.The habitat solutions are rooted in culture and promote integrating culture and identity into pub-
lic policies.
12. The climate is perceived differently across the globe. Local building cultures resemble the way
people domesticated climate in a given context.
Climate Change and Governance
13. Cross-scale and multi-sectoral approach to governance enables transformative actions on the
ground.

Table 5. Why the LBC approach is already part of climate action. Source: Author.

38
Weather analysis

As part of the LBC Risk Reduction assessment main natural hazards of an area are identified. However, in
case of detailed and broader Weather Analysis (Tab. 6), here is the summary analysis that is part of Com-
munity-based Adaptation. Certain steps are already part of the LBC approach.

The process involves assessment of (1) Local climate knowledge and (2) Scientific climate knowledge.

1. Local climate 1. conduct a community based par- a) Seasonal calendar

knowledge ticipatory capacity and vulnerability b) Participatory hazard map
assessment → c) Historical hazard timeline
The conducted d) Hazard impact matrix
activities will allow
to understand dif- 2. summarize and correlate the results of the assessment;
ferent experiences
of impacts. 3. identify disaster and climate change challenges, coping strategies and
adaptive capacities;

4. revise and update your project outline;

2. Scientific 1. conduct an online literature review;

climate knowl- 2. investigate climate change scientific studies to collect information for your
edge location;
3. consult with a local expert;
4. compile the information.
The goal would be to gather data on local climate stimuli such as changes in
temperature, precipitation, surface and water flow, and climate variability.

Table 6. Weather analysis. Source: Author, based on [44]

39
Framework for multiple objectives

The Local Building Culture approach practice has inherent co-benefits that address a wide range of chal-
lenges and objectives related to the entirety of community livelihood. Often co-benefits are not recorded,
particularly in relation to different indicators.
This framework (Fig. 17) offers an example of mapping multiple objectives. The framework is based on the
projects of Rajkot city in India that address climate change. The objectives are divided into environmental,
social, economic and governance pillar.

The impacts of projects are divided into three groups marked with different symbols:
● - Primary objectives of the projects
⃝ - Additional objectives addressed
▲ - Potential opportunities for further action in the city/community;

Defining the objectives for the LBC practice could

be based on SHERPA's pillars and indicators. It is
understandable a variety of projects and scales that
are implemented.
However, a simple table that would serve to inform
team members, project actors and researchers
would enrich debates over the extensive impact of
the LBC approach.

Figure 17. Framework for mapping multiple objectives. Source: [45]

40
Country Profile of Implemented projects

The extensive experience of CRAterre and its part-

ners offers an opportunity to map the project im-
pacts on a country level. The idea revolves around a
country profile (Fig. 18), which includes information
on the implemented projects, local and international
partners, and national strategies of a given country.

The aim is to improve an exchange of information

among team members and create a ground for sci-
entific research and situated project development.

These country profiles would be beneficial for (1)

understanding long-term impact on a national level,
(2) easier process of applying for funds, (3) research
development.

Figure 18. The illustration of a country profile based

on implemented projects. Source: Author, based on
[46].

41
Local Building Culture Resilience Pathway

The CRAterre's 40 years experience offers the vast material to map the resilience pathway that has been
driven by supporting local building cultures. This work has the advantage in approaching human habitat
with multi-sectoral and multi-scale perspective (Fig. 19).

Figure 19. Illustration of the CRAterre's Local Building Culture Resilience Path, based on cross sectoral and
multi scale practice. Source: Author.

42
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