The Role of Knowledge and Governance in Building Adaptive Capacity to Climate Variability and Change: A Comparative Study of Water Systems in Brazil

这项研究由科学和社会计划的政策、科学、工程和技术部分资助，旨在了解知识在建设巴西18个河流流域的水系统适应气候变化和变化能力方面的作用。虽然气候多变性的负面影响已经困扰着世界各地的大量穷人，但预计未来气候制度的变化将对全球南部的人口造成更大的影响。尽管知识系统被广泛地理论化为适应能力的决定因素，但专门关注知识在适应气候中的作用的实证研究相对较少。知识，特别是科学产生的知识(或技术科学知识)，在过去对气候压力的适应中发挥了什么作用？它可以在建设适应未来气候变化的能力方面发挥什么作用？这项研究结合定性和定量方法，探索关于跨流域理事会的知识使用模式以及关于技术科学知识和治理在建设这些流域的适应能力方面的作用的假设。这项研究的目的是促进关于气候适应和全球气候变化的人的因素的文献，以及社会和经济规划，以减轻与气候有关的破坏性影响(干旱、洪水)和与资源分配不公、掠夺性用水和排他性决策过程有关的社会问题。

This study, funded by the Studies of Policy, Science, Engineering and Technology component of the Science and Society Program, seeks to understand the role of knowledge in building adaptive capacity of water systems to climate variability and change across eighteen river basins in Brazil. While the negative effects of climate variability already distress a large number of the poor around the world, it is expected that future changes in the climate regime will affect populations in the global south even more disproportionately. Although knowledge systems have been extensively theorized as a determinant of adaptive capacity, there has been relatively little empirical research specifically focusing on the role of knowledge in adapting to climate. What role has knowledge, in particular science generated knowledge (or technoscientific knowledge), played in past adaptations to climate stress? What role can it play to build adaptive capacity to future climate change? The study combines qualitative and quantitative methods to explore hypotheses both about patterns of knowledge use across river basin councils and about the role of technoscientific knowledge and governance in building adaptive capacity in these basins. This study aims to contribute to the literature on climate adaptation and human dimensions of global climate change as well as to social and economic planning for the mitigation of both destructive climate-related impact (drought, flooding) and social problems related to inequitable resource distribution, predatory water use and exclusionary decision-making processes.