Natural Hazards and Public Management: Governing Climate Adaptation

This open access book examines how policymakers respond to natural hazards in the wake of global climate change. Through a series of five case studies it assesses how changing patterns of natural hazards collide with established patterns of spatial planning, and how alternative strategies could be operationalised in local policy practice. Due to global warming, wildfires and floods are occurring in regions where they had previously been virtually unknown. Yet local public policy for immediate protection against natural hazards has remained at the margins of both public and scholarly attention. The book argues that when it comes to the containment and mitigation of natural hazards as the consequence of climate change, effective prevention requires accurate anticipation of impacts, appropriate policy settings, and the mobilization of administrative skill.

Wolfgang Seibel is Professor of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Konstanz, Germany

Andrew Butt is Associate Professor in Sustainability and Urban Planning at RMIT University, Australia

Michael Buxton is Emeritus Professor at RMIT University, Australia