ABSTRACT
Planning for climate change is a complex task, often carried out by well-educated people working in sophisticated institutions. It is a task that requires knowledge about cohesive topics, different spatial scales, and overlapping interests. Research evidence suggests that successful adaptation is more likely if those impacted by extreme climatic events are involved in the planning for adaptation (Beer et al., 2012; Nisbet, 2009). This involvement can be shaped in many ways. A design approach, as discussed in this chapter, combines a creative way of tackling the need for climate adaptation at community level, e.g. the actors that are impacted, with the opportunity of interaction and exchange between the involved participants, making social learning a key feature of these processes. We acknowledge social learning as especially applicable to wicked problems such as climate adaptation. Wicked problems such as climate change are characterized by uncertainty and ambiguity; they do not have a single, definite answer (Rittel and Webber, 1973). Social learning is important not only to reduce uncertainties, but also to develop consensus about problems and solutions among multiple actors.
