Vulnerability is dynamic : An interactive approach to enhance adaptation strategies to climate change for coastal tourism

• Main Author: Student, Jillian
• Other Authors: Mol, A.P.J., Lamers, M.A.J., Amelung, S.B.
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Wageningen University 2020
• Subjects: Life Science; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/vulnerability-is-dynamic-an-interactive-approach-to-enhance-adapt; https://doi.org/10.18174/512255

Many coastal tourism destinations, and islands in particular, are vulnerable to climatic and environmental changes. The environmental challenges in coastal destinations are complex and include: loss of land through erosion and sea-level rise; changing nature, frequency, and/or intensity of storms; ocean acidification; coral bleaching; drought; sea water intrusion; new movement of disease; and invasive species. These vulnerabilities develop and change shape continuously, a process that we do not understand very well.Moreover, the social consequences of climate change and coastal tourism are urgent as coastal tourism affects some of the most vulnerable populations. Many small island developing states (SIDs) rely on coastal tourism for employment and GDP; their national economies are smaller and less diversified than many other tourism destinations. At the same time, the sustainable development goals (SDGs) often recommend tourism as a key opportunity for development. However, the environmental resources that coastal tourism destinations depend on are recognised by the IPCC as being vulnerable to climate change. This complex relationship is understudied, which leaves island destinations unprepared to respond to emerging issues. Clearly, improving the sustainability of tourism in coastal destinations is not something we can ignore.Existing static vulnerability assessments can offer detailed insights, but they miss a critical dimension: change. Ongoing interactions in a destination affect how vulnerabilities emerge over time. As such, current research offers little practical advice of how we can proceed. Our comprehension of who and what is vulnerable, and how that changes over time, is limited. This provides insufficient information on what vulnerabilities we can reduce and what adaptive measures we can/need to take in the face of change. To improve our understanding of emerging vulnerabilities and adaptation strategies, we need new means of studying the dynamic nature of vulnerability.This thesis aims to contribute ...