Katharine Vincent

This brief outlines the integrated, synthesised approach to co-designing research to reconcile the different priorities and cultures of research and practice adopted by the BASIN project. Read more

This brief from the BASIN project explores how behavioural research can better address complex, ‘wicked’ problems such as inclusive water security and climate adaptation. Read more

This paper explores how climate risk information produced in the context of insurance-related activities can support public climate adaptation planning. The central contribution is to outline how relevant climate risk information can translate into behaviour change, and the drivers and barriers that influence this in Sub-Saharan Africa. Read more

The authors of this paper examined past and future climate variability with the aim of understanding the main source of climate risk to development plans across the water, energy, and food sectors in southern East Africa, a relatively neglected region in terms of climate science and targeted for extensive infrastructure development. Read more

This open access book highlights the complexities around making adaptation decisions and building resilience in the face of climate risk.... Read more

The authors of this paper discuss how the choice and application of four existing social science methods (interview-informed role play workshop, open-ended interviews, prioritised surveys and enhanced surveys) arose out of, and was in turn embedded within, a different epistemological approach characteristic of co-production to identify decision-relevant climate metrics for the water and agriculture sectors in Malawi and Tanzania. Read more

In this paper, we use an inductive approach and longitudinal analysis to explore political influences on the emergence and evolution... Read more

Making climate-resilient planning and adaptation decisions is, in part, contingent on the use of climate information. Growing attention has been... Read more

This paper from the UMFULA programme investigates the potential catalyst role of insurance in adaptation to climate change in a developing country context that is characterised by low insurance penetration and a relatively low level of government planning, analysing the problem from the perspective of insurers in South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania. Read more

This paper outlines experiences with Participatory Scenario Planning (PSP), which has been used in Malawi as a method to bring together producers and users of weather and climate information to co-produce sector-specific advisories of weather information to make it both useful and usable to the different user groups, including farmers. Read more

Government ministries are increasingly mainstreaming climate change adaptation within policies and plans. However, government staff in key implementing ministries need... Read more

There are currently challenges to generating climate services relating both to the supply of climate science and its application. This paper from the UMFULA project reviews the current availability of climate information in Southern Africa and assesses the requirements of a variety of end users in the region, highlighting the importance of creating user-tailored climate services. Read more

Using the cases of Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia, this paper investigates the extent of coherence in national policies across the water and agriculture sectors and to climate change adaptation goals outlined in national development plans. Read more

Using document analysis and key informant interviews, this article examines how climate change is addressed in policy, how it is being mainstreamed into water, energy and agriculture sector policies and the extent to which cross-sectoral linkages enable coordinated action. These questions are addressed through a case study of Tanzania, highlighting broader lessons for other developing countries, particularly those in SSA facing similar challenges. Read more

This brief presents findings from a survey of 202 female and male entrepreneurs in South Africa to assess gendered differences in climate information use and provide recommendations for policymakers. Read more

Coherent, cross-sectoral approaches to policy development are essential to meeting the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals. Drawing on research from southern Africa, this brief makes recommendations for improving coherence, which is currently partial to weak across the region. Read more

This brief provides an overview of future climate change in Tanzania, using results from the latest available climate model simulations. The UMFULA research team of the Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) programme has analysed 34 Global Climate Models (GCMs) that provide projections for Tanzania to try to distil robust messages and some key trends that may help planning and decision-making. Read more

This brief provides an overview of future climate change in Malawi, using results from the latest available climate model simulations.... Read more

Global climate models (GCMs) are the most widely used method to understand future climate change. A new guide from the... Read more

This open access book highlights the complexities around making adaptation decisions and building resilience in the face of climate risk.... Read more

In Zambia and Burkina Faso community volunteers are contributing to weather forecasts and water-level measurement, encouraging their greater use and showing how the utility of data depends on social processes of creation and sharing. Read more

This commentary outlines findings from South Africa that show how many women entrepreneurs may be missing the opportunity to adapt their businesses to climate risk due to gender inequality in the provision of information – but increasing understanding of the problem can support change. Read more

A person’s water security is affected by their gender, as is their likelihood to hold decision-making positions about this vital resource. To increase water security in the face of a changing climate this must change. Read more

We all have to live with the risks posed by climate change, and learning how best to adapt will continue for decades into the future. There are no blueprints: instead we must learn by trial and improvement, write Declan Conway and Katharine Vincent, as they draw on experiences from research in Africa. Read more