Climate change poses uncertain, complex, and emerging risks to local
governments across the country, particularly in regions prone to flood
and storm hazards. While local governments recognize the importance of
finding innovative approaches to climate change adaptation, it remains a
challenge for many reasons, including the high cost of policy
experimentation, lack of organizational capacity, and uncertainty about
the efficacy of potential adaptation strategies. These are not merely
challenges of technological innovation, but also of social and policy
innovation. It is increasingly recognized that collaboration is required
to meet these challenges. Collaborations of various types---referred to
broadly as policy networks---give organizations access to information,
ideas, and other resources that may be used to adapt to climate change.
Certain types of networks are hypothesized to be effective for these
purposes, particularly networks that span fragmented communities and
integrate different knowledge systems and resources. These types of
networks tend to reduce information asymmetries and maximize the
diversity of information and resources available to network actors, thus
increasing capacity to manage uncertain, emerging, and complex problems.
In this paper we characterize the policy network surrounding climate
change adaptation in Southeast Florida that includes municipal actors as
well as a diverse array of stakeholders in the public, private, and
nonprofit sectors. Data are gathered using a survey of organizational
representatives in the region, identified though systematic searches of
organizational websites as well as nominations by other climate change
professionals. Overall this study shows a complex web of collaborations
where over 300 diverse actors are exchanging information about climate
change and sharing resources to address adaptation. Findings demonstrate
that county governments and regional nonprofit organizations, such as
the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact, play a crucial
role in linking disparate resources and knowledge systems in the region.
These organizations help to stabilize network ties within a complex and
rapidly shifting political landscape, making them instrumental for the
delivery of climate adaptation services.