A Closer Look at the Academy's Study of Climate Change and more
One of the Academy’s 12 Grand Challenges is “Steward Natural Resources and Address Climate Change.” As we see changes in the world around us, the first steps towards taking action are to observe and understand. The Academy and its fellows have an important role in helping to study the impacts of climate change and inform the potential solutions. Below are just a few of the examples of the Academy’s ongoing efforts.
Disaster Resilience: Addressing Modern Housing and Infrastructure Resiliency Challenges
Climate change means more and fiercer natural disasters and weather events, particularly hurricanes in coastal areas. What impact does a growing threat have on local governments as they face budget challenges? And how can they build resilience into
This report, in partnership with Hagerty Consulting, is an in-depth look at the ways in which local governments can create infrastructure resilience through policy and practice, in the face of serious threats from climate change.
Preparing Governments for Future Shocks, A roadmap to resilience in partnership with the IBM Center for the Business of Government
From the report: "Shocks transcend geographic, jurisdictional, political, and organizational boundaries. Furthermore, adaptation, preparation, and response to shock events cannot be the responsibility of a single sector, program, agency, or level of government. Instead, the key to success—and the root cause of many failures— lies within the capabilities of individual network participants and the strength of the network before, during, and after an upheaval. Simply put, complex problems cannot be solved in silos. What practical steps can governments take in the near term to better prepare for and respond to future shocks? IBM, working through the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV), the IBM Center for The Business of Government (the IBM Center), and in partnership with the National Academy of Public Administration (the Academy), launched an initiative to help governments identify core capabilities critical to building resilience. The initiative also addressed priorities included in the “Grand Challenges for Public Administration” put forth by the Academy."
Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change: A Comparative Study of Governance Processes in Australia, China, and the United States
As we face a more uncertain future, the discussion has also turned to the study of adaptation - how are governments around the world preparing to adapt to a more hostile environment? What can we learn now about governments around the world, to help future generations communicate and solve these intergovernmental challenges on a global scale.
From the report: "Adaptation, by contrast, is locally focused, requiring levels of data and analysis not now available and consideration of complex interactions among many human and natural systems, and local capacity to use data and analyses. Adaptation will require governance to address the majority of NAPA’s grand challenges. This report seeks to set a framework for use by practitioners and scholars for learning from country efforts to reduce adaptation governance deficits."
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Looking for more? The Academy’s Management Matters podcast has featured three climate change-focused podcasts in April 2024, including conversations with Academy Fellows Matt Auer, Susan Offutt, and Henry Lambright. You can find each episode on our buzzsprout page, or click the links below to go right to the player on the site.
April 15, 2024, Matt Auer Finding Win-Win Solutions to Environmental Stewardship
April 8, 2024, Susan Offutt The Changing Agricultural Landscape
April 1, 2024, Dr. Henry Lambright Solving Environmental and Outer Space Challenges through Systems Thinking
