Both research for adaptation and research on adaptation are needed to inform society's response to climate change impacts

The document identifies a gap between the production of adaptation research and its implementation in policy and practice. It argues that the current 'supplier– customer model' of climate services is insufficient because it ignores the complexity of decision-making. To resolve this, the author calls for 'research on adaptation' to investigate why certain decisions are made and what factors lead to successful or unsuccessful outcomes, suggesting that the medical research field could serve as a model for effective knowledge translation.

• The increase in adaptation research has not automatically resulted in improved policies or actions due to bottlenecks, including discrepancies between the scale of provided data and the operational scales of decision-makers.
• Current adaptation research and climate services are hindered by a 'supplier– customer model' that does not account for the complexities involved in adaptation decision-making.
• To enhance the effectiveness of research for adaptation, there is a need for 'research on adaptation' to analyze the drivers of decision-making and determine the efficacy of different approaches.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2017). Both research for adaptation and research on adaptation are needed to inform society's response to climate change impacts. https://www.sei.org/publications/both-research-for-adaptation-and-research-on-adaptation-are-needed-to-inform-societys-response-to-climate-change-impacts/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Both research for adaptation and research on adaptation are needed to inform society's response to climate change impacts. 2017. https://www.sei.org/publications/both-research-for-adaptation-and-research-on-adaptation-are-needed-to-inform-societys-response-to-climate-change-impacts/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Both research for adaptation and research on adaptation are needed to inform society's response to climate change impacts |date=1 February 2017 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/both-research-for-adaptation-and-research-on-adaptation-are-needed-to-inform-societys-response-to-climate-change-impacts/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2017both, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Both research for adaptation and research on adaptation are needed to inform society's response to climate change impacts}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2017}, month = feb, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/both-research-for-adaptation-and-research-on-adaptation-are-needed-to-inform-societys-response-to-climate-change-impacts/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }