Interpreting community perceptions of vulnerability, knowledge and power for community-based adaptation programming

The report examines community-based adaptation (CBA) in Vanuatu, specifically on the islands of Futuna, Motalava, and Vanua Lava. It argues that vulnerability is multidimensional and influenced by local power dynamics and cross-scale structural issues, such as global copra prices and national land laws. The author suggests that for CBA to be effective, NGOs must move beyond short-term technical fixes to support 'adaptive capacity' through equitable decision-making and rights-based approaches that empower marginalised groups, including women and people with disabilities.

• Vulnerability in Vanuatu is multidimensional and driven by factors independent of climate change, such as the need for cash for school fees and limited market access, which interact with climate impacts to exacerbate risks.
• Local power relations and cultural norms dictate how risks are prioritised and managed; without explicit focus on equity, technical interventions often reinforce existing inequalities by benefiting those already in power.
• Targeted gender action plans, such as those implemented by CARE in Futuna, can successfully shift local norms by ensuring women's participation in planning and leadership, whereas projects lacking this focus leave gender roles sharply defined.
• Adaptive capacity is built when communities have access to information, the ability to experiment with new ideas, and inclusive decision-making processes, rather than having technologies imposed by NGOs.
• Many drivers of local vulnerability are cross-scale, meaning they originate outside the community, such as the collapse of global copra prices or the unreliability of national shipping services.
• Structural issues, including endemic violence against women and restrictive land laws, act as fundamental constraints on agency and must be addressed for participatory development to be genuine.
• Rights-based approaches can address structural constraints by using social, political, administrative, and legal entry points to challenge marginalisation and secure entitlements for the vulnerable.

APA

Ensor, J. (2015). Interpreting community perceptions of vulnerability, knowledge and power for community-based adaptation programming. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/Oxfam-SEI-2016-Vanuatu-adaptation-resilience.pdf

Chicago

Ensor, Jonathan. Interpreting community perceptions of vulnerability, knowledge and power for community-based adaptation programming. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2015. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/Oxfam-SEI-2016-Vanuatu-adaptation-resilience.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ensor |first1=Jonathan |title=Interpreting community perceptions of vulnerability, knowledge and power for community-based adaptation programming |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=November 2015 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/Oxfam-SEI-2016-Vanuatu-adaptation-resilience.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ensor2015interpreting, author = {Ensor, Jonathan}, title = {{Interpreting community perceptions of vulnerability, knowledge and power for community-based adaptation programming}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2015}, month = nov, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/Oxfam-SEI-2016-Vanuatu-adaptation-resilience.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }