Public Sector Reform and Governance for Adaptation: Implications of New Public Management for Adaptive Capacity in Mexico and Norway

Although many governments are assuming the responsibility of initiating adaptation policy in relation to climate change, the compatibility of “governance-for-adaptation” with the current paradigms of public administration has generally been overlooked. Over the last several decades, countries around the globe have embraced variants of the philosophy of administration broadly called “New Public Management” (NPM) in an effort to improve administrative efficiencies and the provision of public services. Using evidence from a case study of reforms in the building sector in Norway, and a case study of water and flood risk management in central Mexico, we analyze the implications of the adoption of the tenets of NPM for adaptive capacity. Our cases illustrate that some of the key attributes associated with governance for adaptation—namely, technical and financial capacities; institutional memory, learning and knowledge; and participation and accountability—have been eroded by NPM reforms. Despite improvements in specific operational tasks of the public sector in each case, we show that the success of NPM reforms presumes the existence of core elements of governance that have often been found lacking, including solid institutional frameworks and accountability. Our analysis illustrates the importance of considering both longer-term adaptive capacities and short-term efficiency goals in public sector administration reform

Assessing organizational resilience to climate and weather extremes: Complexities and methodological pathways

This paper offers insights for assessing organizational resilience to the effects of climate change, specifically to climate and weather extremes. The assessment of organizational resilience to climate and weather extremes brings about several challenges due to (1) uncertainties about future climate change outcomes across temporal and spatial scales and (2) a lack of insight into what lead to organizational resilience, or which variables should be measured in a given study. We suggest methodological pathways for organizational managers to identify properties of future climate and weather extremes and to include them in resilience assessments. We also suggest approaches to identify factors that promote organizational resilience to selected climate and weather extremes. Findings are intended to help managers to understand how organizational resilience to climate and weather extremes can be enhanced