Praxis in Landscape Architecture

That’s how Anna Fahey describes the response to climate change in her review of Mark Hertsgaard’s book, Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth. Hertsgaard discusses climate change from the perspective of a father. What will the next fifty years be like for his daughter? Fahey calls herself a “climate policy nerd,” but says that the parenting focus was new for her, despite being a mother of a small child. The other surprise was Hertsgaard’s emphasis on adaptation, which Fahey says has not been embraced until lately because it was seen as a form of surrender on the climate mitigation front. Fahey states:

Adaptation charts a middle path. It takes a problem of atmospheric  proportions and makes it local—and far more concrete. Focus on the imperative to protect ourselves and our assets makes it easier to come  to terms with the problem. Hertsgaard illustrates this with examples of  governments from cities on up—building infrastructure and developing  policy designed for the reality of climate change.

Local, concrete, and easier to come to terms with – this is why adaptation is important for designers and local government planners. Good examples of adaptation practices at the local level, though, are in short supply.