Resilient Disaster Recovery: An exploration of operationalizing climate change adaptation measures in disaster recovery at the community level on Grand Bahama and Abaco

Abstract: This explorative case-study examines the dynamics of operationalizing climate change adaptation (CCA) measures in the aftermath of climate change induced natural disaster at the community level in a low-lying coastal Nation State with fragile institutional capacity. It explores the roles and responsibilities different stakeholder groups take and identifies constraints and facilitators for operationalizing CCA measures in disaster recovery to ultimately explore leverage points or pathways towards greater integration of CCA measures in the phase of disaster recovery. This is achieved through fieldwork and 20 in-depth interviews with key stakeholders such as government representatives, community leaders, private enterprise, and local and international NGOs. The study finds that stakeholders involved in disaster recovery have significant potential to more effectively integrate CCA measures through capacity building recovery approaches via community empowerment and community-integration. It highlights the necessity for decentralizing key water, energy, and food systems, and the key role of education and skill-building alongside devolution of decision-making and implementation to the local level.