Understanding Public Health Adaptation to Climate Change: An Explorative Study on the Development of Adaptation Strategies Relating to the Oak Processionary Moth in The Netherlands.

Yvette Buist,Marleen Bekker,Maria Koelen,Lenneke Vaandrager

doi:10.3390/ijerph18063080

Abstract

Understanding of public health adaptation (PHA) to climate change and implementation is limited. This study therefore focuses on one specific PHA issue: adaptation to the oak processionary moth (OPM). The aim is to examine the development of OPM adaptation in order to offer a problem description of the complexities involved in OPM adaptation. In this explorative case study, we investigate adaptation strategies based on semi-structured interviews with 26 actors involved in OPM adaptation in The Netherlands. The results indicate that the context of OPM adaptation is relatively complex, given the involvement of many interdependent actors. OPM adaptation was developed with limited knowledge and strategies were based on ad hoc approaches in which there was ambiguity about tasks and expertise. In addition, different actors have different perceptions and values concerning health, sustainability, risks and responsibilities influencing decision-making processes, while also posing a challenge to collaboration and the development of a coordinated approach. The generation of knowledge and its translation into practical strategies calls for interdisciplinary cooperation in knowledge development. PHA adaptation involves more than technical and organisational solutions alone. It also entails the development of a shared problem perception and solution space in which citizens are also engaged.

Highlights

Climate change is becoming increasingly recognised as a serious, worldwide public health concern [1]
The overall results suggest that a distinction can be made between technical, organisational and normative aspects of oak processionary moth (OPM) adaptation and issues related to OPM adaptation
We address the organisational aspect of OPM adaptation, which entails preparation; the division of tasks and responsibilities and collaboration within OPM networks; and resources for OPM adaptation

Summary

Introduction

Climate change is becoming increasingly recognised as a serious, worldwide public health concern [1]. Appropriate responses are needed in order to act on the threats to the wide range of factors related to climate change that affect health and well-being [1,7]. To reduce these threats to human health and well-being, numerous appeals have been made for public health adaptation (PHA) [1,8,9,10,11]: the process of adjusting to actual or expected climate change and its health effects [12]. As argued by Ebi, Hess [20] and by Watts, Adger [21], PHA poses a challenge to health officials, decision-makers and practitioners, as they must cope with multi-faceted causal changes (e.g., the impact of heat waves on the loss of biodiversity, which subsequently increases the incidence of vector-borne diseases) and uncertainty with

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion