The objective is to understand the vulnerabilities to climate change impacts. Following a free, prior and informed consent process with stakeholders, the community level vulnerability assessment identifies climate threats and impacts, assesses threats and impacts to community livelihood assets and identifies vulnerabilities and vulnerability response topics. 

In Bishnupur, a locally based coordinator supported the assessment for six months. A female field worker from the Himalayan Grassroots Women's Natural Resource Management Association consulted women stakeholders. It was perceived as inappropriate for male workers to engage with women. 

A series of matrices allow for clear collection, organization and evaluation of climate change and socioeconomic information to assess vulnerabilities. Each matrix builds on information captured in the previous one. The climatic variables and exposed sectors analysed in the matrices depend on site specific factors. 

The matrices are completed using primary and secondary data. Primary data comes from participatory rural appraisal and participatory action research. Community forest user group’s guidelines and operational plans, district-level government offices, and forest and land use research institutes provide secondary data.

Adaptation to climate change is a complex change and transformation process and needs good cooperation and coordination between the private and public sector who usually have different understandings, priorities, and work cultures. In many cases there is even a history of failed cooperation attempts and an underlying sense of mistrust or prejudice. To overcome those obstacles and to build a strong cooperation structure between its counterparts, ADAPTUR followed the Collective Leadership Model from the Collective Leadership Institute in Potsdam, Germany.

The model understands change as a longer process with several phases and includes key elements from creating a shared vision, building cooperation structures, consolidating agreements, and implementing learning mechanisms. The result was integration of smaller groups of well selected change agents of private, public and social sectors (so called “containers”) who show strong support for the envisioned change, act as first movers and at a later point in time motivate other actors in the sector to join the initiative or movement.

Traditionally, climate change has been conveyed as an environmental and scientific concept. But since its impact on industries and productive sectors has become more and more apparent, there is an urgent need to better understand the economic dimension of climate change and its financial risk for the decision-making of the private sector.

Translating environmental risks into business risks also helps to draw the private sector's attention. Therefore, the project ADAPTUR performed an economic risk assessment in three of its project destinations to calculate the future costs of climate change for the tourism industry. Additionally, a handbook on climate-proof investment was published, which was developed with inputs and participation of the private sector, especially during the design of methodology. One of the conclusions was that adaptation would be a good investment because by making businesses more resilient to climate change, it is possible to reduce their future costs.

Before embarking on a journey to build a community based approach to a Blue Economy we felt it was important to first understand where we had come from and where we are now. We examined the historical role of maritime businesses on the NSW South Coast and the existing economic, social and cultural relationships of South Coast communities with the ocean. The result was a Blue Futures ‘Story map’ which details the diverse ways in which businesses, community groups and individuals engage with the ocean in our region.

When ‘taking stock’ of a region’s blue economy potential, the story map design ensured that no one social, environmental or economic angle was prioritized over another. Instead, space became the organizing principle, enabling users to scroll around the map to learn about what was important to the blue economy around them. In practice, this meant that employment statistics, historic coastal artworks and ocean governance examples appeared alongside clean ocean tech startups and established marine industries. The map brings these data into conversation with each other in the mind of the viewer, purely by their spatial proximity. This is an important first step in raising the profile of cultural and social data for developing blue economy solutions, which are often overlooked in favour of quantifiable statistics.

Hortimare, a Dutch-based company, is one of the few companies in the world specialising in the genetics, breeding and propagating of seaweed. Hortimare works with Kelp Blue to create starting material, increase yield and research on best growing techiniques of the Macrocystis pyrifera specie.

An institutional support is required for the beneficiaries to promote the products they make through this solution, in local, regional and national markets. Since a single farmer cannot meet the quantity demand of the market and the distributors look for bulk quantity, a functioning co-operative has to be formed at the local level. This cooperation serves the purpose of collecting the products, negotiating the price with the distributor, supervising the manufacturing and distributing the profits. 

Community forestry in Nepal has brought a number of benefits including an increase in income. It has helped to fight against illegal logging by putting clear rules in place on timber access and a strong system of forest monitoring. Community livelihoods have also improved with easier access to firewood and fodder and better health care and energy access, for example through money from ecotourism and subsidies for renewable energy.

Conservation oriented community forestry is essentially a participatory process that requires strong technical assistance on both policy and implementation. Expanding the property rights of local communities over resources and empowering them with knowledge, information, resources, technologies, and required skills for forest management and institution building are basic building blocks for the community forestry. Gender and equity concerns are addressed from the program design so that the poor, women, and marginalized receive fair benefits from the program.

Some of our programs involve coral transplantation. In Thailand it is illegal to touch or damage coral, so we had to seek approval for some of our programs.

To receive approval from the government involves first submitted a proposal for a coral reef restoration zone. Including with this proposal are the techniques for transplantation, the people involved and their experience and qualifications, and a long term plan for monitoring and maintenance.

The DMCR has fully approved our restoration related activities and we conduct transplant research and provide them with that data.

There is a five-tiered process to becoming a WHS.

1. An initial online application that ensures there are no fundamental prohibitive issues. 

2. A candidacy review of the initial application is carried out by impartial representatives.

3. Technical advice to discuss and advise on areas for improvement and on how to submit an application with the greatest chance of success.

4. Final application including supporting evidence, a justification for the geographical delineation of the site and a detailed explanation of how the site achieves each of the criteria. 

5. If successful, Whale Heritage Site (WHS) designation. It must then prepare and submit annual reports explaining how criteria are met.

By going through the accreditation process, The Bluff had to show that they could ensure responsible, sustainable practices and livelihoods would be continually improved thus ensuring the health and welfare of whales, dolphins and porpoises and their ocean habitats.