This building block has two phases. In Phase 1 of the solution researchers involved in the project identify visions of desired futures for this landscape from data obtained in previous two blocks. Initial visions developed for our study area can be found in this Deliverable (see link below). These visions are never fully final, they are further improved / developed when new information is available. They provide lay of the land so-to-speak for decision-makers on different levels and stakeholders themselves of various interests in the landscape and how they collide or align together.

Second phase of this building block focuses on reflexivity – both among researcher team members who have developed these visions and ideally also a few stakeholders. For the former such reflexivity is needed to identify and be aware of all possible biases and preconceptions that they have introduced in visions while analysing data and developing them. For example, often if a researcher has worked in the area for a long time, they might rely on knowledge that was obtained outside this data collection and this needs to be acknowledged. Reflexivity among stakeholders on the other hand is needed in order to 1) validate developed visions, 2) foster a deliberation process during which new / modified visions representing shared or joint ideas could emerge.

This building block aims to complement previous one in collecting data that is then used to collate existing visions for the landscape and PAs in it. 2020 has demonstrated that in-person interaction is not always a possibility and thus other modes, such as online ones need to be employed in order to achieve the same goals. In case of our study it was clear that in order to reach wide audience and cover as diverse of a group as possible, we also needed to employ online surveys. We have created one with elements of mapping, using specially designed platform for such tasks, Maptionnaire. This survey has followed up on several aspects already covered in interviews (see building block 1) such as different values people see in the landscape. This was done to create a baseline and see if samples in both online and in-person surveys are similar in their valuation of the landscape. In addition online survey covered such aspects as perceptions of quality of life in the area (for example, noise pollution levels, availability and quality of nature areas) and asked participants to pin-point on the map areas where landscape change occurred in last 20 years, both they considered positive and negative.

This building block aims to collect necessary data from a diverse group of local actors (stakeholders, residents and others) that will allow to identify their visions for the landscape and protected areas in it. To do so we employed in-person interviews with elements of participatory mapping and art-based visuals. To guide the interviews, we used an approach called STREAMLINE, a series of A3 laminated canvas on which respondents were answering questions. This questions and canvas were organized around a narrative making it more intuitive and engaging for respondents. They started with establishing their relationship to the area, which parts of it they knew and then progressed to asking questions about importance of different landscape functions and how and where respondents wanted this landscape to develop.

Despite ecosystem health and the services they provide being crucial for the industry, they not always considered sufficiently in tourism development plans and policies. Therefore, ADAPTUR assigned one Technical Adviser to the Ministry of Tourism (SECTUR) and another one to the Ministry of Environment (SEMARNAT) to worked closely together and established cooperation structures which allowed to integrate aspects of biodiversity and climate change into national legislation.

One important result was the new Tourism Programme 2020-2024 PROSECTUR, which represents a major milestone in Mexico´s ambitions to fulfil its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and to integrate ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) into its sector plans. On the subnational level, one Regional Technical Adviser was also assigned to each of its three project destinations to provide permanent facilitation of local cooperation processes.

By doing this, several subnational policies and development plans which integrate EbA have been developed (e.g., Municipal Climate Plan Puerto Vallarta, Municipal Climate Plan Bahía de Banderas, Urban Development Plan San Miguel de Allende). Recently, policy proposals made by the Congress of Quintana Roo, and the initiative to mainstream the NDC and PROSECTUR goals in sub-national tourism policies have started.

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.

The first step towards the development of a target group specific communication and capacity building strategy was a KAP analysis (knowledge, attitude, practices), which established a baseline, in terms of understanding the private sector´s knowledge about climate change, as well as its attitude towards the topic and the practices already in place. The analysis also included a capacity needs assessment, which served as input for ADAPTUR´s capacity building and training program. The findings were also used to train counterparts, consultants, and project members in better understanding the private sector and to improve their communication skills by using the right words, concepts and messages.

The training program comprised several topics about climate change vulnerability, climate-proof investment, cost-benefit analysis, national/subnational policies related to climate change, EbA solutions, public-private cooperation, financial mechanism, etc.

At the same time, a press campaign was launched in cooperation with local media and journalists. The ADAPTUR website was introduced with regular newsletters, best-practices, case studies and messages from industry leaders. It also contained a resources section with studies, tools and information material.

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.