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Co-production of coastal climate research in a sprawling urban megaregion: Insights from the Megalopolitan Coastal Transformation Hub (MACH) Research Hub - Robert Kopp (Rutgers University)

Abstract: 

The New York City-New Jersey-Philadelphia megaregion is home to nearly 20 million people. Much of the population is exposed to coastal and compound flooding, which is being aggravated by sea-level rise, intensifying rainfall, and intensifying hurricanes. Long-term planning requires consideration of these growing hazards, as well as other climate-related hazards. However, both future physical changes (e.g., sea-level rise) and social changes (e.g., population and policy changes) are subject to deep uncertainty. Further, social changes are also influenced by multiple, sometimes conflicting, social values. Designing flexible, equitable, and robust long-term strategies for climate adaptation thus requires science-informed approaches for decision- making under deep uncertainty.

The Megalopolitan Coastal Transformation Hub (MACH) is one of the National Science Foundation’s large-scale Coastlines and People hubs. MACH’s goals are to: (1) conduct science that is useful, usable, and used to facilitate flexible, equitable, and robust long-term management of climate risks within the megaregion; (2) advance understanding of how changing coastal climate hazards and human decisions at household, municipal, market and policy scales interact to shape climate risk; (3) train the next generation of leaders in transdisciplinary climate research and engagement; and (4) build a replicable, sustainable academic/stakeholder partnership model for just, equitable, and inclusive climate action in diverse coastal, urban megaregions.

Central to MACH’s approach is the co-design of research with stakeholders. MACH’s original co-production strategy focused on using stakeholder-identified decision problems as points of research integration. This approach has evolved over MACH’s first three years in response to several challenges. These challenges include timescale challenges associated with the simultaneously conducting usable science, advancing fundamental understanding, and training students and postdocs. They also include the diffuse, polycentric nature of adaptation decision-making in the region, where no single entity has primary control over decisions related to long-term climate adaptation planning. This talk explores the evolution of MACH’s strategies and insights for similar projects.