Governance for climate change adaptation

Dana Dolan, George Mason University, will speak on "Governance for climate change adaptation", at the Australian National University in Canberra,  4:00 PM, 19 August 2013.

More than ever, water allocation in the Murray-Darling region depends on decisions made in Canberra. Climate change is expected to exacerbate water scarcity, adding further urgency to the challenge of adapting to a highly variable climate. Meanwhile, across the globe, Washington DC faces its own climate challenge as federal agencies attempt to coordinate States’ efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The challenge in this watershed isn’t about who gets to extract how much from the rivers and streams, but who gets to add how much – in terms of pollution. Climate change exacerbates this challenge as well, with more frequent intense storms threatening to wash additional sediment and pollution into the Bay.

With climate impacts on water resources at opposite extremes of the spectrum, what can these two regions learn from each other? Recent institutional changes in the Murray-Darling and Chesapeake regions share a number of intriguing similarities, with implications for adaptation.

This seminar aims to draw parallels between the regions as a first step in furthering cross-national policy learning and collaborative scholarship between the U.S. and Australia.

About the speaker

Dana Archer Dolan is a PhD Candidate in Public Policy at George Mason University, and a Visiting Scholar at The Australian National University. Field work in Australia is funded under an EAPSI Fellowship from the U.S. National Science Foundation, and supported by the Australian Academy of Science. Dana is grateful to her host scholar, Professor Stephen R. Dovers and Dr. Karen Hussey for their continued support and guidance, and to the wider Murray-Darling community for welcoming her during her time in Australia and participating in her research.