Peer-to-peer exchanges on island resilience planning for transformative adaptation to climate hazards

Peer-to-peer exchange across sectors or regions can promote transparency and social learning, and enhance the scalability and transferability of research outputs and outcomes. From 2021 to 2023, the Pacific Research on Island Solutions for Adaptation (Pacific RISA) climate adaptation research program facilitated four such exchanges designed to inform the County of Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi, in the development of a county-wide Climate Adaptation Plan. Through these exchanges, Pacific RISA worked as a boundary organization with dozens of representatives from various departments and agencies in Hawaiʻi and nationally to identify practical adaptation solutions. Exchange outcomes included new Sea Level Rise Constraint District legislation that made Kauaʻi one of the first municipalities in the United States to regulate construction based on future sea level rise impacts; a deeper understanding of statewide frameworks related to adaptation and managed retreat; and the use of peer exchanges as a model for transparent and inclusive community engagement and communication. High-level leadership and strong science-based risk-assessment were identified as critical for planning and legislative success. Taken together, this peer-to-peer exchange process has helped foster transformational adaptation to meet the rapidly growing needs of communities in Hawaiʻi that are experiencing the impacts of climate change, and led to accelerated policy implementation scaling across seemingly disparate regions.