Date of Award

Summer 5-28-2025

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Environmental Sciences

First Advisor

Paul Kirshen

Second Advisor

Ellen Douglas

Third Advisor

Antonio Raciti

Abstract

This research aims to illustrate a methodology incorporating diverse stakeholder values in adaptation planning to promote equitable outcomes using a hypothetical case study of the Lower Border Street area in East Boston, using the Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways (DAPP) framework for managing coastal flood risk. It offers three significant contributions to the field of adaptation planning: (i) It demonstrates how to integrate a stakeholder-specific assessment within the DAPP framework and illustrates individual impacts to a variety of stakeholders, including high- and low-income residents, commercial actors, government actors, and coastal landowners hoping that the planning process remains transparent and motivates local bodies to participate in the decision-making process. (ii) It promotes an equity-focused analysis by embedding the values and priorities of low-income residents directly into the planning model, even though they are not one of the decision-making stakeholders. This ensures that the needs of marginalized groups are considered to facilitate a more inclusive and equitable adaptation plan. (iii) It further advances the Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways framework by analyzing pathways from the perspective of each stakeholder group and quantifying their individual costs and benefits under three sea-level rise scenarios. A regret and satisficing analysis, which are common frameworks for measuring robustness, follows this to identify the best first step. Satisficing is used to measure acceptable performance thresholds within specific ranges for all objectives, and regret-based performance criteria evaluate how much worse off the chosen option is from the best-case scenario.

This research aims to understand how the adaptation options compare to each other in terms of the costs and benefits they provide to each stakeholder group. The trade-offs offer a deeper insight into why some options may be preferred by a particular stakeholder but not others. Evaluating adaptation pathways under different sea-level rise scenarios helps identify the most efficient first steps for flood risk management in the study area and accounts for uncertainty in climate change. It offers a tool that government agencies and policymakers might find helpful in adaptation planning by showcasing its potential for determining balanced, economically sound, and stakeholder-inclusive adaptation actions. Demonstrating the application of this framework in East Boston aims to offer a practical example or a starting point for other at-risk coastal communities facing comparable challenges in implementing evidence-based climate action.

Comments

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