The societal implications of climate change, apparent early in the discovery of global warming, spurred scientific research and intergovernmental cooperation to address the problem at the global scale. The foundational idea of climate adaptation emerged in the scientific community. And widely adopted conceptions of adaptation as a practice of systemic adjustment within socio-ecological systems reflect this origin. In design and planning practice, novel methods to contend with escalating climate risks (and their uneven impacts) challenge this conception, often invoking spatial equity, sustainable development, and the political dimensions of societal transformations. Thus, they offer a critique of the scientific paradigm of adaptation and advance adaptive strategies at the nexus of design and planning practice.
