Cities need more than green fixes to climate change.

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In summary, Sean spoke about whether, and how, green infrastructure may have the potential to support cities in adapting to climate change while addressing other challenges relating to health and wellbeing, biodiversity, and others. He explains that while green infrastructure has been highlighted in research and practice as having the potential to meet the different needs of cities, any adaptation strategy is only as good as the governance structures and processes that support them.

“We must cultivate a culture of experimentation and curiosity that requires us to act boldly against climate change in the face of uncertainty”. – Sean Goodwin

Focusing on municipal governments, Sean advocates for more robust and inclusive processes of goal setting when drafting adaptation strategies in cities to ensure that the needs of the most vulnerable citizens are reflected. Understanding the needs of citizens must involve processes for developing shared visions for the city under a changing climate, a core focus of the IMAGINE Adaptation project. Only with these visions can it be figured out whether and how specific strategies like green infrastructural approaches can support progress towards those goals, and the critical process of identifying what kind of information can be used to track progress towards adaptation goals can begin.