Institutions’ adaptability in reducing vulnerability: a study in the char lands of Assam

• Published in: Environment systems & decisions 2024-12, Vol.44 (4), p.810-835
• Main Authors: Saikia, Mrinal, Mahanta, Ratul
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptability; Climate change; Control; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental Management; Institutions; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Landforms; multidisciplinary; Quality Control; Reliability; Safety and Risk; Science; Systems Theory
• ISSN: 2194-5403; 2194-5411
• DOI: 10.1007/s10669-024-09973-y

Institutions are crucial for shaping society and its values and behaviors, especially in the context of the global environmental crisis. Institutions can play a significant role in enhancing the adaptive capacity of society to climate change, as emphasized by the IPCC reports. Char is a land-form that is highly vulnerable to climate change and related events. Char is a land-form that is highly vulnerable to climate change and related events. According to the Human Development Report (Assam Human Development Report 2014. Government of Assam, 2014), char dwellers are the poorest and the most vulnerable communities in Assam. This paper aims to understand how the institutions of the char areas of Assam, including both formal and informal institutions can foster the adaptive capacity of the communities residing in these vulnerable locations. To achieve this goal, we apply the adaptive capacity wheel (ACW), a widely accepted approach to determine the quality of institutions in the literature of institutional economics. ACW is a normative economic study, based on value judgments, and we interviewed 49 stakeholders of a total of 16 char villages of Assam. Our study reveals the characteristics and challenges of institutions of the char areas in Assam. It emphasizes the fact that about certain dimensions, like the institutions' capacity to generate resources, support modifications to their structure and pattern, improve the ability to learn, and ensure fairness in the governance system, the char institutions of Assam's various regions require extra attention. These areas are crucial for the people’s resilience to severe climate impacts. In addition to identifying regional variations in institutional quality, our research makes recommendations for institutional enhancements aimed at boosting societal adaptability. It is also argued that the study can be extended to other sensitive areas of the world with similar characteristics to char.