Transformation

Literature

• Kates et al. (2012): Highly-cited and brief introduction to the "transformational adaptation" concept with three forms (scaling up, substantively new activity, changing location)

• Pelling, Mark. 2011. Adaptation to Climate Change: From Resilience to Transformation. Routledge 

  • Chapter 4: Transition (most useful for identifying adaptation with substantial changes that are not yet transformative)

  • Chapter 5: Transformation

  • Chapter 9: Conclusion: Adapting with Climate Change -- this chapter helpfully restates the resilience-transition-transformation framework on 169-172, and provides practical recommendations

• Indeberg et al (2015) Chapter 15: adaptation through transformation: Articulates transformation building on Pelling (2011), and provides practical recommendations 

• Pelling et al (2015): Summarizes resistance (resilience) - incremental (transition) - transformative change in a table and illustrates spheres/scales of adaptive action

Cases

• https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/climate/climate-georgia-sponge-park-flooding.html 

• https://migrantjustice.net/about-the-milk-with-dignity-program