Collaboration in Adaptation Planning: Power Clusters and Opportunities for Governance Arrangements in Metro-Boston

Collaboration among stakeholders is widely recognized as the cornerstone of developing innovative forms of adaptive governance for climate change planning. This paper examines the nature of collaboration among adaptation stakeholders in Metro-Boston through a stakeholder mapping and engagement project. It analyzes how collaboration shapes clusters of stakeholder power, which, in turn, influence conditions of and preconditions for innovation in adaptation planning. The paper introduces the concept of counter-adaptive inertia – a systemic resistance to transformation within collaborative structures – which must be intentionally challenged to foster more adaptive and innovative planning processes and outcomes.