The RISKSEC 2.0 project studies local climate change adaptation – from risk governance to securitisation strategies?
Claudia Morsut
RCN, SAMRISK program: 12 million NOK, project number 302599
October 2020 till March 2025
About the project
International and national policies include initiatives and plans to promote climate change adaptation, which is the reduction of risks posed by climatic change impacts. Several of these policies are typical top-down, as, for instance, those promoted by the United Nations. However, climate change impacts are manifested locally and adaptation actions need to be taken at local level with benefits for local communities.
Without a proper understanding of the characteristics of local governance and society, climate change adaptation is doomed to fail, with consequent economic, environmental and human costs. Using the literatures on risk governance and securitisation, this project uncovers how climate change adaptation can be framed through risk governance thinking, with a focus on accommodating everyday risks, or through securitisation dynamics, by which extraordinary measures and particular actors are required. While the securitisation of climate change is well-documented at national and international levels, the way securitisation affects local level governance and adaptation is much less known.
The project will reveal opportunities for complementary between international, national and local adaptation efforts, by pinpointing positive (shared understandings and coherent action) and negative (conflicting perspectives and local disempowerment) dynamics. Knowledge-based policy results will inform more effective risk decision making at all levels of governance and will offer a nuanced picture of what kinds of transformational changes in climate change adaptation are most suitable for local communities.
Disseminations activities
2025
Claudia Morsut. Presentation of the RISKSEC2.0 project. Online seminar Centre for Climate Change and Transformation, February 2025.
2024
Karina Barquet. Presentation Climate adaptation in multi-level governance systems: security, risk, or normal. Risk and Uncertainty Conference, Lund University, June 2024.
Mark Rhinard. Paper presentation Collective Securitization of Climate Adaptation at the United Nations and European Union. International Studies Association Conference, San Francisco, CA, April 2024.
Ole Andreas Engen. Er beredskap og klima to sider av samme sak? Hjelper ROS analysene kommunene med å håndtere de usikkerhetene som klimautfordringene krever?. Arena for forvaltningsrevisjon og eierskapskontroll, Stavanger, March 2024.
Claudia Morsut. Klimatilpasning i Stavanger og Bergen: lokal forståelse i lys av risikoer, klima trussel og normalpolitikk. Online NORADAPT-TIMEN, February 2024.
Claudia Morsut. Paper presentation: Translations of securitisation of climate change consequences at local level: climate change adaptation in Bergen and Stavanger municipalities. National Conference in Political Science, University of Stavanger, January 2024.
2023
Claudia Morsut. Klimatilpasning i Stavanger og Bergen: lokal forståelse i lys av risikoer, klima trussel og normal politikk. Plan - og byggesakskonferansen, Stavanger, November 2023.
Claudia Morsut, Heleen Mees, Nenya Jochemsen, Elisabeth Angell, Karina Barquet. Panel organisation and presentation of papers: Local pathways of climate change adaptation: discourses, actors and tools. Earth Science Governance Conference, University of Radboud Nijmegen, October 2023.
Ole Andreas Engen. Paper presentation Interfacing risk logic, riskification, and risk governance: some research implications. ESREL 2023 33rd European Safety and Reliability Conference: The Future of Safety in the Reconnected World, University of Southampton, United Kingdom, September 2023.
Elisabeth Angell. Presentation Klimatilpasning i Norge: Mellom risiko, beredskap og normalsituasjon. Felles forskningsgruppesamling, Workshop NORCE, Rosendal, April 2023.
Simon Neby. Paper presentation Den nasjonale klimatilpasningspolitikken i Norge: mellom risiko, sektorgrenser og umodenhet. National Conference in Political Science, University of Agder, January 2023.
2022
Simon Neby. Presentation Grenseoverskridende klimarisiko: Bergens sårbarhet og alternativer for håndtering. Seminar on climate risk, Bergen municipality, October 2022.
Ole Andreas Engen and Claudia Morsut. Paper presentation Climate risk governance on local level: discussing a systemic risk approach for safe and reliable transformation of a local industry system. 36th International Workshop by NeTWork, Paris, October 2022.
Ole Andreas Engen. Paper presentation Climate risk discourses and risk governance in Norway. ESREL 2022 32nd European Safety and Reliability Conference, Dublin, August 2022
Claudia Morsut, Cathrine Karlson, Heleen Mees. Panel organisation and paper presentations The Collective Securitization of Climate Change Adaptation. European Consortium for Political Research Conference, Innsbruck, August 2022.
2021
Cathrine Karlson. Paper presentation Actors and Risk: Trade-offs between Risk Governance and Securitization Theory. ESREL 2021 31st European Safety and Reliability Conference, Angers, September 2021.
Publications from the RISKSE2.0 project
2024
Special Issue: Local Pathways of Climate Change Adaptation published in Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, 15(4).
Engen, O.A., Morsut, C. (2024). Climate Risk at Local Level. A Systemic Risk Approach for a Reliable Transformation of a Local Industry System? In: Bieder, C., Grote, G., Weyer, J. (Eds.). Climate Change and Safety in High-Risk Industries. Springer Briefs in Applied Sciences and Technology. Springer, Cham.
Karlson, C.W., Morsut, C.. Engen, O.A. (2024). The politics of local climate risk management – A comparison of risk logic in the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Climate Risk Management, 45 100626, ISSN 2212-0963, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212096324000433
Morsut, C., Engen O.A. and Kruke B.I. (2024). Om flomrisiko og sammenhengen mellom forebygging og beredskap innenfor klimatilpasning. In S. Taubøll (Ed.), Flom, skred og juss, Cappelen Damm Forskning, 381-412
Rhinard, M., Morsut, C., Angell, E., Neby, S., Englund, M., Barquet, K., Mees, H., Surian, J., Vashishtha, S., Segnestam, L., and Engen, O. A. (2024). Understanding variation in national climate change adaptation: Securitization in focus. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 42(4), 676-696. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23996544231212730
2023
Angell E., Morsut C., Engen O.A., Neby S. (2023). Er beredskap og klimatilpasning to sider av samme sak? Stavanger Aftenblad 29.08.23.
Englund M., Barquet K. (2023). Threatification, riskification, or normal politics? A review of Swedish climate adaptation policy 2005–2022. Climate Risk Management, 40 100492, ISSN 2212-0963,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212096323000189
Mees H., Surian J. (2023). Dutch national climate change adaptation policy through a securitization lens: Variations of securitization. Frontiers in Climate 5 1080754, doi: 10.3389/fclim.2023.1080754
Neby S., Angell E., Engen O.A., Morsut C. (2023). Klimatilpasning i Norge, Mellom risiko, beredskap og normalsituasjon. Norsk statsvitenskapelig tidsskrift, 39(4) 159-176. (Climate adaptation in Norway between risk, preparedness and normality).
Morsut C. and Engen O.A. (2023). Interfacing risk logic, riskification, and risk governance: some research implications. ESREL 2023 - Proceedings of the 33rd European Safety and Reliability Conference: The Future of Safety in the Reconnected World. European Safety and Reliability Association. 1462-1469. ISBN 978-981-18-8071-1. DOI: 10.3850/978-981-18-8071-1_drive.
Neby S., Engen O.A., Morsut C., and Angell, E. (2023). Klimakrisen, klimarisiko og innrammingen av norsk klimapolitikk. Stat & Styring, 33(2), 16-21. (Climate crisis, climate risk and the framing of Norwegian climate policy)
Karlson C.W., Morsut C.,and Engen O.A. (2023). Politics of climate risk management in local government: a case study of the municipality of Stavanger. Frontiers in Climate 5 1136673, doi: 10.3389/fclim.2023.1136673
2022
Morsut C. and Engen O.A. (2022). Climate risk discourses and risk governance in Norway. Proceedings of the 32nd European Safety and Reliability Conference (ESREL 2022). Edited by Maria Chiara Leva, Edoardo Patelli, Luca Podofillini, and Simon Wilson. Research Publishing, Singapore. doi: 10.3850/978-981-18-5183-4_S25-03-218-cd.
2021
Karlson C.W., Morsut C., Engen O.A. (2021). Actors and Risk: Trade-offs between Risk Governance and Securitization Theory, in Bruno Castanier, Marko Cepin, David Bigaud and Christophe Berenguer (eds.). Proceedings of the 31st European Safety and Reliability Conference (ESREL 2021). Research Publishing Services. ISBN: 978-981-18-2016-8.
MA dissertations
Marie van Sint (2024). Securitisation of Urban Climate Change Adaptation to Floods. A comparative case study of the cities of Antwerp and Rotterdam.
Ronja Marie Gulbrandsen (2024). Hvordan påvirkes kommunal kriseledelse av klimarisikopersepsjon og klimatilpasningsarbeid i kommunen? En casestudie av den kommunal kriseledelse i møte med ekstremværet Hans i 2023.
Anne Louise Gilling (2022). A study of how digitalisation in the Stavanger municipality’s climate change adaptation work can affect the municipality’s societal safety.
Who are we at UiS?
Department of Safety, Economics and Planning
Department of Safety, Economics and Planning
Department of Safety, Economics and Planning
Virtual kick-off meeting
The project RISKSEC2.0 was officially launched on 1 and 2 October 2020 via the virtual kick-off meeting.
Despite of the impossibility to meet physically, the meeting was successful and raised the interest of the so-called stakeholder group, which was as well invited to follow the work of the research team. This group consists of the following stakeholders: Norwegian Environment Agency, County Governor of Rogaland, Rogaland county municipality, Eigersund municipality, Stavanger municipality, Itineris Safety and Health the Netherlands and Region South-Holland South the Netherlands.
The Advisory Board as well followed the two-days meeting offering input and comments. RISKSEC2.0 Advisory Board consist of
- Ortwin Renn, IASS Potsdam, Germany
- Thomas Diez, University Tubingen, Germany
- Sanneke Kuipers, Leiden University, the Netherlands
- Gabriele Landucci, Leiden University, the Netherlands
- Harald Nils Røstvik, University of Stavanger, Norway
Workshop in Stockholm with stakeholder group
On 27-28 November 2023, the Swedish partner SEI hosted a stakeholders’ workshop in Stockholm.
The workshop aimed at exploring and comparing local climate adaptation strategies by bringing together 18 experts and practitioners from Dordrecht (the Netherlands), Halmstad (Sweden), Stavanger (Norway), and Bergen (Norway).
Findings informed a SEI blogpost and journal article (manuscript published in Risk Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy Special Issue December 2024).
RISKSEC 2.0 Final Conference
On 19-20 March 2025, the RISKSEC 2.0 will host the final conference in Oslo.
Invitees consist of stakeholders from the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway working in national and local departments and agencies dealing with climate change and adaptation. Academics are also invited together with a representative from the Research Council of Norway.
| Time | Duration | Topic | Who |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08:30 | 30 m | Registration | |
| 09:00 | 30 m | Welcome and presentation of project | Claudia Morsut, University of Stavanger, Norway |
| 09:30 | 30 m | A return to politics in the climate discourse? Reflections on recent challenges to technocratic governance | Professor Håvard Haarstad, leader, Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation, University of Bergen, Norway |
| 10:00 | 15 m | Q&A | Moderator: Simon Neby, University of Bergen, Norway |
| 10:15 | 15 m | Break | |
| 10:30 | 10 m | What have we learned about adaptation policies in the UN and the EU? | Mark Rhinard, University of Stockholm, Sweden |
| 10:40 | 30 m | The challenges for global adaptation ahead | Solveig Aamodt and Thomas Diez Moderator: Mark Rhinard |
| 11:10 | 10 m | Plenary Q&A | Moderator: Mark Rhinard |
| 11:20 | 10 m | Break | |
| 11:30 | 15 m | Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands: How they adapt? Policies, practices and lessons learned | Ole Andreas Engen University of Stavanger, Norway and Heleen Mees University of Utrecht, the Netherlands |
| 11:45 | 30 m | Discussion of the findings at national level: National climate change adaptation policies and practices | Pieter den Besten, Kristine Garvin and Jonas Vevatne Moderator: Heleen Mees |
| 12:15 | 15 m | Plenary Q&A | Moderator: Ole Andreas Engen |
| 12:30 | 60 m | Lunch | |
| 13:30 | 15 m | How four municipalities cope with climate change via adaptation | Karina Barquet, SEI, Sweden and Simon Neby, University of Bergen, Norway |
| 13:45 | 30 m | What is in it for me? Relevant takes from the findings for local stakeholders in their work with adaptation | Stine Bjerga Haga, Hanna Billmayer, Stina Ellevseth Oseland and Lisa Lieftink Moderator: Karina Barquet, SEI |
| 14:15 | 15 m | Plenary Q&A | Moderator: Karina Barquet |
| 14:30 | 15 m | Break | |
| 14:45 | 20 m | Politics of climate risk management in local government | Cathrine W. Karlson, University of Stavanger, Norway |
| 15:05 | 10 m | Plenary Q&A | Moderator: Ole Andreas Engen |
| 15:15 | 10 m | Adapting to climate change: Implications of risk-based approaches | Claudia Morsut, University of Stavanger, Norway |
| 15:25 | 10 m | Plenary Q&A | Moderator: Claudia Morsut |
| 15:35 | 25 m | What is next for us? Beyond RISKSEC2.0 | Claudia Morsut |
| 16:00 | End of the conference |