The roles and unexplored potential of policy experimentation in climate adaptation governance: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Policy experimentation has emerged globally as a novel governance approach to address complex socio-environmental problems. In the climate adaptation literature, policy experiments that test technical and governance innovations on a small scale in real-world conditions are increasingly utilized to explore new pathways for climate adaptation. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence on how policy experiments lead to transformative change in climate adaptation governance, particularly regarding their role as a change strategy. This systematic literature review aims to thoroughly investigate the topic by mapping the empirical characteristics of policy experiments, their role and their outcomes. An existing analytical framework was adapted to fulfill this objective by qualitatively and quantitatively analyzing 27 empirical papers. The findings reveal that policy experiments in climate adaptation often address multiple climate hazards, sectors and actors, yet they are spatially and temporally limited, being predominantly located in Europe. Moreover, the study highlights the transformative potential of policy experiments in climate adaptation governance, emphasizing their effectiveness in testing technical and governing innovations, as well as implementing adaptation policies. Policy experiments predominantly contribute to social learning rather than direct policy changes, requiring specific strategies to upscale the knowledge generated. We conclude the paper with a research agenda that stresses the need for more cumulative and comparative (post)assessments of climate adaptation experiments. This is important given the potential of policy experiments as governing approaches in the advancement of climate adaptation.