IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/climat/v137y2016i3d10.1007_s10584-016-1702-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Competing priorities: how actors and institutions influence adaptation of the German railway system

Author

Listed:
  • Maja Rotter
  • Esther Hoffmann

    (Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW))

  • Anna Pechan

    (Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg)

  • Rebecca Stecker

    (Hessian Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection, Agriculture and Consumer Protection)

Abstract

Large-scale infrastructure networks are vulnerable to climate change. Their operation involves public and private actors under complex legislative and market regulations. We analyze climate adaptation of railway infrastructure, based on an in-depth case study of the German railway system. The case includes a unique set of qualitative interviews with key players of operating and regulative organizations, as well as a document study. Our analysis crucially extends previous technology-oriented research on the railway sector by applying core insights and categories from the actor-centered institutionalism. We trace observed obstacles for a climate resilient railway system and adaptation decisions back to deeper causes, in particular political priorities and values. Moreover, diverging perceptions and the competition among different actors hamper adaptation. On the other hand, single actors who display a great willingness to act are able to make use of unclear responsibilities to integrate adaptation concerns into existing institutions. Our research suggests that changes in technical standards and in economic regulation support adaptation of infrastructure systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Maja Rotter & Esther Hoffmann & Anna Pechan & Rebecca Stecker, 2016. "Competing priorities: how actors and institutions influence adaptation of the German railway system," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 137(3), pages 609-623, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:137:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s10584-016-1702-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-016-1702-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10584-016-1702-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10584-016-1702-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Busch, Timo, 2011. "Organizational adaptation to disruptions in the natural environment: The case of climate change," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 389-404.
    2. Peter Rudberg & Oskar Wallgren & Åsa Swartling, 2012. "Beyond generic adaptive capacity: exploring the adaptation space of the water supply and wastewater sector of the Stockholm region, Sweden," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 707-721, October.
    3. Françoise Nemry & Hande Demirel, 2012. "Impacts of Climate Change on transport: a focus on road and rail transport infrastructures," JRC Research Reports JRC72217, Joint Research Centre.
    4. Klaus Eisenack & Rebecca Stecker, 2012. "A framework for analyzing climate change adaptations as actions," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 243-260, March.
    5. Klaus Eisenack & Rebecca Stecker & Diana Reckien & Esther Hoffmann, 2012. "Adaptation to climate change in the transport sector: a review of actions and actors," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 17(5), pages 451-469, June.
    6. Marianne Ryghaug & Jøran Solli, 2012. "The appropriation of the climate change problem among road managers: fighting in the trenches of the real world," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 427-440, October.
    7. Klaus Eisenack & Susanne C. Moser & Esther Hoffmann & Richard J. T. Klein & Christoph Oberlack & Anna Pechan & Maja Rotter & Catrien J. A. M. Termeer, 2014. "Explaining and overcoming barriers to climate change adaptation," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(10), pages 867-872, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kevin Grecksch & Carola Klöck, 0. "Access and allocation in climate change adaptation," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-16.
    2. Vivian Dépoues, 2017. "Organisational uptake of scientific information about climate change by infrastructure managers: the case of adaptation of the French railway company," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 473-486, August.
    3. Kevin Grecksch & Carola Klöck, 2020. "Access and allocation in climate change adaptation," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 271-286, June.
    4. A. H. S. Garmabaki & Adithya Thaduri & Stephen Famurewa & Uday Kumar, 2021. "Adapting Railway Maintenance to Climate Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-27, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vivian Dépoues, 2017. "Organisational uptake of scientific information about climate change by infrastructure managers: the case of adaptation of the French railway company," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 473-486, August.
    2. Christoph Oberlack, 2017. "Diagnosing institutional barriers and opportunities for adaptation to climate change," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 805-838, June.
    3. Cavalcante, Ana Helena A. P., 2015. "Barriers and opportunities for climate adaptation: The water crisis in Greater São Paulo," The Constitutional Economics Network Working Papers 04-2015, University of Freiburg, Department of Economic Policy and Constitutional Economic Theory.
    4. Vivian Dépoues, 2017. "Organizational uptake of scientific information about climate change by infrastructure managers: the case of adaptation of the French railway company," Post-Print hal-01865209, HAL.
    5. E. Jakku & P. J. Thorburn & N. A. Marshall & A-M. Dowd & S. M. Howden & E. Mendham & K. Moon & C. Brandon, 2016. "Learning the hard way: a case study of an attempt at agricultural transformation in response to climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 137(3), pages 557-574, August.
    6. Chandni Singh & James Ford & Debora Ley & Amir Bazaz & Aromar Revi, 2020. "Assessing the feasibility of adaptation options: methodological advancements and directions for climate adaptation research and practice," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 255-277, September.
    7. Antonio Ledda & Elisabetta Anna Di Cesare & Giovanni Satta & Gianluca Cocco & Giovanna Calia & Filippo Arras & Annalisa Congiu & Emanuela Manca & Andrea De Montis, 2020. "Adaptation to Climate Change and Regional Planning: A Scrutiny of Sectoral Instruments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-15, May.
    8. Boehnke, Denise & Jehling, Mathias & Vogt, Joachim, 2023. "What hinders climate adaptation? Approaching barriers in municipal land use planning through participant observation," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    9. Martina Linnenluecke & Andrew Griffiths & Peter Mumby, 2015. "Executives’ engagement with climate science and perceived need for business adaptation to climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 131(2), pages 321-333, July.
    10. Francesco Rotoli & Elena Navajas Cawood & Antonio Soria, 2016. "Capacity assessment of railway infrastructure: Tools, methodologies and policy relevance in the EU context," JRC Research Reports JRC100509, Joint Research Centre.
    11. Jungmin An & Dong-Kwan Kim & Jinyeong Lee & Sung-Kwan Joo, 2021. "Least Squares Monte Carlo Simulation-Based Decision-Making Method for Photovoltaic Investment in Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-14, September.
    12. Chris Knudson & Zack Guido, 2019. "The missing middle of climate services: layering multiway, two-way, and one-way modes of communicating seasonal climate forecasts," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 171-187, November.
    13. Laura M. Canevari‐Luzardo & Frans Berkhout & Mark Pelling, 2020. "A relational view of climate adaptation in the private sector: How do value chain interactions shape business perceptions of climate risk and adaptive behaviours?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 432-444, February.
    14. Nadia Pintossi & Deniz Ikiz Kaya & Ana Pereira Roders, 2021. "Assessing Cultural Heritage Adaptive Reuse Practices: Multi-Scale Challenges and Solutions in Rijeka," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-20, March.
    15. H.M. Tuihedur Rahman & Gordon M. Hickey, 2020. "An Analytical Framework for Assessing Context-Specific Rural Livelihood Vulnerability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-26, July.
    16. Castells-Quintana, David & del Pilar Lopez-Uribe, Maria & McDermott, Thomas K.J., 2018. "A review of adaptation to climate change through a development economics lens," Working Papers 309605, National University of Ireland, Galway, Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit.
    17. Qiao Hu & Zhenghong Tang & Lei Zhang & Yuanyuan Xu & Xiaolin Wu & Ligang Zhang, 2018. "Evaluating climate change adaptation efforts on the US 50 states’ hazard mitigation plans," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 92(2), pages 783-804, June.
    18. Antonio Ledda & Marta Kubacka & Giovanna Calia & Sylwia Bródka & Vittorio Serra & Andrea De Montis, 2023. "Italy vs. Poland: A Comparative Analysis of Regional Planning System Attitudes toward Adaptation to Climate Changes and Green Infrastructures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, January.
    19. Mazdak Irani & Saeed Banihashemi, 2022. "Impact of Knowledge, Tendency and Perceived Threats of Climate Change on Adaptation Strategies: The Case of Tehran Architects," Energy and Environment Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 10(1), pages 1-22, June.
    20. Ajay Gajanan Bhave & Neha Mittal & Ashok Mishra & Narendra Singh Raghuwanshi, 2016. "Integrated Assessment of no-Regret Climate Change Adaptation Options for Reservoir Catchment and Command Areas," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(3), pages 1001-1018, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:137:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s10584-016-1702-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.