Mostly social and spatial climate adaptation in coastal metropolises is a top down administrative and authoritarian enterprise, both in the Global South and North. But engineering is not enough, especially when we want to see communities become more resilient, more sustainable and more inclusive in the process. While the engineering might come from the Netherlands, the culture and ethics to apply it, comes from the “polis” itself. It’s a resource of the people. Climate adaptation needs to be space specific and culture specific to be successful.

The network was initaited by JP Possmann, Schwankhalle Bremen and Goethe Institut Jakarta and is coordinated by Jessica Fritz and JP Possmann from Bremen (GER).