International Institute for
Indigenous Resource Management

Whatever its causes, climate change is a major global threat. As global temperatures rise, so does the likelihood of significant damages to water resources, ecosystems and coasts, as well as the impacts on food supplies and health. More importantly, rising temperatures present a significant threat to the political, social, and cultural integrity of Indian tribes. For us, at the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management, adaptive governance is not about combating climate change but about local and regional co-operation to conserve and improve the quality of the environment and of life in the face of climate change. More importantly, for us, adaptive governance is about designing and implementing local and regional strategies for sustainable development.

Adaptive governance is a way to parse a global problem into those simpler local problems that can be addressed in parallel. However, key to the success of adaptive governance approaches is that they are inclusive, transparent, collaborative, flexible and learning-based.

The workshop and newsletter are a collaborative effort of the Department of Science and Engineering of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management. The purpose of this collaboration is to share information, analyses, and case studies that can help local and regional governments and organizations integrate scientific knowledge and case studies into local policies and programs to collaboratively advance the community's common interest in improving the quality of their environment and their lives and to manage their resources for the benefit of future generations.