Climate NI team members travelled to Scotland last week for the Maximising UK Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC) Hub inaugural conference on Thursday 29th September. Held at the Dynamic Earth science centre, this first conference brought together the adaptation community from around the UK – with over 200 attendees across central and local government, academia, NGOs, and the private sector.

The day kicked off with an introduction to the MACC Hub from host Verture’s Jonny Casey, and MACC Hub manager Helen Adams. As the non-academic partner for the Northern Irish spoke of the Hub, Climate NI’s Stephen Jones gave a presentation on the results of a rapid literature assessment on the topic of ‘Transformational Adaptation’ – particularly what we mean by transformational, and how we make it work in practice. Jaime Toney from the University of Glasgow then gave a talk exploring what a ‘systems thinking’ approach to climate adaptation might look like. We then heard from a some of the exciting research projects being funded and coordinated through the MACC Hub in areas such as food security, climate finance, and adaptation solutions on farms.

Following a delicious vegetarian lunch, the afternoon was filled with interactive workshops on topics such as systems thinking, the use of tools and data for adaptation, envisioning the future we want to see, planning out an adaptation journey, and much more. Participants had the chance to delve into these conversations and learn from a diverse range of practitioners.

The next day, our trip was rounded off with a visit to the GALLANT project in Glasgow, which seeks to accelerate sustainable transformations in the city as a ‘living lab’. There we discussed the links between these two projects which both have a focus on large-scale transformational change, and workshopped how systems change happens. 

For more information on the MACC Hub, including a wealth of resources, news, and events, visit their website: https://macchub.co.uk/