The Quito Climate Change Adaptation Strategy as a perspective for Governmentality and Social Innovation

Abstract

The concept of "governmentality" can be used to show the conceptual contradictions in the basic con cepts of the Climate Change Convention, particularly in regard to implementation. These factors likely contribute to the unsatisfactory progress results that are addressed at every COP. The “Local Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change” of the Ecuadorian capital Quito shows how this conceptual design could be successfully improved. Based on such a snapshot, the approach presented in the "Comprehen sive Social Innovation and Modernization of the Metropolitan District of Quito" presents possible sce narios on how or where local knowledge can be better integrated, how processes of social innovation can be triggered by combining existing knowledge, which actors are foreseeably involved in such a pro cess, and where barriers to the implementation of such innovations exist. From this, a notable contribution presents itself, to not stop at the mere introduction of innovative individual projects for mitigation, where the diffusion of such pilot projects as regarded as an automatic given. An adaptation strategy can also be understood as diffusion of a comprehensive social innovation within in a space and its institutional actors, in which catalysts and barriers to such a process are iden tified, then strengthened or overcome. As such, it is an application-oriented use of social science knowledge. In addition, the perspective of complementary knowledge between Latin America and Eu rope is discussed in this context. The individual case-related positive experiences in Latin Ame-rica, and the theoretical conceptual progress in Europe are seen to complement each other in a meaningful way. This vision, of complementary knowledge and advances made possible by the applied geography ap proach, represents an important result, since climate change and territorial changes in metropolises are developing a growing momentum of their own, which requires local knowledge and institutional actors with the capacity to analyze and manage. What is needed is to identify key actors, barriers to the diffu sion of social innovations and proposals to overcome them. In general, a basic objective of "social inno vation" should be underlined; the composition of known fields of knowledge in a new context can also lead to important innovations.