Lulu Pretorius, Patrick Martel, Alice McClure, Anna Taylor, Desalegn Yayeh Ayal, Ulisses M. Azeiteiro, Henri-Count Evans, Inga Grinfelde, José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra, Jasenka Gajdoš Kljusurić, João Carlos Correia Leitão, Chunlan Li, Newton R. Matandirotya, Bethwel Mutai, Gustavo J. Nagy, Thierry Razanakoto, Jame Schaefer, Goran Trbic, Roberto Ariel Abeldaño Zuñiga, Sane Pashane Zuka, Charles Galdies, Adriana Consorte-McCrea, Francisco Platas, Mittul Vahanvati, Pedi Obani, Safwatun Nida, Lucas Gabriel Zanon, Mayara Régia Sousa de Melo, Alison Glover, Roman Vakulchuk
Globally recognized as an early adapter to climate change, the city of Durban catalyzed a Municipal Climate Protection Programme in the early 2000s. Since then, the local government has been actively shaping Durban’s adaptation pathway, supported by a strong partnership with the local university. One contributor to Durban’s adaptation pathway was a transdisciplinary research project exploring transformative climate adaptation approaches. This project, led by early career researchers, involved collectively imagining and conceptualizing a holistic, partnership-based, transformative approach to managing flood-related climate risk through improved river management across the city. This chapter aims to critically reflect on the role that this transdisciplinary research project played in shifting the trajectory of Durban’s climate adaptation pathway toward transformative ambitions. Using the Outcome Spaces Framework (Mitchell et al. 2015) and methods associated with collaborative autoethnography (Miyahara and Fukao 2022), we assess the impact of the transdisciplinary research project on Durban’s climate adaptation journey. The chapter describes how the project aligned with a “window of opportunity” in Durban’s adaptation pathway and created a shared learning platform to merge theoretical knowledge on transformative adaptation with on-the-ground experiences and efforts. This helped to shape the vision and design of a transformative riverine management program. We reflect on the importance of transdisciplinarity for facilitating participatory governance and conclude with emerging lessons about how to support urban climate adaptation. The prospects offered by this chapter provide valuable insights into processes, approaches, and lessons learned, highlighting the meaningful impacts university-driven research can have on climate adaptation. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.
African Climate and Development Initiative, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Center for Food Security Studies, College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa Univesity, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; The Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) and Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal; Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Eswatini, Manzini, Kwaluseni Campus, Matsapha, South Africa; Institute of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Engineering, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Jelgava, Latvia; Center for Sustainable Development (Greens), Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina (Unisul), Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil; School of Urban and Regional Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China; Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Centre, Beitbridge, Zimbabwe; Kgotso Development Trust, Beitbridge, Zimbabwe; Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay; CERED, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar; Marquette University, Milwaukee, United States; University of Sierra Sur, Oaxaca, Mexico; University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Land Economy, University of Malawi, The Polytechnic, Blantyre 3, Malawi; Institute of Earth Systems, University of Malta, Msida, Malta; Academy for Sustainable Futures, Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom; Casa de Cultura de la UAEMéx en Tlalpan, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico; School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom; Science Education Department of Universitas Negeri Malang, Malang, Indonesia; University of São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil; State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil; The Open University, Cardiff, United Kingdom; Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Oslo, Norway; School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa; School of Built Environment and Development Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa; Innovate Durban, Durban, South Africa; Climate System Analysis Group, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
