Rethinking Climate-Resilient Livelihoods: New Methodological Approaches

Climate change is reshaping livelihood systems through interacting environmental, economic, institutional and social processes that vary across places, scales and communities. Existing approaches to vulnerability, adaptive capacity and resilience often struggle to capture these dynamics, particularly the relationships among livelihood strategies, human agency, institutions, ecosystems and uneven exposure to climate risks. Recent research has expanded the use of participatory methods, spatial analysis, mixed-method designs, modelling, resilience indices and digital technologies, while emphasizing locally grounded knowledge and the importance of equity. However, methodological debates remain concerning how resilience should be defined and measured, how diverse forms of knowledge can be integrated, and how methods can produce evidence that is both context-sensitive and useful for decision-making. A further gap concerns the link between method and action: methodological choices shape not only what is measured, but also which forms of climate action can be identified, designed, prioritized and evaluated. This connection is rarely made explicit, leaving unclear which approaches actually move evidence into practice.This Research Topic aims to examine how methodological innovation can improve the understanding, assessment and strengthening of climate-resilient livelihoods, and how it can enable more effective climate action. It considers new methods as well as innovative combinations, adaptations, applications and integrations of established approaches. Contributions may address how livelihoods, vulnerability, adaptive capacity and resilience are conceptualized and measured; how methodological choices influence the interpretation of climate impacts and adaptation processes; and how research can better incorporate local knowledge, human agency, institutional dynamics and spatial differences. Two questions run through the Research Topic: how can methodological innovation generate evidence that is genuinely actionable for climate-resilient livelihoods, and how does the choice of method shape the type, scale and timing of the climate action it can enable, from anticipatory risk reduction and incremental adaptation to transformative change?We particularly welcome contributions that make the method–action link explicit — for example, participatory and territorial methods supporting community-level adaptation planning, spatial and remote-sensing approaches informing targeting and resource allocation, scenario and modelling approaches enabling anticipatory action, and resilience indices and evaluation designs supporting prioritization and monitoring. Authors are encouraged to state what type of climate action their method supports, at what scale, and for which actors.To gather further insights into methodological approaches for climate-resilient livelihoods, this Research Topic focuses on studies situated within rural, agricultural, coastal, tourism and other ecosystem-dependent livelihood systems, while recognizing the importance of governance, institutions, equity and collective action. We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Innovative approaches to assessing climate-resilient livelihoods• Livelihood vulnerability, adaptive capacity and resilience assessment• Sustainable Livelihoods Frameworks and livelihood capitals in climate-change research• Development and validation of resilience and livelihood indices• Participatory, community-based and co-production methodologies• Participatory mapping and territorial approaches• Mixed-method, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches• GIS, remote sensing and spatial analysis of livelihood resilience• Social network, institutional and multi-stakeholder analysis• Delphi, expert-based and multi-criteria approaches• Scenario development and modelling of livelihood futures• Longitudinal, comparative and multi-scalar approaches• Digital, big-data and AI-supported methodologies• Nature–society relationships and ecosystem-dependent livelihoods• Governance, institutions and collective action for climate resilience• Equity, vulnerability and differentiated livelihood impacts• Methodologies for identifying actionable pathways for livelihood adaptation• Approaches for translating livelihood and resilience evidence into climate policies, strategies and interventions• Methods for supporting adaptation planning, prioritization and resource allocation• Methodologies for evaluating climate adaptation and resilience interventions, and for monitoring the outcomes of climate action• Methodological approaches that enable anticipatory, incremental or transformative climate actionPotential contributions include Original Research, Systematic or Methodological Reviews, Conceptual Analyses, case and comparative studies, methodological frameworks and evidence-based assessments, provided that the methodological contribution is clearly articulated and its relevance to climate-resilient livelihoods and climate action is demonstrated. Topic editors: Mansour Ghanian, Omid Mehrab Ghoochani Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85188/rethinking-climate-resilient-livelihoods-new-methodological-approaches