Elaborating a people-centered approach to understanding sustainable livelihoods under climate and environmental change:
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Elaborating a people‑centered approach to understanding sustainable livelihoods under climate and environmental change: Thang Binh District, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam Leslie Mabon1 · Nguyen Song Tung2 · Pham Thi Tram2 · Tran Thi Tuyet2 · Le Hong Ngoc2 · Doan Thi Thu Huong2 · Hoang Thi Ngoc Ha3 · Natascha Mueller‑Hirth4 · Stephen Vertigans4 Received: 29 August 2019 / Accepted: 2 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract This paper explores the maintenance of livelihoods under climate, environmental, and economic development pressures, through the case of Thang Binh District in Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. Within widespread recognition of the need to link sustainable livelihoods approaches with climate change adaptation, there is growing awareness of the importance of peoplecentered approaches which keep the diverse experience, capabilities, and knowledges of the most vulnerable at the heart of sustainable livelihoods thinking. In response, this paper explores the conditions for changes in modes of livelihoods in a case study area where top-down strategies for sustainable livelihoods are met with residents’ diverse experiences of vulnerability, and where climate and environmental changes shape residents’ relations with the landscape. The research is undertaken via interviews with residents, farmers/fishers, and local government officials. Our study finds that whilst government-led initiatives for sustainable livelihoods are welcomed in the locality, inflexible policies can make it challenging for the most vulnerable people to access support. Moreover, residents see the capacity to live with and respond to extreme weather events as a critical component of maintaining a sustainable livelihood. Our findings reinforce international literature, showing that ‘the poor’ are not a homogenous category, and illustrate the importance of attention to the smallest levels of government who are tasked with putting sustainable livelihoods initiatives into practice in relation to people’s daily lives. Keywords Climate change · Coastal communities · Quang Nam Province · Sustainable livelihoods · Vietnam
Introduction Handled by Fabrice Renaud, School of Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Glasgow, UK. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-020-00861-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Leslie Mabon [email protected] 1
Scottish Association for Marine Science-University of the Highlands and Islands, Oban PA37 1QA, Scotland, UK
2
Institute of Human Geography, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, 1 Lieu Giai, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi, Vietnam
3
Center for Eco-Community Development (ECODE), 101‑B6, Khuong Trung, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi, Vietnam
4
School of Applied Social Studies, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen AB10 7QG, Scotland, UK
There is widespread recognition that, with the poorest and most vulnerable people and places being hit first and hardest by climate change, appro
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