The human factor: A holistic social model and method for assessing local climate change adaptation potential

The proposed method and model provide a practical guide and codified approach to capture and interpret the interplay of key social factors in climate adaptation outcomes at the local scale. These include environmental, economic, informational, cultural, and political forces. This approach responds to calls for universal criteria and models to capture this process in order to improve and strengthen communities' resilience to climate impacts. Our article (1) recommends a method, including an interview protocol and analytical approach, from which to collate data and (2) provides a holistic social model to interpret and frame the data in order to draw actionable takeaways on the climate change adaptation capacity of human communities on a local scale. The method and model are drawn from research with Colombian coffee farmers, ongoing research in the Highland Andes of Peru, and the collation of pertinent, cross-disciplinary literature. They detail a roadmap for incorporating comprehensive social considerations into scientific, technological, and other services and solutions targeted at human communities.