CASPI, the Climate Adaptation Science and Policy Initiative, is a cross-disciplinary initiative at the University of Melbourne that connects science and public policy to meet the local and global challenges of climate change.
The threat of climate change impinges in different ways upon every dimension of the natural world, and affects every dimension of humanity’s economic and social relationships. Adaptation to this threat is a colossal task. It is also unprecedented in the time scale in which the social and institutional change must take place. This task will have to be led by government, but all of society’s institutions will need to be mobilised for this task, including universities and research institutes.
CASPI has brought together researchers at the University of Melbourne to develop appropriate projects in science, engineering, architecture and medicine that can be applied to the systematic development and evaluation of feasible public policy response to climate change through the perspectives of the economic and social sciences, innovation studies, political economy, and law. CASPI has completed a number of such projects and is opening up new opportunities for collaborative research.
In addition to research projects and consultancy reports, CASPI conducts workshops and has an ongoing seminar program.
Some information on the staff of CASPI is provided here: CASPI Staff page