Journal article
Reframing local empowerment for climate resilience through mutual aid
Environmental research letters, Vol.21(15), pp.1-6
12/08/2026
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Abstract
Locally-led climate adaptation is widely advocated yet can burden communities if engagement is not balanced with access to power and authority to act. In this Perspective, we argue that mutual aid provides a bridging mechanism between informal initiatives and formal governance, offering a powerful yet underexplored strategy to unlock local potential. Mutual aid describes the voluntary and collaborative exchange of resources and services for community benefit and operates across various scales and degrees of formality. In doing so, mutual aid bridges community action with formal governance processes. This offers scope to advance locally-led adaptation and consolidate cobenefits for democratic governance.
Details
- Title
- Reframing local empowerment for climate resilience through mutual aid
- Creators
- Carmen Elrick-Barr - University of the Sunshine CoastMark Pelling - University College LondonBruce C Glavovic - Massey UniversityTimothy F Smith - University of the Sunshine CoastKatrina Brown - University of Exeter
- Publication Details
- Environmental research letters, Vol.21(15), pp.1-6
- Publisher
- IOP Publishing Ltd
- Grant note
- Australian Government under the Australian Research Council Grant: DE240100611
This work was supported by the Australian Government under the Australian Research Council Grant DE240100611.
- Identifiers
- 991013396751202368
- Copyright
- © 2026 The Author(s).
- Academic Unit
- Office of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article