Improving Coastal Urban Flood Risk Management in San Francisco de Campeche, México

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to address people’s perception and conduct facing related climate change effects, and how these will improve education, sensibilization, decision-making, and resilience in coastal zones. As a coastal city, San Francisco de Campeche, México (SFC) is innately vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Given this problem, life experiences, opinions, needs and proposal data collections provide a social diagnosis about how people perceive and act, when faced with climate adverse consequences, to enhance their resilience capacity. Our methodological approach used qualitative and quantitative methods to better understand people, the social systems’ nature, and how those integrating factors play key roles in and have decisive influences over constantly changing quotidian life ways to transform those data into public policies and strategies that link environmental changes with social adaptation actions through applying 113 interviews. We also identified the floodable zones of SFC using literature and maps and a field guideline to describe each zone. Derived from those natural and cultural figures information we designed SFC’s Action Climate Program (ACP). This agenda directly addresses “Climate Action” sustainable development’s objective 13, target 3, by offering environmental education strategies and community collaboration and participation for design public policies and decision-making processes for coastal management resilience. We conclude that correctly implementing this program will improve people’s capacity to respond and adapt to climate change effects. Moreover, active participation in decision making processes offers a second corollary to empower people to reduce risks that resolve nagging socio environmental issues in their coastal communities.