Ongoing climate change in form of global warming is undeniable. Besides reducing greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate climate change, adaptation to the impacts of climate change is becoming more important in recent time. Also with reducing greenhouse gas emissions, impacts from climate change will not be able to be averted. Climate change impacts occur on a local scale. In Denmark municipalities are responsible for climate change adaptation. Nevertheless municipalities are not isolated areas. Especially climate change impacts related to water can occur across municipal borders. Also climate change adaptation is connected to several sectors in a municipality. Therefore collaboration inside municipalities as well as between neighboring municipalities is concluded as important.
At the case of the Danish municipality of Aalborg this theses analyzes inter-municipal collaboration on climate change adaptation. The thesis builds on institutional theory, as municipal planning is determined by institutions. Impacts from climate change trigger institutions to change. In order to analyze and propose inter-municipal collaboration first the implementation of climate change adaptation and the culture of collaboration in Aalborg Municipality are analyzed. Climate change related connections to neighboring municipalities are identified by streams in a shared watershed.
The thesis reveals that there is no active collaboration with other municipalities in Aalborg Municipality. As a main driver of climate change adaption the legal obligation of creating climate change adaption plans is identified. The importance of inter-municipal collaboration in climate change adaptation is seen by the municipality in some extent. There is an increasing culture of internal collaborations and structures of inter-municipal collaboration exist in other fields. On this base inter-municipal collaboration on climate change adaptation can evolve.