It has been argued that major, purposeful action often resulting in significant changes in structure or function, known as transformational adaptation, is required in some areas of the agricultural sector to adapt to climate change and other driving factors. Yet there is limited understanding of what factors instigate and facilitate this scale of change. From a social science perspective, one key question remains: to what extent do agribusinesses need social capital to plan and implement large-scale, transformational adaptation options, compared with incremental-scale adaptations? Data drawn from Australian primary industries found that those undertaking transformational change had more far-reaching information and knowledge network connections yet less extensive social links to family, friends and colleagues. These findings demonstrate that strong access to knowledge and weak social ties increases the ability to facilitate action that differs from established social norms, hence empowering transformational adaptors to plan and implement novel strategies and options.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	agriculture, decision making
Research Division:	Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences
Research Group:	Agriculture, land and farm management
Research Field:	Farm management, rural management and agribusiness
Objective Division:	Environmental Policy, Climate Change and Natural Hazards
Objective Group:	Adaptation to climate change
Objective Field:	Climate change adaptation measures (excl. ecosystem)
UTAS Author:	Fleming, A (Dr Aysha Fleming)
ID Code:	121848
Year Published:	2014
Web of Science® Times Cited:	69
Deposited By:	Office of the Faculty of Law
Deposited On:	2017-10-17
Last Modified:	2017-11-23
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