Climate adaptation has become an essential yet unevenly implemented part of climate governance, shaping how communities prepare for and respond to the impacts of a changing climate. In Sweden, local and regional officials are tasked with translating national guidelines into action, often within limited budgets and unclear mandates. The purpose of this study was to examine how public officials describe their roles, practices, and decision-making processes within local and regional climate adaptation, and how adaptation is framed in ways that reflect underlying priorities and institutional values. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with municipal and regionalofficials, the study applies an intersectional lens to analyse how institutional structures and hierarchies along with gendered norms shape adaptation governance. The results show that officials experience the complexity of following unclear institutional directives while simultaneously working with significant creative freedom but without clear mandates. This combination fosters a tendency toward prioritising technical and measurable approaches, which makes it harder to defend relational, participatory and care-oriented work within the sector. Although all officials acknowledged the importance of the social dimension, such practices often receive less formal recognition. These undervalued practices, which are often associated with women, are central to inclusive adaptation but receive less formal recognition and resourcing. The risk of uncomfortable situations in participatory processes combined with the lack of institutional mechanisms to manage it, can further discourage the use of inclusive methods.The study concludes that local and regional climate adaptation is shaped by resource constraints, institutional histories and social hierarchies. These factors together limit the potential for transformative change. Addressing these challenges will require redefining what counts as valuable adaptation work, diversifying leadership, and embedding structural support for inclusive and participatory approaches.
Lova Eriksson (Wed,) studied this question.