Adaptive Capacity

Adaptation is a process of adjusting to new conditions to become better suited to the context or environment. Adaptive capacities can enable CSOs to improve their actions as a proactive response to changing circumstances, i.e. to co-evolve with their environment. Adaptation can be described as a process of assimilation and accommodation9 where through:
• assimilation, new experiences and knowledge derived from events in the environment are incorporated into existing ways of thinking about the world.
• accommodation, existing ways of thinking are revised according to the new knowledge and lead to new actions or behaviour.
This dual process of assimilation and accommodation, often triggered by change, instability, conflict, or crisis, can enable individuals and organisations to link analysis with adapting the actions they take. Adaptive capacity can be defined as:
                      Adaptive Capacity (Action)
The capacity to strategically adjust thinking and actions in response to changing circumstances based on relevant knowledge and improved understanding

Adaptive capacity includes the ability to:
• Use improved understanding to adjust actions appropriately
• Expand awareness to sense new and emerging events
• Respond proactively to changing circumstances
• Have insights into intended and unintended consequences of action
• Continuously observe and correct course of action
• Draw lessons from changed actions and integrate them into future analysis