The goal of this Toolkit—from the California-based Alliance of Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation (ARCCA)—is to share information and intelligence among five California regions on climate adaptation best practices and lessons learned. Through the ARCCA network, regions share innovative and successful strategies and determine how those strategies could be adapted to another region’s particular needs in order to reduce reinvention of the adaptation “wheel” while preserving regional identity and context.

The Toolkit was developed to provide others with a framework for forming a regional adaptation network, guidance for structuring a regional collaborative, and insights into effective governance mechanisms for engaging local, regional, state, and national stakeholders in adoption of new collaborative relationships.

Each element of the Regional Adaptation Collaborative Toolkit consists of background information and general guidance, along with various resources. Developers recommend that new users read through the guidance for each element before examining the resources or proceeding to the next element. The Toolkit is intended to be a living document that evolves as ARCCA’s network of regional collaborative members and partners grows and contributes.