Abstract
Climate change vulnerability assessments are an essential instrument to identify regions
most vulnerable to adverse impacts of climate change and to determine appropriate adaptation
measures. Vulnerability assessments directly support countries in developing adaptation plans and
in identifying possible measures to reduce adverse consequences of changing climate conditions.
Against this background, this paper describes a vulnerability assessment using an integrated
and participatory approach that builds on standardized working steps of previously developed
‘Vulnerability Sourcebook’ guidelines. The backbone of this approach is impact chains as a conceptual
model of cause–eect relationships as well as a structured selection of indicators according to the three
main components of vulnerability, namely exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. We illustrate
our approach by reporting the results of a vulnerability assessment conducted in Burundi focusing on
climate change impacts on water and soil resources. Our work covers two analysis scales: a national
assessment with the aim to identify climate change ‘hotspot regions’ through vulnerability mapping;
and a local assessment aiming at identifying local-specific drivers of vulnerability and appropriate
adaptation measures. Referring to this vulnerability assessment in Burundi, we discuss the potentials
and constraints of the approach. We stress the need to involve stakeholders in every step of the
assessment and to communicate limitations and uncertainties of the applied methods, indicators
and maps in order to increase the comprehension of the approach and the acceptance of the results
by dierent stakeholders. The study proved the practical usability of the approach at the national
level by the selection of three particularly vulnerable areas. The results at a local scale supported the
identification of adaption measures through intensive engagement of local rural populations.