Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2022) 27: 14

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-021-09988-9

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

A multi‑stakeholder participatory methodology

to facilitate socio‑ecological climate change
vulnerability–adaptation–resilience strategies: application
of the Q Method

Miriam Alfie‑Cohen1 · Flor Yunuen Garcia‑Becerra2

Received: 23 December 2020 / Accepted: 15 December 2021 / Published online: 18 January 2022
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2021

Abstract
Peri-urban spaces are critical components of urban systems and highly vulnerable to cli-
mate change (CC). Viable adaptation strategies for these spaces should consider the
interconnectedness between cities and their peri-urbanities, and their vulnerability–adap-
tation–resilience dynamics, which emphasizes understanding their state of accumulative
vulnerability, beyond the environmental realm. Further, the successful implementation of
adaptation measures requires multi-stakeholder participation. Thus, peri-urbanities need
to actively incorporate their perceptions during the development of such interventions.
This work aims at establishing the preferences at both the individual and community level
in a peri-urban area during the identification of its vulnerability–adaptation–resilience
dynamics. This approach was applied to a peri-urbanity in Northwestern Mexico under
a multi-decade drought. The Q Method was utilized to understand the community’s pri-
orities regarding CC adaptations. The findings were discussed between academics, local
government officials, and the community and then used to outline a strategy that would
empower locals to implement a priority-based plan. It is suggested that this plan include
green infrastructure, household water and energy savings, comprehensive waste manage-
ment, and local food production. These findings could be used as reference to create local
adaptation–resilience efforts in other drought-prone peri-urban spaces with similar vulner-
ability–adaptation–resilience dynamics.

Keywords Peri-urban community · Climate change · Resilient adaptation · Environmental

economy · Ecological engineering · Side-by-side decision-making

* Flor Yunuen Garcia‑Becerra

june.garcia-becerra@unbc.ca
1
Department of Social Sciences, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Cuajimalpa
(Metropolitan Autonomous University, Cuajimalpa Campus), Mexico City, Mexico
2
School of Engineering, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way,
Prince George, BC V2N 4Z9, Canada

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1 Introduction

It has been estimated that approximately 70% of the global population will be urban by
2050 (UN 2018). Therefore, understanding and fostering the viability of cities is essential
to the sustainability of human life worldwide. Spaces surrounding metropolises, known as
peri-urban areas, are key for urban conservation, maintenance, and development, because
they provide irreplaceable resources and services to adjacent cities such as clean air and
biodiversity refuge (Calderón-Contreras and Quiroz-Rosas 2017; Pérez-Campuzano et al.
2016). Peri-urbanity can be interpreted as a place and a process. As a place, it is a terri-
tory that surrounds the limits of the city. As a process, it is an interface for the exchange of
goods and services between the rural and the urban (Díaz-Caravantes and Sánchez-Flores
2011). Based on the interdependence between cities and their peri-urbanities, we propose
that in climate change (CC) studies, these two spaces be linked under a vulnerability–adap-
tation–resilience dynamics. The term adaptation–resilience encompasses those adaptations
that make communities more resilient, which is a greater capability to face uncertainty and
negative environmental changes, while the vulnerability–adaptation–resilience dynamics
refers to the resilient-building adaptation measures to be taken considering a given state of
accumulative vulnerability.
Peri-urban areas and their socio-ecological systems (SESs) are highly vulnerable to both
local and global climate change (CC) (Allen 2003; Ellis and Ramankutty 2008; Lin et al.
2018). Although geographically peri-urban spaces are surrounding the city, these spaces
have their own dynamic nature, wherein social forms and arrangements are created, modi-
fied, and discarded (Laquinta and Drescher 2000). From a perspective based on individual
and collective rationality, Ostrom (1990) analyzes the possibilities of collective action for
an efficient management of natural resources, pertinent for these communities. Hence, they
need peri-urban specific strategies that facilitate adjustment to the projected CC and mod-
ify behaviors to avoid disaster risks (Bakhsh et al. 2018; IPCC 2014; Smith and Petley
2009).
While the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has developed adap-
tation measures to enhance resilience for different SESs, such as rural and urban spaces,
effective adaptation–resilience strategizing includes collaborative and multi-level efforts,
capitalizing on synergies across scales to design contextualized measures (Metzger et al.
2018). Implementing these measures requires side-by-side governance linked to policy-
making, where decisions can be discussed deliberately, consensually, cooperatively, and
creatively among the stakeholders, promoting conflict resolution and setting milestones
(Gebhard and Smith 2015; Van Zeijst et al. 2017). Hence, participatory methodologies are
essential to manage the deliberation activities to create common solutions (perceptions and
preferences).
The Q Method has been utilized in multiple fields to evaluate a population’s public
involvement, perspectives, and levels of understanding of a given topic (Armatas et al.
2016; Bumbudsanpharoke et al. 2009; Iribarnegaray et al. 2014; Liu et al. 2013). The
method first identifies a “concourse” (a body of knowledge around a topic), which is used
to assess the diversity of individuals’ priorities and group them statistically as “factors”
(i.e., interest groups) that the community can associate with. Through this method, a com-
munity’s vulnerability–adaptation–resilience dynamics can be understood and improved,
where self-organization can be stimulated by establishing common visions among individ-
uals. While the Q Method is not necessarily participatory, it can be utilized to create com-
mon narratives between researchers and participants, as well as among participants, during

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the application of the interviews and validation of the results. In this study, we applied the
Q Method in a participatory manner to promote deliberation activities between different
stakeholder groups. This is possible since the participants know each other and have social
dynamics in place that enable communal decision-making processes, as further described
in Section 3.
The goal of this article is to study preferences at both the individual and community
level in a peri-urban area during the identification of CC vulnerability–adaptation–resil-
ience dynamics in a participatory manner. San Pedro el Saucito (SaPe) is our case study,
a peri-urban community of Hermosillo City, in the State of Sonora (northwestern Mexico)
where we worked for almost 3 years (2016 to 2018). Peri-urban environments play a medi-
ating role between rural and urban. As such, SaPe is a classical peri-urban space where
the spectrum of change from rural to urban is discontinuous and multidimensional. This
spectrum arises from underlying social processes fomenting conflicts and social evolution
(Laquinta and Drescher 2000). A map of SaPe and its relation to Hermosillo City is pro-
vided in Figure 1 to show the closeness between these two spaces. For the past 20 years,
SaPe has been modifying its way of life to cope with climate variations: increasing temper-
atures, decreasing precipitations, and water scarcity (Soto-Montes-de-Oca and Alfie-Cohen
2019).
In the next section, we provide a conceptual framework that describes peri-urban SESs
as key components of cities’ vitality. We further define vulnerability–adaptation–resil-
ience dynamics and why they are suitable for middle- and low-income countries (MLICs)

Figure 1  Study area map of San Pedro el Saucito as a peri-urban area of Hermosillo (geographical coor-
dinates of the ejido: 29° 10′ 46″ N and 110° 53′ 01″ W, with an elevation above sea level of 275±25 m
(INEGI 2016a, b). The crosshatch area indicates the Abelardo L. Rodriguez dam, while the gray areas cor-
respond to the spaces of Hermosillo and San Pedro el Saucito (Estrello, A., Laboratory of Socioterritorial
Analysis, UAM). The urban sprawl, between the City of Hermosillo and San Pedro el Saucito, while pre-
sent, is not indicated in this map.

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to construct CC strategies. In the third section, we describe SaPe’s characteristics and its
CC-related vulnerability. The fourth section includes our methodology to build a multi-
stakeholder participatory approach using the Q Method to develop context-specific adapta-
tion–resilience interdisciplinary strategies. In Section 5, we include and discuss the study’s
results. The last section presents our conclusions on CC vulnerability–adaptation–resil-
ience dynamics for MLICs and their peri-urban SESs.

2 Conceptual framework

In this work, we apply three key concepts to create adequate CC strategies that empower
peri-urban SESs, such as SaPe: (a) peri-urban areas and their SESs, (b) vulnerabil-
ity–adaptation–resilience dynamics, and (c) environmental governance and participatory
deliberation.

2.1 Cities and peri‑urban spaces

Peri-urbanities have defined geo-spatial delimitations, a high degree of complexity, and

strong socio-ecological connections. These spaces present spatial contiguity with both
urban and rural areas, which may include built spaces, agriculture zones, or natural areas.
They are complex systems where cultural, political, social, economic, environmental,
and technological components, among others, are interconnected. Since the SES concept
focuses on relationships, interactions, and feedback between humans and nature (Alfie
et al. 2017), we apply the peri-urban SES approach to lead to a greater environmental pro-
tection, a sense of community, cohesion, and social justice (Calderón-Contreras and Qui-
roz-Rosas 2017; Pérez-Campuzano et al. 2016).
The importance of peri-urban SES relies in part on their natural and agricultural spaces
that provide cities with goods and ecosystem services and off-set the urban ecological foot-
print. Thus, peri-urban spaces are vital in maintaining their neighboring city’s viability, liv-
ability, and maintenance (Allen 2003; Ellis and Ramankutty 2008). When peri-urbanities
are considered in urban planning, they can give rise to greater resilience to the city–peri-
urban continuum. Cities should take care of their peri-urban areas and sustainably reap
their benefits (VijayavenkataRaman et al. 2012). However, the current exponential growth
of cities and the associated expansion of mega-projects have negatively affected these
peri-urbanities.
Peri-urbanities need adaptation strategies with new behaviors to avoid disaster risks due
to local and global CC. Adaptation–resilience CC measures have been developed through
multi-level and multi-dimensional participatory efforts (Bakhsh et al. 2018; IPCC 2014;
Smith and Petley 2009). To do so, it is important to understand the vulnerability–adapta-
tion–resilience dynamics of peri-urban areas by first establishing the climatic changes that
affect these regions and understanding the degree of vulnerability of the continuity of peri-
urban and urban life.

2.2 Vulnerability–adaptation–resilience

The vulnerability–adaptation–resilience dynamics, where adaptation–resilience approaches

to address CC must be adequately contextualized, can become a powerful political con-
cept and framework for discourse, especially for MLICs (Klepp and Chavez-Rodríguez

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2018). Positions, decisions, agreements, and financing schemes to address CC tend to

be prescribed by international agencies and high-income countries (HICs) for the rest of
the world to follow. For instance, the IPCC (2007), defines adaptation as “… initiatives
and measures to reduce the vulnerability of natural and human systems to real effects or
expected from climate change [...]. It is […] a learning process that requires inter-discipline
and a multidimensional and transversal vision, considering local knowledge and the role of
individuals and civil society organizations.” While this definition is essentially correct, it
does not address the issues when local knowledge and organizations are heavily marginal-
ized or discriminated against. That is, adaptation–resilience measures are viable when the
complete picture of vulnerability is well characterized, identifying risks beyond the envi-
ronmental space.
For MLICs with significant differences with respect to HICs, there are two main issues
that need to be considered to understand their CC vulnerability–adaptation–resilience
dynamic: first, the high degree of socio-cultural diversity among the affected communities
and these communities’ associated political dimensions and perceptions (Cameron 2012)
and second the accumulated social iniquities, i.e., socioeconomic and political vulnerabili-
ties, which cannot be considered inherent but that should be addressed and off-set during
the development of CC policymaking and implementation of solutions. Below we expand
on each component of the vulnerability–adaptation–resilience dynamics in MLICs from an
interdisciplinary space.

2.2.1 Vulnerability

Vulnerability refers to the level of socioeconomic development and the cultural conditions
that a community has to face disaster. For Delgadillo (1996), a population’s degree of vul-
nerability is proportional to its level of underdevelopment, which comprises its technologi-
cal deficiencies (e.g., inappropriate construction techniques), passive ideologies regarding
a human being’s relationship with the environment and their control over it, improper envi-
ronmental education, and the population’s inadequacy of their spatial location and related
physical risks, level of poverty and marginalization, deficient social organization, poor
health, and their national economic weakness.
CC vulnerability includes the exposure and sensitivity to CC risks. Exposure refers
to the degree or intensity of an event, for instance, heat waves, drought events, or vector
spreads. Sensitivity relates to the harmful socioeconomic impacts of climate variability,
for instance, production systems affected by weather conditions. Authors such as Bas-
sett and Fogelman (2013) argue that vulnerability must combine social and biophysical
aspects to fully encompass the concept of adaptation–resilience introduced in the 1992 Rio
Convention.

2.2.2 Adaptation–resilience

Adaptation refers to actions to prevent changes that can produce undesired effects, whereas
resilience denotes a capacity of response to deal and recover from the impacts of severe cli-
matic events (CONANP-GIZ 2014). More specifically, resilience is defined as the capacity
to withstand changes while strengthening abilities of connectivity, feedback mechanisms,
diversity, and redundancy (Biggs et al. 2015).
There are three visions to CC adaptation: (a) technological, (b) reformist, and (c) trans-
formative, all of which involve different actions to reduce vulnerability. The technological

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view uses technology-based adjustments. The reformist rests on the implementation

of laws and norms. The transformative approach uses policies linked to citizens’ power,
developed through participatory and deliberative methods to address the inefficient use
of natural resources, social inequity, and limited access to decision-making by minorities
or previously marginalized groups (Klepp and Chavez-Rodríguez 2018). For both inter-
national agencies and HICs, the technological adaptation is the preferred approach (Bas-
sett and Fogelman 2013). However, MLICs’ CC adaptation strategies need to address their
multiple intricacies and injustices. This in turn suggests including the voiceless and trans-
forming the vulnerability–adaptation–resilience dynamics. Thus, transformative adaptation
is highly desirable for MLICs, where the focus is on promoting, empowering vulnerable
groups, and planning in collaboration with marginalized groups.

2.3 Environmental governance and participatory methods

For MLICs, combining the three types of responses to CC involves complex vulnerabil-
ity–adaptation–resilience dynamics that observe different realities and inequalities within
the environmental, cultural, social, technological, economic, and political spheres. As a
result, environmental governance becomes relevant in CC adaptation–resilience. Although
public participation in local development, planning, and implementation of environmental
projects create significant challenges in decision-making processes and reaching multilat-
eral agreements (Eakin et al. 2007), there is a growing consensus that carefully managed
processes of public deliberation and participation enhance the relevancy of decision results
and ensure the outcomes’ credibility (Moser 2011; Scott and Lutz-Ley 2016).

3 Case study: San Pedro el Saucito (SaPe)

Mexican peri-urban SESs combine modern and traditional lifestyles to produce social
interactions different from those of cities. They tend to have a scarce supply of public
services, and most residents live in poverty (Galindo and Delgado 2006; Gonzáles and
Larralde 2013). In this study, we worked with an “ejido,” a type of Mexican communal
land property around an agrarian community with self-management and self-governance
capabilities (Muñoz-Piña et al. 2003; Randall 1996). Considering that Mexican cities are
quickly expanding into rural lands and that around 68% of Mexican rural land is under this
communal ownership, multiple ejidos are becoming peri-urban spaces (INEGI 2016a, b, c;
Lerner et al. 2018).
We used the community of San Pedro-El Saucito (SaPe) as a case study for this project.
SaPe is a landowner assembly–led ejido (“consejo ejidal”) and has been a peri-urban space
since 1930. Until recently, it had also acted as a buffer zone (green belt) that allowed a bet-
ter capture of water, a necessary function for this semi-arid space. Over the past 20 years,
SaPe has been dealing with rising temperatures, droughts, and water scarcity, increasing
the vulnerability of this ejido.

3.1 Increasing temperatures and drought

Hermosillo and its peri-urban territories sit in a desert, under the Köppen climate clas-
sification. The average temperatures for this area are 40°C during summer (June to Sep-
tember) and below 0°C from November to February (Estrada-Santoyo 2007), but in the

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last years, the temperature has reached almost 45°C in summer. As part of Northern
Mexico and the Southwestern USA, the ejido is going through a multi-decade mega-
drought. Further, there is a high probability that the average temperature in the area will
increase up to 2°C and precipitation will decrease further by the middle of the twenty-
first century (Cook et al. 2016; Llanes-Cárdenas et al. 2018).

3.2 Water scarcity

Ten years ago, agriculture and livestock were the most important activities in SaPe.
When its surface water became scarce, the ejido members dug water wells for farm-
ing and household activities (Gaytán and Montaño 2009). However, most of these wells
are now dry because of the region’s climatic variability and the dramatic rise in water
demand associated with Hermosillo’s significant economic development and urbaniza-
tion. For instance, Hermosillo’s water utility produces between 70 and 90 ­Mm3 per year,
to provide approximately 300 to 450 l per day per inhabitant, an endowment that is one
of the highest in Mexico, and an excessive amount in a semi-dessert space (Estrada-San-
toyo 2007). Further, it has been projected that from 2020 to 2030, Hermosillo’s popula-
tion will almost double in size, and the annual water extraction will increase accord-
ingly (Llanes-Cárdenas et al. 2018).
Hermosillo’s urbanization processes have consolidated mainly at the expense of the
land and water of SaPe and other peri-urban ejidos (Díaz-Caravantes and Sánchez-Flo-
res 2011). Since 1997, 4,730 ha of ejido lands have been sold for private development,
which corresponds to 25% of Hermosillo’s current area, leading to changes in land use
and vegetation fragmentation. These transformations have created local CC issues such
as lower food production and greater poverty of the peri-urban ejido populations, SaPe
included.
Further, Hermosillo’s water management approaches have been disruptive to its
neighboring ejidos. Water conflicts between urban and rural have risen, exacerbated by
Hermosillo’s poor infrastructure and politically appointed personnel, who often lack
adequate technical competencies to address water issues (Pineda-pablos et al. 2012).
For SaPe, this situation has increased water scarcity of its inhabitants and strained the
relationships between the ejido assembly and Hermosillo’s city authorities (Alfie et al.
2017).

3.3 Vulnerability

SaPe’s SES has undergone radical transformations resulting in a decreased ability to pro-
duce goods and services for itself and the city, as well as other detrimental phenomena such
as the spread of vector diseases and critical water scarcity. These conditions have pushed
the SaPe community to adapt by moving almost completely away from agriculture and
cattle activities and focusing on tourism, such as horse breeding for weekend tourists and
opening restaurants on the highway to Hermosillo. However, not all inhabitants are able to
absorb the changes, for example, many households are unable to cool their houses, since air
conditioners are extremely expensive to purchase and operate (Pineda-pablos et al. 2012).
These changes jeopardize the viability of SaPe’s way of life, increase inequity, and margin-
alization leading to an accumulative vulnerability for most of SaPe’s inhabitants.

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4 Methods

Following the transformative adaptation and environmental governance approach, we

studied SaPe’s vulnerability–adaptation–resilience dynamics. We built on our previ-
ous work on SaPe’s CC-related vulnerability, which through workshops used partici-
patory methodologies (focus groups and interactive maps elaboration) with the identi-
fied stakeholders to facilitate a dialogue between municipal and ejido authorities and
the community to reach agreements on local CC issues and propose possible solutions
(Soto-Montes-de-Oca and Alfie-Cohen 2019).
In this work, we assess these possible solutions in relation to their vulnerabil-
ity–adaptation–resilience dynamics and complement them with additional solution
ideas on four main topics: household well-being, economic activity, infrastructure (con-
ventional and nature-based), and social network building. We then apply the Q Method
to determine the community’s preferences for these CC adaptation–resilience strategies.
Through this approach, we identify context-specific solutions with a high probability of
acceptance and viability.

4.1 SaPe’s vulnerability–adaptation–resilience dynamics

In our previous work, we studied SaPe’s CC-related vulnerability by (a) obtaining local
information and perceptions on climate impacts (giving voice to the community), (b)
understanding the social causes of vulnerability (both accumulative and progressive),
and (c) increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of local adaptation–resilience pro-
posals (deliberation and empowerment) (CONANP-GIZ 2014). During the workshops,
participants expressed their opinions about CC, water, and local adaptation–resilience
assets. SaPe’s inhabitants expressed that in the last decade, they have been experiencing
two types of local CC: (1) rise in temperature and heat waves and (2) increased drought.
These observations are supported by local climate data (Llanes-Cárdenas et al. 2018).
With rising temperatures, the community witnessed increased human and livestock
morbidity, lower agricultural production, reduced ability to be in open spaces, and an
increase in use of cars and air conditioners to protect themselves from the heat (Soto-
Montes-de-Oca and Alfie-Cohen 2019). Moreover, less rain/increased drought has
resulted in the rise of dust due to lack of paved areas, loss of local natural bodies of
water, reduced water availability for all local activities, significant reduction in the
quantity and quality of agricultural products, and the abandonment of farming. This,
in turn, has led to the introduction of new tourism-related economic activities as men-
tioned above. Finally, the growth of maquiladoras in the last decade has provided low-
paying jobs to some inhabitants of the community. Thus, the proximity to Hermosillo is
fundamental for some people to find work since agricultural activities are not as produc-
tive as before.
Under the environmental governance framework, the work of Soto-Montes-de-Oca and
Alfie-Cohen (2019) highlighted the politicization of CC and water issues and SaPe’s crea-
tivity and willingness to address them. More importantly, accumulated vulnerabilities and
transformations were considered, and the community’s concerns were voiced and identi-
fied. Under vulnerability–adaptation–resilience dynamics, this past work indicated impor-
tant resilient traits in SaPe such as its social cohesion, collective decision-making, and a
wealth of traditional knowledge.

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4.2 The Q Method

Once CC-related problems had been understood by both the researchers and the ejido
participants, we applied the systems-based Q Method (Webler et al. 2007). First, we
developed a concourse of statements (Q-statements) describing adaptation–resilience
strategies. This concourse was then used to query the recruited participants (P-set)
through Q-sorting interviews, also known as Q-sorts. The Q-sorting consisted of hav-
ing participants sort through a Likert scale from lowest (−5) to highest priority (+5) the
Q-statements using the Q-board (a forced matrix). The Q-sorting data was analyzed to
outline context-appropriate CC–adaptation–resilience strategies, which were then vali-
dated with the ejido, as a post-Q feedback session.

4.2.1 Identifying adaptation strategies (concourse of statements and Q‑statements)

Our concourse focused on designing CC adaptation–resilience actions for SaPe. As sug-

gested by the IPPC (2014), we classified these impacts into four areas: household well-
being, economic activity, infrastructure (conventional and nature-based), and social
network building. We then focused on problem-based solutions via an interdisciplinary
approach that included (1) social participation (impact of a given effect on local house-
holds, economic activities, green and gray infrastructure, and social networks), (2) con-
text-specific impacts (identifying explicit impacts of each effect), and (3) systems think-
ing (determine how the effect unfolds, e.g., slowly or rapidly within the ejido, does it
affect multiple areas at once, etc.) (see Table 1).
Q-statements were constructed following drought-specific recommendations (IPCC
2014; Midgley et al. 2012; UNDP 2010; Wheeler et al. 2013) and suggestions by our
research team that included specialists on environmental economics, environmental gov-
ernance, ecological engineering, and SES resilience. We also included initiatives that
the community had expressed, such as water savings, solar-based energy savings, and
comprehensive waste management. We excluded those initiatives that were not sustain-
able, such as drilling deeper wells. Overall, elaborating the set of Q-statements required
a careful diagnosis of real problems and perceptions to reach achievable courses of
actions. The produced Q-statements were piloted during November 2017, with 12 par-
ticipants. This resulted in 36 Q-statements within the previously defined four areas. The
statements were also tagged with keywords to quickly identify them (Table 2).

4.2.2 Q‑participants (P‑set) recruitment and Q‑sorting interviews

Since a P-set of 50±10 participants is most effective in capturing diverse viewpoints

(Rogers 1995), 40 ejido members were interviewed between November and December
2017. Participants were selected with the help of the local leadership (the ejido coun-
cil) based on their diversity in occupation and place of work (in or outside the ejido).
The P-set composition was 59% male and 41% female and by occupation 35% farm-
ers (produce and livestock), 19% workers in the food and restaurant business, and 46%
workers in other fields (in and outside the ejido). The Q-sorting consultations were one-
on-one interviews lasting between 30 to 90 min. They included a brief introduction to

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Table 1  Analysis of the climate change effects perceived at San Pedro el Saucito.
14 Page 10 of 25

Perceived effects Type of change Associated impact at the ejido Areas requiring action to increase resilience to climate change
(rapid/slow)
Welfare at Economic Infrastructure Social networks
home activities (gray and green)

Heat waves Rapid Increased food spoilage * *

Increased human morbidity and mortality *
Increased water demand * * *
Increased livestock morbidity and mortality *
Increase in temperatures Slow Increased human morbidity and mortality * *
Increased livestock morbidity and mortality *
Lower agricultural and livestock production * *
Increase in vectors Rapid Propagation of vector borne diseases * *
Slow Propagation of vector borne diseases * *
Reduced rainfall Rapid Reduced production and quality of harvested food *
Increased water shortages for all sectors * *
Increase of dust *
Reduced rainfall Slow Abandonment of agricultural and livestock activities *
Lower agricultural and livestock production *
Greater water restrictions for all sectors * *
Dust * * *
Increased number of dried wells * * *
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2022) 27: 14
 Table 2  List of statements (mitigation and adaptation actions) for the Q Method aimed at building adaptation–resilience to the impacts of climate change at San Pedro el Sau-
cito.
Keywords
Energy savings Water savings Waste Green Local Social networks Others
valoriza- infra- food
tion structure sources

Welfare at home
1 Install solar panels to generate electricity to lower air conditioning x
costs and obtain training on how to request support from FIDE
(Energy Savings Fund)
2 Install water-saving appliances in showers, faucets, and toilets to x
reduce water consumption
3 Install pipes for the reuse of greywater (all the water except black- x
water coming from the toilet) inside the house
4 Obtain training to install and use rainwater collection systems in x
the home
5 Obtain training on how to install and use “compost” dry toilets x
(use compost and urine as fertilizer for trees), to reduce almost
all the water used for toilets
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2022) 27: 14

6 Use local materials and indigenous plants that allow infiltration of x

water and reduce dust in common areas of the homes
7 Rearrange the house to encourage natural ventilation, reduce sun x x
exposure, and lower air conditioning costs (put thick curtains,
paint the roofs white, insulate walls, install some additional
windows)
8 Separate and clean packaging, bottles, cardboard, and other waste x x
for reuse and recycling, to reduce the risk of proliferation of
mosquitoes and improve the appearance of public spaces
9 Take advantage of organic waste (fruit peels, vegetable waste, etc.) x
to produce compost or fertilizer to enrich the soil and retain soil
moisture

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Page 11 of 25 14
 Table 2  (continued)
Keywords
Energy savings Water savings Waste Green Local Social networks Others

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valoriza- infra- food
14 Page 12 of 25

tion structure sources

10 Train yourself to fumigate inside houses and yards to reduce the x

number of flies
11 Install water meters to monitor consumption within the home and x
promote savings
12 Plant fruit trees and vegetables for family consumption x x
Economic activities
13 Install and/or increase the area with drip irrigation systems or x
install another water saving system for agricultural irrigation
14 Obtain training on how to apply for the subsidy of the irrigation x
technification program of SAGARPA to install drip irrigation
systems
15 Sell land to those who are interested x
16 Learn to build greenhouses to produce food and reduce water x x
consumption
17 Change to crops that need less water x
18 Build dams to capture and clean drainage waters from homes for x
use in agricultural irrigation or gardening
19 Collaborate with other members of the community to organize x x
collective public transport (bicycles, moto-taxis, shared cars)
20 Build cold rooms in the community to preserve the cultivated x
products
21 Build solar dehydrators (as for dried meat) to preserve the culti- x
vated products
22 Organize “farmers markets” so that local producers can sell them x
to the public
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2022) 27: 14
 Table 2  (continued)
Keywords
Energy savings Water savings Waste Green Local Social networks Others
valoriza- infra- food
tion structure sources

Infrastructure (gray and green)

23 Collaborate with the community to collect waste and sell it to x x x
recycling companies and thus improve the appearance of com-
mon spaces and reduce the presence of mosquitoes, flies, and
other harmful fauna.
24 Collaborate with other members of the community to plant trees x x
and vegetation to shade roads, streets, and homes, as well as
reduce noise and promote wildlife (birds) that helps in the
control of flies
25 Collaborate with the community to improve roadways using x x
locally available materials that allow infiltration of water and
reduce dust in open spaces
26 Collaborate with the community to request the improvement of x x
personnel and equipment at the clinic
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2022) 27: 14

27 Collaborate with the community to improve and increase public x x

spaces (parks, planters, meeting points, etc.)
28 Evaluate the possibility of creating bicycle corridors and develop x x
rapid transit alternatives for times when the temperature is at its
highest
29 Collaborate with the community to do reforestation work x x
30 Collaborate with the community to install garbage cans differenti- x x
ated by type of waste in public spaces
Social networks
31 Collaborate with the community to develop menus in restaurants x
that utilize locally grown products

13
Page 13 of 25 14
 Table 2  (continued)
Keywords
Energy savings Water savings Waste Green Local Social networks Others

13
valoriza- infra- food
14 Page 14 of 25

tion structure sources

32 Promote community-supported agriculture (locally produce popu- x x

lar food products that are otherwise imported to the community,
like chips and other non-essential snacks and treats)
33 Collaborate to develop social networking spaces (Facebook, What- x
sApp, Twitter) that offer and promote local products and produce
34 Organize with neighbors to develop plans of action before crises x x
such as floods, droughts, and plagues
35 Organize cleaning days for streets and public spaces x x
36 Organize education and training campaigns and workshops to x x
protect local flora and fauna, as well as better use local resources
(water, light, solar energy, organic waste, etc.)
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2022) 27: 14
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2022) 27: 14 Page 15 of 25 14

Table 3  Details of the participants (P-set) and their allocation to factors (X mark) based on their Q-sort fac-
tor loading.

Participant Occupation Age Gender Factor A Factor B Factor C

1 Commerce 46 Female 0.6227 X −0.3814 0.0838

2 Produce and livestock farming 55 Male 0.3957 0.1981 0.5455 X
3 Seasonal farming and security 52 Male 0.2069 0.5943 X 0.0584
4 Food preparation and restaurant business 40 Female 0.0258 0.5914 X 0.0671
5 Transportation 57 Male 0.1442 0.4407 X 0.2609
6 Pharmacy 26 Female 0.2682 0.1853 0.4653 X
7 Produce and livestock farming 61 Male 0.6495 X 0.1309 0.3538
8 Seasonal farming and entertainment 61 Male 0.0938 −0.1268 0.6571 X
9 Food preparation and restaurant business 42 Female 0.0253 0.6830 X −0.0808
10 Other 63 Male 0.4956 X 0.461 0.0927
11 Produce and livestock farming 69 Male 0.5850 X 0.2916 0.1627
12 Waste management 55 Female 0.1762 0.1976 0.5416 X
13 Law 69 Male 0.4699 X 0.3115 −0.0052
14 Landowner 60 Male 0.6016 X −0.0247 0.3719
15 Librarian 42 Female 0.5928 X 0.195 0.4156
16 School principal 29 Female 0.0186 0.1327 0.6404 X
17* Concierge 28 Female 0.1 0.4088 0.1015
18 Food preparation and restaurant business 45 Female 0.0436 0.6304 X 0.2212
19 Seamstress 41 Female 0.3202 −0.045 0.5841 X
20 Commerce 60 Male 0.1547 0.4588 X −0.2286
21 Other 30 Male −0.0143 −0.0231 0.5061 X
22 Produce and livestock farming 65 Male 0.4331 0.5339 X 0.2078
23 Produce and livestock farming 49 Male 0.6089 X −0.084 0.1518
24 Produce and livestock farming 46 Male 0.5624 X 0.0412 0.0666
25 Produce and livestock farming 56 Male 0.7233 X 0.1747 0.0547
26 Other 64 Male 0.1159 0.2387 0.5563 X
27 Student 16 Female −0.2856 0.5655 X 0.1053
28 Student 16 Female 0.4922 X 0.3926 0.2449
29* Food preparation and restaurant business 55 Male 0.3857 0.2744 −0.1957
30 Food preparation and restaurant business 55 Female 0.1035 0.5883 X 0.2993
31 Food preparation and restaurant business 44 Female −0.1641 0.0335 0.4752 X
32 Produce and livestock farming 22 Male 0.6638 X −0.2667 0.1796
33 Produce and livestock farming 23 Female 0.246 0.3453 0.5221 X
34 Produce and livestock farming 26 Male 0.7154 X −0.1277 0.1459
35 Produce and livestock farming 43 Male 0.7162 X 0.1713 0.18
36 Other 27 Male 0.6949 X 0.1767 0.0285
37* Produce and livestock farming 50 Male 0.4186 0.3002 −0.0575
38 Food preparation and restaurant business 64 Female −0.1844 0.5394 X 0.1616
39 Food preparation and restaurant business 64 Male 0.6169 X 0.0335 −0.1358
40 Other 50 Male 0.1075 0.4128 0.5167 X

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14 Page 16 of 25 Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2022) 27: 14

the research project and survey objectives, the Q-sorting exercise, and an exit interview.
The details of each participant and their allocation to the factors are provided in Table 3.

4.2.3 Data analysis

The Q-sorting data was processed using the PQMETHOD software (Schmolk 2014). The
40 Q-sorts were entered into a database, correlated in a 40×40 matrix and factor analyzed
via principal component analysis. The initial factor loadings were determined automati-
cally, which extracted eight principal component factors (groups) with eigenvalues above
1, a precondition to consider them independent (Addams and Proops 2000). Next, we used
Varimax rotation to investigate two-, three-, four-, five-, six-, and seven-factor solutions.
For each solution, we considered the Q-sorts’ factor loading to assign Q-sorts to the most
appropriate factor. Loadings with 95% of statistical confidence had to be ≥ 2.58 times the
standard error (i.e., (2.58)*(1/√n), where n is the number of statements (Webler et al.
2007). Q-sorts with an absolute value loading on a single factor ≥ |0.43| were regarded to
contribute significantly to that factor’s perspective. We selected the three-factor solution
for the rest of the study because it included most of the participants (37 of the 40 Q-sorts)
and had the most homogeneous distribution: 16 clustered on Factor A, 10 on Factor B, and
11 on Factor C (see Table 3). The associated distribution of priorities for the three-factor
solution is found in Figure 2.

4.2.4 Result validation

A post-Q feedback session was conducted at SaPe on May 2018 with the ejido’s leadership,
representative participants of each social perspective (factors), and the project manager of
local initiatives from the State of Sonora’s Environmental Attorney Office (abbreviated
PROAES). In this session, we presented our findings to assess the attendees’ satisfac-
tion with the three perspectives identified during our analysis. In addition, we discussed
the Q-results with some of Sonora’s public servants in separate meetings to include their
observations in the CC adaptation–resilience strategies.

5 Results

5.1 Governance and vulnerability–adaptation–resilience dynamics at SaPe

The extreme transformations and local CC effects present an accumulative vulnerability to

this SES. Further, the community’s distrust in the state and city’s official programs gives a
sense that these state resources are not directed to supporting their small-scale agricultural
and commercial activities. Nevertheless, SaPe maintains its traditional self-managed capa-
bilities through the ejido council, with highly functional local governance structures. They
meet monthly to collectively discuss adaptive actions, and decisions are made through con-
sensus. Also, the ejido council has social procedures in place to collect financial contribu-
tions from its members and has the legitimacy to organize and zone its territory (Eakin
et al. 2007). The community’s unity, legitimacy of the ejido council, and the strong and
multiple social and political interactions among its members provide adequate levels of
connectivity, feedback mechanisms, diversity, and redundancy, which in turn indicate that
SaPe has strong adaptation–resilience features in place to address its CC effects.

13
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2022) 27: 14 Page 17 of 25 14

Figure 2  Factor arrays depicting the relative priority of different adaptation/mitigation actions to the three
types of perspectives (interest groups) in this study.

Addressing local water issues, as particular local CC phenomena, creates opportu-

nities to negotiate their water rights and deeds with city authorities from an adapta-
tion–resilience perspective (Scott and Lutz-Ley 2016). For instance, during our investi-
gation, we fostered a dialogue between PROAES, the Directorate of Natural Resources
and Environmental Promotion (DRNFA), and the ejido council to explore the possibil-
ity of providing reclaimed water from a nearby wastewater treatment plant to irrigate
SaPe’s green spaces. While this dialogue was a social and a political precedent for
this community, it would not have been possible if SaPe was not well organized. Thus,
adaptation–resilience strategies can arise from collective initiatives (Pacheco-Vega
2014).

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14 Page 18 of 25 Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2022) 27: 14

Figure 3  Distinguishing statements at p < 0.05 in order of priority for (a) Factor A, (b) Factor B, and (c)
Factor C (the asterisk (*) indicates significance at p < 0.01).

5.2 Social perspectives on adaptation–resilience strategies

While there is clear unity within the ejido, the Q Method allowed us to identify three priority
groups with distinct narratives among the interviewed SaPe members (Factor A, Factor B, and
Factor C; see Figure 2). Each factor has distinguishing statements, which describe their narra-
tives according to their expressed priorities (Figure 3).

5.2.1 Factor A— independent and pragmatic

This group prioritizes two types of adaptation–resilience strategies, those that address individ-
ualistic economic activities in the agricultural sector (Figure 2) and activities that can supply
households with alternative sources of water and electricity (Figure 3a keywords: water sav-
ings, energy savings, and local food sources). At the same time, this group gives lower priority
to activities that build social networks and rehabilitates public spaces (Figure 3a keywords:
social networks, green infrastructure, and waste valorization). Since this group is composed of
81% men and 50% farmers, and most SaPe men used to be farmers or have managed to main-
tain farming activities or are now in the horse breeding business, this position can be consid-
ered pragmatic. Because these activities tend to be water and energy intensive, any alternative
to maintain their economic activity is highly valued. In terms of resilience, this group focuses
on creating redundancy in its water sources to procure the viability of their community.

5.2.2 Factor B—collective and conventional

This group favors a more holistic adaptation strategy, with desired outcomes such as
reducing household usage of water and energy, as well as improving SaPe’s public spaces

13
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2022) 27: 14 Page 19 of 25 14

through both individual and community-based initiatives (Figure 3b keywords: social

networks, green infrastructure, and waste valorization). For instance, this group was the
only one with a strong interest in developing contingency plans for the ejido during crises
(Statement 34). These participants gave lower importance to improving the management
of local eco-systemic resources (e.g., solar energy and rainwater) through passive systems.
This indicates that there seems to be a strong conventional vision for these activities. This
group is composed of 60% women and 50% of people involved in the food production and
restaurant businesses. In terms of resilience, this group has an interest in creating strong
social networks and has feedback mechanisms to plan for future scenarios.

5.2.3 Factor C—collective and environmental

The third group supports improving public spaces and domestic life through waste and pest
management and green infrastructure (Figure 3c keywords: waste valorization, social net-
works, and green infrastructure). As with the previous group, addressing local economic-
based activities is less urgent (Figure 2). This group is composed of 55% women, with
64% of the group who are not from the agricultural and food processing/restaurant fields.
In terms of resilience, similarly to Factor B, this group considers it important to provide
areas where neighbors can network with each other. Moreover, this group shows diversity
in their approaches with a great range of activities within their priorities.

5.2.4 Consensus points and validation

Most participants indicated that selling their land is the lowest priority activity, since for all
factors, Statement 15 was given a −5 score (Figure 2). This suggests that on average, the
participants are open to adapting to the local CC instead of abandoning SaPe. As for the
preference of actions related to building adaptation–resilience, the consensus statements
for all factors, that is, those that do not distinguish between any of the factors, are 2 (key-
word: water savings), 6 (keyword: green infrastructure), and 25 and 29 (keywords for both
statements: green infrastructure and social networks), from higher to lower priority. These
four statements are non-significant at p>.01. Based on the observed prioritized tendencies
among the three factors (Figures 2 and 3), we can conclude that prioritized CC-related
measures include strengthening the local green infrastructure, valorize waste, source food
locally, and save water and energy. While none of the factors address all the resilience
dimensions on their own (connectivity, feedback mechanisms, diversity, and redundancy),
all together the three factors do, which suggests that SaPe, as a whole, has the potential to
address all the aspects of resilience.
Our Q-results were reviewed and well-received at the feedback session. There, neigh-
bors found people with common interests with whom they could start implementing some
of the proposed actions. The participants also pinpointed locally available resources and
existing grassroots initiatives related to the trending topics. The research findings were also
presented to local public servants, specifically, those from PROAES, the National Forestry
Commission’s (abbreviated CONAFOR), the Trust Fund for Electricity Savings (abbrevi-
ated FIDE), and the local Wastewater Treatment Public Utility (WWTPU). All stakehold-
ers gave positive reactions and validated the identified priorities, as well as the prioritized
tendencies.
These meetings provided a space where the resilience of the ejido could be dis-
cussed, enabling connectivity and self-organization among attendees, as well as the

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14 Page 20 of 25 Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2022) 27: 14

utilization of the community’s diversity. Most importantly, the ability to identify pri-
orities and central topics facilitated the development of a CC adaptive and resilience
action plan for the community. For instance, a green infrastructure initiative was set
in motion during the feedback session through agreement on reforesting the area sur-
rounding SaPe’s baseball field. It was also discussed that these activities could be sup-
ported by the local elementary school principal who organizes tree-planting campaigns
regularly; CONAFOR’s office at SaPe, which donated 500 trees for this reforestation;
and the WWTPU plant at the ejido, which provided reclaimed water for irrigation.
While an initiative like reforestation can help reduce an SES’ vulnerability by main-
taining and restoring the local ecosystem, other reforestation activities worldwide have
shown that these kinds of large endeavors require multi-scale actors and institutions, as
well as robust policy support in order to be sustainable and make real improvements in
the resilience of a peri-urban SES (Pisanty et al. 2009; Sendzimir et al. 2011).
The productivity of the feedback can be attributed to the ongoing contact we had
with the community throughout our research project. For nearly 3 years, we built
trust between academics, local authorities (especially PROAES), and SaPe neighbors.
Another critical component was the ejido council, who provided a space where the
inhabitants were willing to cooperate to search for joint solutions. Thus, this local,
social infrastructure became indispensable when identifying viable adaptation–resil-
ience strategies.

6 Discussion

Figure 3 helps outline SaPe’s CC adaptation–resilience plan by summarizing the eji-

do’s needs, capabilities, and desires. We recommend that the ejido implement five
main strategies: (1) build its green infrastructure through reforestation, (2) install solar
panels on the houses, (3) collect and sell inorganic recyclable waste, as well as col-
lect and upgrade organic waste (composting livestock and household organic waste),
(4) locally produce food sources for households and restaurants, and (5) reduce water
consumption and promote greywater reuse in households. To coordinate these, the eji-
do’s self-management capabilities should be utilized to set up short-, mid-, and long-
term CC adaptation projects, with clear milestones and deliverables. In addition, the
PROAES project manager has offered to provide ongoing support to the ejido leader-
ship regarding this outline.
This study has several implications for CC vulnerability–adaptation–resilience
dynamics. As pointed out by Metzger et al. (2018), it is fundamental to include the
local dimension to establish effective resilient adaptation activities and create a road-
map towards a sustainable strategy. In this work, we have developed an interdiscipli-
nary approach where we identified the local scale as indispensable for strategic plan-
ning. We analyzed the relevance of peri-urban SESs and the correlations between the
peri-urban areas and their respective cities. Also, we aimed to start a transformation
plan where vulnerability–adaptation–resilience could be part of the community way
of life. We found that for CC strategies to be accepted when being undertaken, there is
a need to address social and political issues. As an important result to note, we found
that participation and deliberation of different perceptions and preferences that resi-
dents held in relation to CC empowered people in different scales and scenarios.

13
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2022) 27: 14 Page 21 of 25 14

7 Conclusions

In this research, we developed an interdisciplinary approach that was based on social

participation and context-specific solutions. Recently, investigations have also addressed
CC-related issues using the Q Method, like the study of Zivojinovic et al (2015), O´neill
et al (2013), Niemeyer et al. (2005), and also Albizua and Zografos (2014) and Wolf
et al. (2009). Our study aimed to further test the use of this method in relation to CC in
a peri-urban Mexican space. As such, we applied the Q Method to determine the ejido’s
priorities to different actions to address CC issues. We also facilitated a multi-level hor-
izontal decision-making process to develop the mentioned strategy. An important out-
come of the interactions between the community, academics, and local government was
the formulation of common narratives, which then influence the collective choices and
openness to change (Ching and Mukherjee 2015). These narratives also helped visualize
how such changes can be sustained.
CC vulnerability–adaptation–resilience dynamics implies analysis of the accumula-
tive vulnerability based on the environmental conditions as well as the socio-economic,
political, technological, and cultural aspects of a specific territory. With this concept,
we can holistically consider how a community addresses their idea of development and
identify contextually appropriate CC adaptation–resilience strategies. In this work, we
saw important processes of resilient adaptation at SaPe, from the change of productive
activities to the community’s acceptance of non-conventional technologies. Moreover,
the promotion of reforestation and littering-prevention campaigns from inside the com-
munity can create new interactions that may not only reduce the impacts of CC, but also
strengthen the community’s horizontal decision-making. Also, the strong community
network enabled the ejido members and leadership to observe that most of the solutions
can be administered by the community and that they do not need to completely rely on
outside interventions.
Overall, this research aimed to find a range of adaptation–resilience strategies
enhanced by perspectives of change within a peri-urban ejido experiencing CC drought.
Fostering sustainable changes requires an in-depth understanding of the evolution of
SES-based responses addressing the perceived CC impacts. As such, our work has sig-
nificant constraints in time and resources that prevent proper follow-up to our interven-
tion. Therefore, we would need more time (years) to better understand how the proposed
actions modify the community’s behavior and if they can indeed avoid CC-related dam-
ages in a resilient fashion.
Regardless of our ability to follow up on our intervention, we were able to initiate an
important horizontal behavior exchange between academics, government officials, and the
peri-urban community. Most importantly, we used several methodologies to show how a
peri-urban community deals with vulnerability components of CC and respond in a new
way using their traditions, values, and culture to create an adaptation–resilience plan that
included several stakeholders that can make horizontal decisions in their territory.
As future work, we suggest that the successful implementation of adaptation–resil-
ience strategies at SaPe needs the state’s programs and mechanisms to be transparent so
that peri-urban ejidos such as SaPe are clear on the opportunities, rules, and legality of
the distribution of resources (both financial and natural). Another extremely important
action, which was not part of this work, is the proper accounting of the ejido’s natural
resources, such as the groundwater supply, so the ejido can carry out effective resource
management planning in its peri-urban space.

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14 Page 22 of 25 Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2022) 27: 14

Moreover, we suggest that this kind of interdisciplinary study continue to be conducted

and developed, since it allows insight into a holistic view of CC issues. This study was an
opportunity to improve our scientific tools and abilities to engage in horizontal dialogues
with communities and government partners and get the best options to mitigate, adapt, and
become resilient to CC risk. We hope this study may be referenced to create other local
adaptation–resilience efforts in Hermosillo’s peri-urban SESs and in drought-prone zones
in other MLICs.

Acknowledgements We gratefully acknowledge the participants from the San Pedro el Saucito, CONA-
FOR, FIDE, WWTUP, PROAES, and especially PROAES’ Rocio B. Rincon, without whom this work
could not have been possible.

Funding This work was funded by the joint SEMARNAT/CONACYT grant (Project No. 263102) and Dr.
Garcia-Becerra’s CONACYT Researcher-Professor Fellowship (Project No. 2989, 2014-2021).

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