Adaptation interventions can be differentiated into two broad categories – top down adaptation
initiatives primarily based on national scale climate change vulnerability and impact
assessments, as opposed to bottom up practical adaptation interventions occurring at the
community level. In this paper we present and discuss a methodological framework to
develop multiscale adaptation strategies for farming communities in Cambodia and Lao
PDR, designed to demonstrate how the bridging of these two scales can be accomplished.
Key aspects of the framework revolve around the integration of social and biophysical
research methods to embed technical adaptation strategies and practices within the broader
livelihood context of households. Alignment of adaptation strategies and practices with
the differing needs of different household types is seen as the primary vehicle to facilitate
upscaling from case study villages to wider geographical or administrative entities. Ongoing
farmer and stakeholder engagement is seen as a critical determinant of testing and codeveloping
adaptation strategies likely to be feasible and relevant. Initial evidence of the
effectiveness of the approach is provided, and some emerging lessons and conclusions are
discussed.