Local Leadership, Collective Efficacy, and Adaptive Capacity in a Rural Coastal Community: The Case of North Cove, Washington

Abstract

Rural coastal communities face accelerating erosion and sea level rise, yet their capacity to respond depends on more than material resources or hazard severity. Adaptive capacity frameworks describe the domains through which communities respond to environmental change, but say less about the social processes that shape them, particularly local leadership and collective efficacy in rural U.S. coastal settings. This thesis addresses that gap through a qualitative case study of North Cove, Washington, drawing on 32 interviews to ask what social processes support or limit the community's adaptation to coastal erosion. Findings show that local leaders functioned as boundary spanners, brokering resources and knowledge between community and government, and built residents' collective efficacy through visible results and accessible participation, though efficacy was dynamic, rising with visible success and declining as urgency faded. Informal experimentation and psychological co-benefits further shaped and reinforced this capacity. These findings extend adaptive capacity theory and carry practical implications for rural coastal communities.