According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, “Adaptation to climate change is defined as, an adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities” (IPCC 2007). Adaptation is required due to the increase in the number of natural disasters and extreme changes in environmental conditions in coastal areas that are a function of sea level rise, floods, extreme heat, drought, and coastal storm surge from severe storms. To reduce the impacts of climate change risks in the future, coastal communities through local government initiatives are compelled to develop and implement grass roots community plans. This study is part of an International Community-University Research Alliance (ICURA), “C-Change” that aims to develop community-based adaptation protocols based on best practices and through the evaluation of the scientific method of problem solving designed to help coastal communities be sustainable and to protect their local coastal environments. To this end, the thesis reviews the international development and application of adaptive strategies related to climate change and evaluates these global strategies for identification of best practices and application to coastal communities. The objective of this research is to design and develop improved C-Change community adaptation frameworks by analyzing the applications of international protocols and local action plans with respect to the scientific method and of problem solving through using AHP (Analytic hierarchy process) as a tool, and by choosing best practices to provide guidelines for communities’ climate adaptation plans for the C-Change ICURA coastal communities in Canada.