Human societies will transform to address climate change and other stressors. How they choose to transform will depend on what societal values they prioritize. Managed retreat can play a powerful role in expanding the range of possible futures that transformation could achieve and in articulating the values that shape those futures. Consideration of retreat raises tensions about what losses are unacceptable and what aspects of societies are maintained, purposefully altered, or allowed to change unaided. Here we integrate research on retreat, transformational adaptation, climate damages and losses, and design and decision support to chart a roadmap for strategic, managed retreat. At its core, this roadmap requires a fundamental reconceptualization of what it means for retreat to be strategic and managed. The questions raised are relevant to adaptation science and societies far beyond the remit of retreat.

人类社会将转变以应对气候变化和其他压力因素。他们选择如何转型将取决于他们优先考虑的社会价值观。有管理的撤退可以在扩大转型可能实现的未来范围以及阐明塑造这些未来的价值观方面发挥强大的作用。考虑撤退会加剧关于哪些损失是不可接受的以及社会的哪些方面得以维持、有目的地改变或允许在没有帮助的情况下改变的紧张局势。在这里，我们整合了对撤退、转型适应、气候损害和损失以及设计和决策支持的研究，以制定战略性、有管理的撤退路线图。就其核心而言，该路线图需要对撤退具有战略性和管理性的意义进行根本性的重新概念化。