Drawing primarily from original data collected from more than 100 semi-structured research interviews, this study discusses the benefits of four climate change adaptation projects being implemented in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia and the Maldives. The article describes ongoing adaptation efforts in each of these four countries and finds that projects enhance infrastructural resilience by building relevant, robust and flexible technologies. They build institutional resilience by creating strong, permanent, legitimate organisations in place to respond to climate change issues. They also promote community resilience by enhancing local ownership, building capacity and creating networks that help people learn and adapt to climate change. The study shows that all four of case studies couple adaptive improvements in technology and infrastructure with those in governance and community welfare, underscoring the holistic or systemic aspect of resilience.