Fostering system-wide learning and reflexivity is an essential element of institutional adaptive capacity for adaptation to climate change. This article examines the forms of learning and learning challenges occurring in two Swedish municipalities. In spite of a range of pathways and approaches employed within the municipalities for managing climate change risk, similar challenges were revealed. A key issue was the tendency for learning to be concentrated among a few specialized key actors, rather than achieving more systematic and cross-sectoral applicability. An inability to mediate tensions among local sector interests, also limited broader reflexive learning based on experience. Another key issue was the distinction between “learning on paper” and the extent to which this translates into concrete working practices (i.e. “learning in use”). Various pathways for organisational adaptive learning are proposed.