Enhance capacity for integrated ecosystem and rights-based adaptation

The field of climate change adaptation is new and experiencing rapid growth. As a consequence, adaptation requires an enormous capacity development effort at all levels, from political leaders and donor institutions to field practitioners and local community groups. Many conservation and development organizations and academic institutions have responded to this need by developing adaptation training courses for various constituencies. A quick review of existing courses reveals that few, if any, have a truly holistic and balanced approach that integrates ecosystem and rights-based approaches to adaptation.

Working with poor people to assess their vulnerability and plan adaptation strategies using Care’s Climate Vulnerability Capacity Analysis (CVCA) tool, Nepal. Photo: Cynthia Awour © CARE ELAN anticipates developing a new way of approaching capacity development and training on adaptation that fully incorporates the role that ecosystem services play in supporting people to adapt to climate change and to prepare and respond to climate-related disasters. To achieve this goal, ELAN invites adaptation training developers and providers from the conservation, development, and academic sectors to share approaches, best practices, lessons learned, materials and exercises. ELAN also works at the regional and country level, often in collaboration with national climate change networks, to support different types of constituencies through capacity development processes and approaches and delivery of targeted training.

Please see below for a list of ELAN's latest products for enhancing capacities.

Development and Piloting of ELAN training materials on integrated approaches to adaptation

Following consultation workshops ELAN hosted with several climate change networks in Spring 2011, capacity building on integrated approaches to adaptation emerged as a common request for additional ELAN support. Accordingly, ELAN has developed training materials to guide policymakers, practitioners and ELAN regional staff to design, implement and collaborate on policy and practice rooted in an integrated approach to climate change adaptation. Training materials have been piloted in Zambia to members of the Zambia Climate Change Network as well as in Peru to CARE regional staff from Latin America and the Caribbean. An additional opportunity to pilot these materials to staff of WWF-Thailand during the Asia-Pacific Adaptation Forum in late October 2011 was cancelled due to the floods in Bangkok. Lessons learned from these workshops will inform the review and further development of ELAN training materials.

Training on National capacity building on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation

ELAN has partnered with PEDRR (the Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction) to develop a training package on ecosystem-based DRR and climate change adaptation for national and sub-national policy makers as well as ELAN regional staff. Trainings were conducted in New Delhi, India and Bangkok, Thailand in December 2011.

District-level training materials for building capacity in the Andean region

ELAN supported the development of a series of training modules to build capacity of local government officials from the high Andes region on climate change adaptation. Four modules cover Fundamentals of CCA in the high Andes region; the Andes: Environment and People; Climate Change: Causes and Consequences; Adaptation to Climate Change.

CARE LAC Workshop: Improving DRR and CCA Project Intervention

ELAN provided support to CARE International to improve understanding of CARE technical staff and its partners in LAC region on how to implement Ecosystem Adaptation Approach, EBA and Community Based Adaptation Approach, CBA in a Disaster Risk Reduction project cycle. The 3 day – workshop held in Cusco counted with the participation of 10 CARE country offices as well as regional and local partners’ representatives. The workshop became a relevant opportunity to gather the climate change and the risk reduction technical teams of the region and exchange lessons learned, experiences in the field and reflect upon the articulation of methodologies and critical approaches on the project cycle and program definition.

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