Participatory Learning and Action 60 - Community-based adaptation to climate change
December 2009
Guest editors: Hannah Reid, Mozaharul Alam, Rachel Berger, Terry Cannon, Saleemul Huq and Angela Milligan
Published by IIED.
Order No: 14573IIED
Download for free from IngentaConnect (forthcoming)
Scientists are clear that climate change is happening, and that it is due to emissions of greenhouse gases produced largely by industrialised countries. Those likely to be worst affected are the world’s poorest countries, especially poor and marginalised communities within these countries. Ironically it is these poor countries and people who have contributed least to the problem of climate change, because of their very low greenhouse gas emissions, but who will suffer most from its consequences. Even if emissions are severely curbed, climate change will still occur. The industrialised countries have accepted they have a responsibility to help poor and vulnerable countries to adapt. However, until recently, most adaptation efforts have been top-down, and little attention has been paid to communities’ experiences of climate change and their efforts to cope with their changing environments.
This special issue of Participatory Learning and Action focuses on recent approaches to climate change adaptation which are community-based and participatory, building on the priorities, knowledge, and capacities of local people. It discusses how community-based approaches to climate change have emerged, and the similarities and differences between CBA and other participatory development and disaster risk reduction approaches. It highlights innovative participatory methods which are developing to help communities analyse the causes and effects of climate change, integrate scientific and community knowledge of climate change, and plan adaptation measures. Whilst CBA is a relatively new field, some lessons and challenges are beginning to emerge, including how to integrate disaster risk reduction, livelihoods and climate change adaptation work, climate change knowledge gaps, issues around the type and quality of participation, and the need for policies and institutions that support CBA.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Participatory Learning and Action 60: Community-based adaptation to climate change
THEME SECTION: COMMUNITY-BASED ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Community-based adaptation to climate change: an overview
Hannah Reid, Mozaharul Alam, Rachel Berger, Terry Cannon, Saleemul Huq,
and Angela Milligan
Glossary of climate change terminology
PART I: REFLECTIONS ON PARTICIPATORY PROCESSES AND PRACTICE
Combining different knowledges: community-based climate change adaptation
in small island developing states
Ilan Kelman, Jessica Mercer, and Jennifer J. West
Children’s participation in community-based disaster risk reduction and
adaptation to climate change
Thomas Tanner, Mercedes Garcia, Jimena Lazcano, Fatima Molina,
Grace Molina, Gonzalo Rodriguez, Baltz Tribunalo, and Fran Seballos
Katalysis: helping Andean farmers adapt to climate change
Stephen Sherwood and Jeffery Bentley
Ethics and methods in research for community-based adaptation: reflections
from rural Vanuatu
Olivia Warrick
Participatory rice variety selection in Sri Lanka
Rachel Berger, with Rohana Weregoda and Varuna Rathnabharathie
Lessons from a transboundary water governance project in West Africa
Sam Wong
PART II: PARTICIPATORY TOOL-BASED CASE STUDIES
Participatory three-dimensional mapping for disaster risk reduction
Jean-Christophe Gaillard and Emmanuel A. Maceda
Amplifying children’s voices on climate change: the role of participatory video
Tamara Plush
Farmers become filmmakers: climate change adaptation in Malawi
Fernanda Baumhardt, Ralph Lasage, Pablo Suarez, and Charles Chadza
PART III: PARTICIPATORY TOOLS
Developing a climate change analysis
Christian Aid
Rain calendars: a tool for understanding changing rainfall patterns and effects
on livelihoods
Cynthia Awuor and Anne Hammill
Mental models: understanding the causes and consequences of climate change
Petra Tschakert and Regina Sagoe
Child-friendly participatory research tools
Fatima Molina, Grace Molina, Tom Tanner, and Fran Seballos
Participatory scenario development for translating impacts of climate change
into adaptations
Livia Bizikova, Thea Dickinson, and László Pintér
Reflections on practical ethics for participatory community-based adaptation
extracts from Elkanah Absalom et al., and Giacomo Rambaldi et al.
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