7-10 Oct 2014
SEARCA
Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
Background and Rationale
Among the various economic sectors, agriculture is the most vulnerable to climate change affecting billions of people who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and food security. Given the country’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and experience on extreme weather events, the Philippine government has taken considerable measures to address the growing threats to humans and adverse effects to the environment of climate change. Policy makers enacted laws and put in place a comprehensive set of policies, programs and institutions to help identify strategies and actions towards mitigation of and adaptation to global climate change.
The National Climate Change Action Plan for 2011-2028, formulated by the Philippine Climate Change Commission through the participation of multi-stakeholders, identified capacity building as one of the strategic priorities to address the issues of climate change. The Action Plan recognizes the need to build knowledge and capacities of staff and officers of agencies on climate change adaptation and mitigation, which include: 1) enhanced knowledge on the science of climate change; 2) enhanced capacity for CC adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk reduction at the local and community level; and (3) gendered CC knowledge management accessible to all sectors at the national and local levels.
Cognizant of the various risks associated with climate change and their implications for agricultural development in Southeast Asia, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) prioritized climate change and risk management on its 9th Five-Year Plan thematic focus on natural resources management; and continues to include this as one of its focus areas under its thrust on inclusive and sustainable agricultural and rural development in its 10th Five-Year Plan. SEARCA’s Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Program for Agriculture and Natural Resource Management in Southeast Asia (SEA) or CChAMP primarily aims to contribute to an enabled environment for rural poverty reduction and food security through built capacities and institutions that ensure climate change resiliency in agricultural production and sustainable natural resource management in SEA.
In collaboration with government agencies such as the Department of Agriculture (DA) and other development and knowledge partners, SEARCA has conducted and implemented a range of capacity-building initiatives including regional and national training programs and an online course on climate risks in the agriculture and natural resource sector; with the end in view of not just keeping policy makers and decision makers well-informed on the impacts of climate change but also of enhancing their capacity to mainstream climate change adaptation and mitigation in national and sub-national development plans.
Participants
The course is intended for participants from the national government and local government units involved in implementing climate change adaptation initiatives in agriculture and fisheries resource management. In addition, representatives from the agriculture and fisheries sectoral working groups who are involved in the formulation of policies to address climate change and mainstreaming climate change adaptation in development plans and investment would gain from participating in the training-workshop.
Objectives
The training-workshop generally aims to develop the capacity of government planners and representatives from the agriculture and fisheries sectoral working groups to integrate climate change adaptation and mitigation actions into their development plans and investments.
Specifically, participants are expected to be able to:
- Understand climate change impacts and the need to mainstream climate change adaptation into policies, action plans, and projects in the agriculture sector;
- Identify appropriate approaches for integrating climate change adaptation into development policies and investment plans at national, sectoral and project levels; and
- Apply these systematic planning steps to selected cases in agriculture and fisheries towards developing flagship applications of climate proofing.
Approach and Methodology
SEARCA will adopt and integrate into the methodology and workshop the climate proofing modules developed and widely tested by the German Agency for International Cooperation (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH or GIZ), based on the principles set out in the Overseas Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). These modules on Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Development: A Practice-Oriented Workshop were developed in cooperation with ASEAN German Programme on Response to Climate Change (GAP-CC). The training shall adopt the five core modules on the systematic climate proofing method as applied on a fictitious “Federal Republic of Zanadu,” a situation closely based on real-life conditions and challenges. The modules will apply the Harvard Case Method and will be complemented by action learning exercises, e.g., on adaptation terminology and framing adaptation. It will also include the application of tools and methods to selected real project cases to be submitted by participants
Modules
- Applying a climate lens: Identifying the relevance of climate change to a policy, program, plan or project
- Assessing vulnerability: Identifying factors contributing to vulnerability in a system (sensitivity, adaptive capacity, exposure to climate signals and potential impacts), and factors that can be improved to reduce vulnerability
- Identifying adaptation options: Identifying a range of adaptation options to adjust or improve planning and management under a changing climate
- Selecting adaptation measures
- Evaluating and prioritizing options using selected criteria
Expected Outputs
The participants to the workshop are expected to: 1) work through a selection of workshop modules suited to needs of the participants; 2) apply the lessons from the workshop to selected policies, plans and projects; and 3) apply the climate proofing methodology in respective work contexts.
Course Fee: PHP 27,000.00 (live-in rate, twin-sharing accommodation at SEARCA Guest House). Course subsidy is available to qualified applicants upon request. Course fees for live-out arrangements are also available upon request.
Deadline for submission: 15 Sep 2014
Application Form: Click here to download
For more details, please contact:
Dr. Maria Celeste H. Cadiz and Ms. Rosario B. Bantayan, Program Head and Program Specialist, respectively of the Knowledge Management Department at telephone (049) 536-2365 to 67 (local 173 or 403), fax (049) 536-2283, or e-mail /.