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Virtual KE activity #2: CAPs: supporting and working with local authorities and other local users

Participants shared practical experiences in supporting and working with local authorities and other local users, providing ideas and inspiration to apply across knowledge platforms.
Multiple Authors
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Virtual KE event

23 September 2020, 09.00-11.30 CEST

Climate adaptation ultimately takes place on the ground, through concrete measures and behavioural changes. Climate adaptation platforms (CAPs) are expected to play a pivotal role in stimulating, supporting and enabling action by local actors. In 2011, WMO stated that “Climate services often do not reach “the last mile”, to the people who need them most […]” (WMO, 2011, p.8). In this session we will not dive into the question to what extent that last mile has been reached in the past decade by means of climate adaptation platforms. Instead, we will explore actual practices that have attempted to reach that last mile, successful and less successful experiences, lesson learnt and remaining challenges.

This topic focuses on how we connect and engage with local actors, in particularly local authorities, both online and face-to-face (and how we link these two approaches). This includes how we encourage and support these users, how we demonstrate the benefits of acting on climate change, how we can help build their capacity to undertake adaptation assessments and planning, and to implement interventions. Central to this topic is how we understand and respond to the needs of users, their capacities and decision-making contexts.

We hope participants will benefit from sharing practical experiences in supporting and working with local authorities and other local users, as a source for inspiration to apply in the operation of their platforms.

Outcomes

Climate adaptation platforms (CAPs) are considered by many to be an integral part of national climate knowledge infrastructure. Discussions at this event highlighted the increasingly important role CAPS can play in engaging with and supporting a diverse range of local actors who have ambitions to climate proof their immediate environment and local neighbourhood.

We welcomed 50 participants working on adaptation platforms in 20 countries and regions (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Estonia, Europe, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Philippines, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, UK). The platforms represented varied from those currently being planned to well-established platforms that are now being revised and re-launched.

A full report of the meeting can be downloaded to the right.

Presentations and reflections

Five short presentations from operators and users of well-established CAPs in Australia (CoastADAPT), Canada (ICLEI Canada/BARC), Germany (KliVO), Netherlands (Climate Buddy) and Europe (Climate-ADAPT) were pre-recorded for viewing prior to the event (see below). From the individual platform perspective, these presentations provide valuable examples of how local actors have been engaged, advances that have been made and challenges that remain.

In response to the content discussed in the five presentations, two national platforms that have been developed more recently were invited to provide a commentary from their perspective of transferable learning that could potentially help meet their own requirements and national situation. South Africa’s national platform (NCCIS) was launched early in 2020, whilst the Philippines’ platform is currently in advanced development.

Plenary discussion

The discussion focussed on six questions raised by participants:

  1. Are there examples of developing effective peer-cohort models among local actors?
  2. Do any participants have experience with embedding providers / researchers within local authorities as a means of better understanding context and of building capacity?
  3. How do individual platforms not only provide information to local actors but also capture the experiences and lessons learned by the actors?
  4. Do platforms host a chat or ‘dating site’ for local adaptation practitioners – to facilitate the efficient exchange of ideas and to make contacts?
  5. How do you measure the success of a platform, as part of continuous learning and improvement and for demonstrating value?
  6. How have platforms responded to COVID-19 restrictions?

Details of all discussions can be found in the Event Report to download on the right.

VKE2 Pre-recorded Presentations

Kli-maatje (‘Climate Buddy’) – A local adaptation action platform for citizens. Presented by Marit Heinen & Eva Boon, CAS

CoastAdaptan information delivery and decision support framework for actors with an interest in Australia’s coasts. Presented by Robyn Birkett from Mackay Regional Council, Australia.

KLiVOthe German Climate Preparedness Portal. Presented by Kirsten Sander, German Environment Agency.

Climate-ADAPT The European climate change adaptation platform. Presented by Valentina Giannini from Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC) and the European Institute on Economics and the Environment.

ICELI, ICLEI Canada and BARC – Building Adaptive & Resilient Communities in Canada and building the capacity of local governments worldwide. Presented by Ewa Jackson, ICLEI Canada

Download the presentations

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