By switching to dark mode you can reduce your energy consumption of our digital service

The weADAPT Adaptation Layer for Google Earth

Working with Google Foundation the prototype has been redesigned to be an integral part of the weADAPT platform for climate change adaptation.
Multiple Authors
google earth
[VIDEO::https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up-sVycZbkI]

At COP14 the weADAPT group launched a prototype ‘Adaptation Layer‘ as an example of the way that relevant climate related information could be displayed. At a workshop in Nairobi in February the concept was supported by local stakeholders as a way of increasing their access to information and sharing their work with the climate adaptation community at different scales, from practitioner to decision-maker as well as to donors and the media. Working with Google Foundation the prototype has been redesigned to be an integral part of the weADAPT platform for climate change adaptation.

Anyone can browse and search the data geographically or by keywords using a web browser, and registered users can download tailor-made sets of relevant data (e.g. on water, health or ecosystem services) and open this using Google Earth on a desktop computer. This allows users to develop ‘storylines of adaptation’ using the Google ‘tour’ functionality.

When a search is performed you will see all of the relevant information (e.g. project, videos, organisations etc) appear as points (placemarks) around the globe. Clicking on any of these placemarks produces a small balloon with an image, a brief description of the project, organisation or data, a contact person and link for more information and the logo of the implementing organisation. Climate data, project information, videos, innovative research and descriptions of people and organisations doing adaptation are all available through the system. Knowledge partners and their networks can add their own information to the system, which will then be available for the wider climate adaptation community to view. This will ensure that the information available through the system is quality assured.

The idea is to have as many organisations as possible adding their projects so that it becomes easy to see who’s doing which projects and where, and to learn from each other’s experiences! If you would like to share information on projects that your organisation is undertaking then we encourage you to do so by contacting us at [email protected].

More information

Information on the Adaptation Layer and Google.org project, case studies in California and Kenya and the ACCCA project are here.

Google Earth animations

For further information, please contact Sukaina Bharwani or Vishal Mehta.

Related resources

Add your project

Exchange your climate change adaptation projects and lessons learned with the global community.