Home

Tiempo Climate Newswatch

Designing Adaptation Projects



Printer-friendly

Featured sites

The Blue Carbon Portal brings together the latest knowledge and resources on the role of oceans as carbon sinks.

WalkIt provides walking routes between user-defined points in selected British cities, with an estimate of the carbon savings.

Joto Afrika is a series of printed briefings and online resources about adapting to climate change in sub-Saharan Africa.

And finally,

The CoolClimate Art Contest presents iconic images that address the impact of climate change.

More featured sites...

About the Cyberlibrary

The Tiempo Climate Cyberlibrary is a co-production of the Stockholm Environment Institute and the International Institute for Environment and Development. It is sponsored by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

Tiempo Climate Newswatch is a weekly on-line magazine with news, features and comment on global warming, climate change, sea-level rise and development issues. The news stories carried by Newswatch are updated weekly. Comment, features, interviews and other sections of the magazine are updated on a weekly to monthly basis.

The Tiempo Climate Portal is a listing of selected websites covering climate and development and related issues.

The Tiempo Climate Cyberlibrary is maintained and edited by Mick Kelly and Sarah Granich. The cartoons are created by Lawrence Moore. The site was developed by Mike Salmon and Mick Kelly.

While every effort is made to ensure that information on this site, and on other sites that are referenced here, is accurate, no liability for loss or damage resulting from use of this information can be accepted.

Mozaharul Alam Mozaharul Alam (left) and Lwandle Mqadi describe a novel way of identifying, designing, implementing and monitoring community-based adaptation projects.
Mozaharul Alam is a Research Fellow at the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies and contact coordinator for SouthSouthNorth Bangladesh. Lwandle Mqadi is a SouthSouthNorth Adaptation team member and a member of SouthSouthNorth Africa.

It is well known that climate change impacts will be greater, both spatially and socio-economically, in poor and disadvantaged communities, especially in the Least Developed Countries. Helping poor and vulnerable communities is always a challenge, and incorporating future climate change risks into development projects poses an additional challenge. Appropriate sustainable community-based strategies and activities are needed to do this effectively.

The Adaptation Programme of the SouthSouthNorth (SSN) Project has developed a learning by doing approach for identifying, designing, implementing and monitoring community-based adaptation activities. This approach is known as the SouthSouthNorth Adaptation Project Protocol (SSNAPP).

SSNAPP is grouped into four phases: the identification phase, design phase, implementation phase, and monitoring and evaluation phase.

The identification phase

The identification phase involves both 'topdown' and 'bottom-up' activities. These include:

Information from these two top-down activities is then combined by overlaying maps of physical vulnerabilities and poverty distribution. This locates national 'hot spots' of climate change/climate variability and poverty.

Drought in the Rabi season, Bangladesh
Figure 1: Drought in the Rabi season

Bottom-up activities follow the identification of these national poverty/climate hot spots. Reconnaissance and verification surveys are conducted at the hot spots in order:

  • to gather information on who is doing what and who knows what. This includes identifying community-based institutions, institutions undertaking development in the area, and other institutional structures and processes;
  • to find out what information is available on local climate variability/climate change, disaster management activities, current adaptation to climate change activities and other development activities; and,
  • to validate and crosscheck findings from the top-down analysis with the community and local institutional structures.
Labour distribution, Bangladesh
Figure 2: Labour distribution (density index)

Information from these bottom-up activities informs the process whereby a range of potential community-based adaptation to climate change project activities are conceptualized. During this process, potential community-based institutions are identified as partners for the identification, design and implementation phases. Identification of these partners is based on their willingness to be involved with the process, whether they have a credible relationship with the community and local funding agencies, and their capacity to raise funds and build partnerships.

The design phase

Partnership building and fundraising takes centre stage during this phase. Activities include:

  • building stronger and closer relationships between all relevant stakeholders, especially the vulnerable communities. This includes the formation of Project Design Teams, which include vulnerable communities, community structures and institutions, technical intermediaries, government institutions and other relevant stakeholders;
  • capacity building activities for all relevant stakeholders on issues such as climate change, climate variability, vulnerability and climate risks, disaster management and mitigation;
  • understanding the risks and vulnerabilities faced by, and from the perspective of, vulnerable communities. This includes understanding existing institutional structures and development institutions; and,
  • interacting with potential funders, at local, national and international levels, who could fund implementation activities.
Agricultural labour vulnerabilty to drought, Bangladesh
Figure 3: Synthesis of drought and labour distribution to produce distribution of agricultural labour vulnerability to drought (density)

The design phase begins with the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the selected partner institution. Developing a full Project Design Document for target communities is another key step in this phase.

All stakeholders compile this document. It records activities and relevant data on the partner institution, interaction with the target communities and individual households, sustainable livelihood activities that could build and enhance adaptive capacity (these are need-based activities such as capacity building through livelihood promotion), and a technological assessment of what is needed to cope with climate variability and change (such as building community-based institutions and enhancing institutional processes).

The implementation phase

The third phase of the SSNAPP methodology involves implementing the project activities that have been identified as supporting sustainable adaptation to climate change and that address the communities' need to cope with the adverse impacts of climate variability and change. It is important to note that sustainable livelihood activities are not homogeneous and vary from community to community, sector to sector and region to region. Different types of activities are, therefore, required to enhance the community’s capacity to cope with and combat the adverse impacts of climate variability and change depending on the circumstances.

Monitoring and evaluation

Monitoring and evaluation is the last phase of the SSNAPP methodology. This assesses the changes and benefits achieved from different project activities compared to the pre-project baseline. The SSNAPP methodology proposes to use a participatory monitoring tool with flexible indicators that will vary according to the nature of the community and the type of project. A number of common indicators have been identified, such as how much training has occurred, how much livelihood options have diversified, the number of disaster resilient houses constructed and improvements in health services during disasters.

SSNAPP community-based adaptation projects
Country Project
Bangladesh Enhancing the adaptive capacity of a community vulnerable to drought in the northwest region of Bangladesh
Enhancing the adaptive capacity of a floodplain community in south central Bangladesh to reduce their vulnerability to prolonged floods and water logging
Community adaptation to saline water intrusion and cyclones in a southwest coastal region of Bangladesh
Brazil Improving agricultural productivity and income generation through the use of photovoltaic water pumping in Pintadas: an initiative led by women, which addresses the key sustainability and feasibility components of a small-scale adaptation project in a semi-arid environment
Wastewater recycling for communities and institutions: improving soil fertility, biodiversity, water conservation, disease prevention, income generation and environmental education
Ecological recuperation of the Suruí River Basin to prevent native forest and mangrove deforestation, erosion and overfishing, to discourage occupation of river margins, chemical intensive agricultural activities (and the pollution that follows), to increase family income and to promote local culture and global citizenship
Indonesia Management of a water catchment area to promote conservation of degraded land in central Java
Adaptation to coral bleaching events resulting from climate change by increasing coral reef resilience in west Waigeo district
Coastal community adaptation to the impacts of sea level rise by conserving mangroves in Ayau district
Mozambique Water pumping in dry areas of the country to adapt to climate change impacts
Food security and agricultural activities in dry areas of the country to adapt to climate change impacts
Tanzania Afforestation and conservation activities in the Mount Kilimanjaro area to adapt to climate change impacts
Freshwater conservation and water harvesting activities in coastal areas to address rising salinity resulting from climate change
South Africa Supporting action research and community-led adaptation in urban households
Adaptation to climate change by small-scale rooibos tea farmers in Wupperthal and the Suid Bokkeveld areas of the Western and Northern Cape

Applying the methodology

The SSNAPP methodology is currently being applied in six countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Indonesia, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa. It aims to identify, design and implement community-based adaptation project activities in partnership with community-based institutions and other relevant stakeholders. The table above shows the current list of SSNAPP community-based adaptation projects.

Combining top-down and bottom-up analysis and ensuring the participation of different stakeholders at all stages are key strengths of the SSNAPP methodology. The identification and development phases both involve capacity development, which increases levels of understanding and awareness of climate change and development issues amongst participating organizations and project partners. Developing the Project Design Document also facilitates interaction and discussion with vulnerable communities, enhances understanding of community needs and helps disseminate climate and climate change related information. Using participatory exercises to identify different activities increases the acceptability of projects by the community and reduces the risks of failed implementation.

Further information

Mozaharul Alam, Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, House No. 10 (3rd Floor), Road No. 16/A, Gulshan-1, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh. Fax: +880-2-8851417. Email: mozaharul.alam@bcas.net.

Lwandle Mqadi, 138 Waterkant Street, Cape Town 8005, South Africa. Fax: +27-21-4251463. Email: lwandle@southsouthnorth.org.

On the Web

The SouthSouthNorth website contains more details of project activities.

Bright Ideas

GE cuts solar costs

General Electric plans to cut solar installation costs by half

Project 90 by 2030

Project 90 by 2030 supports South African school children and managers reduce their carbon footprint through its Club programme

Smart street lighting

Bath & North East Somerset Council in the United Kingdom has installed smart LED carriageway lighting that automatically adjusts to light and traffic levels

Longwood Gardens

The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the American Public Gardens Association are mounting an educational exhibit at Longwood Gardens showing the link between temperature and planting zones

Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers

The energy-efficient Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers hotel is powered by renewable and sustainable sources, including integrated solar photovoltaics and guest-powered bicycles

El Hierro

El Hierro, one of the Canary Islands, plans to generate 80 per cent of its energy from renewable sources

Remarkables Primary School green roof

The green roof on the Remarkables Primary School in New Zealand reduces stormwater runoff, provides insulation and doubles as an outdoor classroom

Weather Info for All

The Weather Info for All project aims to roll out up to five thousand automatic weather observation stations throughout Africa

SolSource

SolSource turns its own waste heat into electricity or stores it in thermal fabrics, harnessing the sun's energy for cooking and electricity for low-income families

Wave House

The Wave House uses vegetation for its architectural and environmental qualities, and especially in terms of thermal insulation

Mbale compost-processing plant

The Mbale compost-processing plant in Uganda produces cheaper fertilizer and reduces greenhouse gas emissions

Frito-Lay Casa Grande

At Casa Grande, Frito-Lay has reduced energy consumption by nearly a fifth since 2006 by, amongst other things, installing a heat recovery system to preheat cooking oil

More Bright Ideas...

Tiempo Climate Newswatch
Updated: December 18th 2011