Event

APAN is hosting a webinar on ‘Engaging with academic and research institutions to close local adaptation knowledge gaps in the Asia-Pacific region’ on Thursday 12^th May at 3-4:30 PM (ICT).

Kindly register here to attend the webinar

During the session, several examples of partnerships and initiatives involving academia and/or research institutions and communities in the Pacific islands, the Himalayas, Mekong wetlands and municipal areas of Thailand and Indonesia, will be presented. These partnerships and initiatives have at least one common denominator: local communities should be at the forefront of adaptation and resilience action. Challenges and success factors in building, planning, implementing and sustaining such partnerships will be investigated to foster uptake and scale-up of such initiatives in the region and beyond. The following partnerships will present their work during the session:

• Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities – Network (EPIC-N) Asia

The Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities (EPIC) Model is a proven, replicable, and sustainable model of university-city partnership, action, and local capacity-building that helps municipalities increase efficiency in implementing policies and projects. Launched in the US in 2010, the model expanded to Africa in 2017 and Asia in 2020. it has already matched several pairs in the Asia region. Two pairs (municipalities-universities) from Indonesia and Thailand will present their projects during the session.

• Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) and International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)-Himalayan University Consortium (HUC)

IGES, HUC and partners have been collaborating to promote indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) systems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region for climate change adaptation along with the involvement of universities, government, youth and media. HUC is a network of over 80 universities across the HKH region as well as other associate members, including IGES, around the globe. In this initiative, HUC supports the mobilization of youth and universities, such as Royal University of Bhutan and H N B Garhwal University, India,  in conducting research and capacity building on ILK. AMARC Asia-Pacific brings in the network of community radios as a potential vehicle for spreading ILK across local levels. With the involvement of universities, youth, and media (community radios), the initiative aims to find creative ways of promoting and highlighting ILK across the HKH region. For that, it provided training to community radios, students and stakeholders on different modes of storytelling, such as developing radio programs and photography about ILK. The initiative is being partially supported by Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN)

• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Asia and Mekong Wetlands University Network (MWUN)

As part of its Mekong WET: Building Resilience of Wetlands in the Lower Mekong Region” project, IUCN partnered with the MWUN to train 30 university lecturers and government officials from Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar, providing them with tools and knowledge to conduct trainings for wetland resilience in their home countries. The MWUN – comprised of 8 founding universities from 4 different countries – was created to empower and build the capacity of a new generation of wetland researchers for the safeguarding of wetlands and their communities. To date, more than 20 universities have engaged with the network and it has received funding from many international donors to pursue its work.

• Australia Pacific Climate Partnership (APCP), UNFCCC, GAN, APAN, PCCC, SPREP and University of Michigan (UoM)

In partnership with the UNFCCC, UNEP’s Global Adaptation Network (GAN), Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN), the Australia Pacific Climate Partnership, the Pacific Climate Change Centre hosted by the Secretariat for the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme, Masters students from the University of Michigan are tackling one of the key climate knowledge gaps for the Pacific region identified through the Lima Adaptation Knowledge Initiative (LAKI), that is – how different groups in the Pacific access, understand and apply knowledge coming through climate information services and early warning systems. Focusing on the Pacific Island nations of Vanuatu and Samoa, the students are exploring the needs and challenges of marginalised communities in accessing and using important climate information to make strategic decisions for their communities. The research study, conducted as part of the UN Climate Change and Universities Partnership Programme, will conclude with a set of recommendations outlining how Pacific regional organisations and donors can better support national governments and civil society groups to assist grassroots adaptation and mitigation actions in the Pacific.

The Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC) is the regional Centre of excellence for climate change information, research, and innovation, hosted at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in Apia, Samoa. As a Centre of excellence, the PCCC is mandated to provide practical information, support, and training to address the adaptation and mitigation priorities of Pacific Island communities. The PCCC is underpinned by strong partnerships with Pacific Governments, applied research institutions, donors, civil society, and the private sector. The PCCC is a partnership between the Governments of Japan and Samoa. It is funded under grant aid through JICA for Samoa as the host country of SPREP. Additionally, the Centre receives generous funding and support from the Governments of New Zealand and Ireland.