Engaging with communities

Field Visit to Jalna, Maharashtra (September 2012)

The key aspect of community-based adaptation is that essential information on how to cope with or adapt to climate change is derived from local people and local groups themselves. Since the basic premise of this project is assessing enabling conditions for effective community-based adaptation to the impact of extreme events at the community level, engagement of such vulnerable communities is essential for promoting adaptation.

The pilot phase of this project thus, focuses on identifying and engaging stakeholders through participatory research and capacity needs assessments, while building capacity among the target groups. Community level workshops with diverse stakeholders for discussing climate scenarios, sharing experience on impacts and adaptation to climate extremes, learning “from below”, building consensus and creating ownership to adaptation plans and strategies at the community level are an integral component of the project.