Experience of Climate Change Adaptation; Emic Perception of Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction Programs in Bangladesh

Over 40 years (I)/ NGOs together with the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) have been working to build the capacity of population at risk to cope with natural disasters. From a response rationale to preparedness one, (I)/NGOs together with the GoB struggled to integrate adaptation frame into Disaster Risk Reduction program. Those initial steps were mainly lead by a top down approach. Bangladesh usually pointed as the most vulnerable country in the world, has a long history of different frame of actions and practices toward building both community and individual resilience. Structural poverty and low good governance mechanisms are just some of the factors that jeopardize the gains of development project in general in Bangladesh. Donors and (I)/NGO play major roles by shaping not only the national discourse but as well by leading the practices and the methodology that needs to be used at the field. Within couple of years, community based approach has been largely adopted by different institutions as being the right way to deliver intervention that aims at reducing the vulnerability and the enhancing the resilience. It is in this context that this paper offers an insight on how DRR and adaptation is translated at the field level. Through an emic perspective this research aims at confronting the realities of the practices of DRR/ Adaptation by (I)/NGOs to the discourse that they communicate

Anticipatory climate governance in Southeast Asia

This report presents the RE-IMAGINE research in one of its four regions: Southeast Asia. RE-IMAGINE builds on climate foresight expertise of the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Program and analyses the role of foresight in climate governance across the globe. Anticipating the possible impacts of climate change has become a key global focus. Scenarios and many other methods and tools are used today to imagine climate futures and develop strategies for realizing new futures while governing climate change. With the proliferation of these processes in sustainability-related research and planning contexts, scrutiny of their role in steering decision-making becomes increasingly important. How can the benefits and challenges of these processes of anticipation be better understood as governance interventions? Research into anticipatory climate governance processes in the Global South has remained very limited, while these regions are most vulnerable to climate change. This report therefore examines processes of anticipation in Southeast Asia. The research question we answer is: ‘through what approaches are diverse processes of anticipation used to govern climate change in diverse Southeast Asian contexts?’. We first examine what methods and tools are used to anticipate climate futures and their role in climate policy and decision-making. We then closely examine three case studies to understand their approaches to anticipatory governance. Additionally, we present the results of two regional meetings with stakeholders where we discussed the challenges that exist in each country to practice anticipatory climate governance and the opportunities to strengthen capacities in this field. Finally, we present recommendations for strengthening processes of anticipatory climate governance in the region

Is anticipatory governance opening up or closing down future possibilities? Findings from diverse contexts in the Global South

There is an urgent need to understand how anticipation processes such as scenario planning impact governance choices in the present. However, little empirical research has been done to analyze how anticipation processes frame possibilities for action. This paper investigates how assumptions about the future open up or close down anticipatory governance actions in a large number of climate-focused anticipation processes. We focused on four Global South regions: West Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Central America. We apply an analytical framework that identifies four diverse approaches to anticipatory governance and connect this to the notion of opening up or closing down of possibility spaces for action. Across the four regions, we find that many anticipation processes open up dialogue about deep uncertainties and pluralistic worldviews but end up informing mostly technocratic and linear planning actions in the present. We also observe that anticipation processes in the Central American context more often break this trend, particularly when transformative ambitions are formulated. The focus on more technocratic futures and linear planning strategies and reliance on a mostly North-based global futures industry may close down more culturally, socially and politically diverse and regionally relevant future worldviews in anticipation processes

Transformative horizons: reflecting on a decade of scenario-guided policy formulation

Participatory foresight has proliferated rapidly in response to unprecedented global uncertainty and the need to transform to more sustainable societies. However, the link from foresight to action is often under-researched; and understanding how foresight can be used for the realization of transformative ambitions has proven particularly difficult. In this paper, we reflect on a unique case: a project that spans eleven years of scenario-guided participatory policy formulation processes for food security and agriculture under climate change across seven global regions. Many of the policy formulation processes in these regions have led to changed policies and plans as a result of participatory scenario analysis. The length, scope, and level of policy engagement that characterizes this case offers unique opportunities for learning about impactful foresight. In addition, lessons from the project have proliferated into a range of other initiatives that have often been able to complement the original project strategies with new approaches that have in turn yielded more insights. We provide core insights from the successes and failures in this unique global case for connecting foresight to action by examining interactions between 1) institutional contexts and knowledge systems; 2) relationships with the future; 3) imaginaries; 4) participation cultures; 5) process designs and participants; and 6) futures methodology. We then go on to discuss how such best practices can be ‘scaled deep’; ‘scaled out’; and ‘scaled up’ for transformative change

Multi-factor, multi-state, multi-model scenarios: Exploring food and climate futures for Southeast Asia

Decision-makers aiming to improve food security, livelihoods and resilience are faced with an uncertain future. To develop robust policies they need tools to explore the potential effects of uncertain climatic, socioeconomic, and environmental changes. Methods have been developed to use scenarios to present alternative futures to inform policy. Nevertheless, many of these can limit the possibility space with which decision-makers engage. This paper will present a participatory scenario process that maintains a large possibility space through the use of multiple factors and factor-states and a multi-model ensemble to create and quantify four regional scenarios for Southeast Asia. To do this we will explain 1) the process of multi-factor, multi-state building was done in a stakeholder workshop in Vietnam, 2) the scenario quantification and model results from GLOBIOM and IMPACT, two economic models, and 3) how the scenarios have already been applied to diverse policy processes in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam

Anticipatory climate governance in Southeast Asia

This report presents the RE-IMAGINE research in one of its four regions: Southeast Asia. RE-IMAGINE builds on climate foresight expertise of the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Program and analyses the role of foresight in climate governance across the globe. Anticipating the possible impacts of climate change has become a key global focus. Scenarios and many other methods and tools are used today to imagine climate futures and develop strategies for realizing new futures while governing climate change. With the proliferation of these processes in sustainability-related research and planning contexts, scrutiny of their role in steering decision-making becomes increasingly important. How can the benefits and challenges of these processes of anticipation be better understood as governance interventions? Research into anticipatory climate governance processes in the Global South has remained very limited, while these regions are most vulnerable to climate change. This report therefore examines processes of anticipation in Southeast Asia. The research question we answer is: ‘through what approaches are diverse processes of anticipation used to govern climate change in diverse Southeast Asian contexts?’. We first examine what methods and tools are used to anticipate climate futures and their role in climate policy and decision-making. We then closely examine three case studies to understand their approaches to anticipatory governance. Additionally, we present the results of two regional meetings with stakeholders where we discussed the challenges that exist in each country to practice anticipatory climate governance and the opportunities to strengthen capacities in this field. Finally, we present recommendations for strengthening processes of anticipatory climate governance in the region

Workshop on Transformative Technologies in Agriculture: Notes to participants

The challenges facing the global food system to supply sufficient safe and nutritious food for all are considerable. To achieve this goal while also adapting to climate change and trying to reduce the environmental pressures coming from the food system will require a transformation of the food system. Following the findings from a range of high-level analyses, it is recognized that this transformation will need to be systematic and include changes across production practices, diets, and the way the food system produces and manages waste1-5. Technologies are an important input into the transformation process. While by themselves technologies are not transformative, they can when combined with the appropriate enabling environment lead to dramatic and radical changes that could ease some of the obstacles to achieving different Sustainable Development Goals. They are important to help build resilience and facilitate the adaptation of sustainable pathways. To this end, an Interactive Thematic Session was held at the 5th Global Conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture organized by CCAFS (CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security) in Bali, Indonesia from 8-10 October 2019. Over two days we engaged with almost 100 participants in considering the role of technologies to transform the food system to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

Anticipatory climate governance in Southeast Asia

This report presents the RE-IMAGINE research in one of its four regions: Southeast Asia. RE-IMAGINE builds on climate foresight expertise of the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Program and analyses the role of foresight in climate governance across the globe. Anticipating the possible impacts of climate change has become a key global focus. Scenarios and many other methods and tools are used today to imagine climate futures and develop strategies for realizing new futures while governing climate change. With the proliferation of these processes in sustainability-related research and planning contexts, scrutiny of their role in steering decision-making becomes increasingly important. How can the benefits and challenges of these processes of anticipation be better understood as governance interventions? Research into anticipatory climate governance processes in the Global South has remained very limited, while these regions are most vulnerable to climate change. This report therefore examines processes of anticipation in Southeast Asia. The research question we answer is: ‘through what approaches are diverse processes of anticipation used to govern climate change in diverse Southeast Asian contexts?’. We first examine what methods and tools are used to anticipate climate futures and their role in climate policy and decision-making. We then closely examine three case studies to understand their approaches to anticipatory governance. Additionally, we present the results of two regional meetings with stakeholders where we discussed the challenges that exist in each country to practice anticipatory climate governance and the opportunities to strengthen capacities in this field. Finally, we present recommendations for strengthening processes of anticipatory climate governance in the region

Foresight methods and SAMIS related decision support scenarios development. Final report

This report aims to provide an overall understanding of the advanced course main learning objectives, e-seminars structures and outputs. It presents the scenarios and visuals developed by the participants through the advanced course