Sensitivity analysis of a climate vulnerability index - a case study from Indian watershed development programmes

Background: This paper presents a detailed analysis of a composite Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI) to examine and compare climate change vulnerability and its dimensions adaptive capacity, sensitivity and exposure. Thereby, we are mainly interested on climate change vulnerability at community-level watershed development programmes and how the different implementing agencies could help to address the problems associated with climate change in future planning and implementation. Method: The primary data used for this study was obtained from household surveys (n=215) in three watershed communities of Kerala, India. We use bootstrap sampling and a leave-one-out sensitivity analysis to compare the climate vulnerability of the three examined watersheds in detail. By introducing the bootstrapping method and sensitivity analysis into the research field of climate vulnerability, the paper describes significant differences in CVI values and the influencing indicators to the overall vulnerability at the watershed community level. Results The results show that there are significant differences in the exposure and sensitivity dimensions of vulnerability even if the overall CVI shows less variability and no significant differences among the three watersheds. The sensitivity analysis emphasizes that Livelihood Strategies and SSocial Network are the most influencing major components of vulnerability. This suggests that implementing agencies should focus on these two major components in order to improve the watershed development programmes. Conclusion The bootstrapping approach is transferable to evaluate the degree of influence of indicators on a composite index like the CVI. Moreover, it allows us to evaluate the potential effectiveness of various other climate change programmes where the evaluation is commonly done by field surveys. This thereby helps to increase the credibility in the examination of the impacts of climate change at different scales in order to find key areas for better policy planning

Der Regionaldialog Lausitz-Spreewald

Klimaschutz bleibt wichtig, aber wir müssen uns auch mit den Folgen des Klimawandels auseinandersetzen! Um dieser Herausforderung zu begegnen, bedarf es eines Austausches und Aushandelns zwischen betroffenen gesellschaftlichen Gruppen. Der Regionaldialog Lausitz-Spreewald versucht genau das. Er ist eine Plattform, auf der Wissenschaftler*innen, Praktiker*innen und Vertreter*innen aus Bildung und Kommunen in einen gleichberechtigten Dialog treten und die regionalen Perspektiven vor dem Hintergrund des Klimawandels erörtern und diskutieren. Die „Kommunikationsplattform“ soll somit einen Beitrag dazu leisten, vom abstrakten Begriff „Klimaanpassung“ zu konkreten regionalen Maßnahmen in Praxis, Bildung und Beratung zu gelangen. Der vorliegende Leitfaden zieht eine Zwischenbilanz, dokumentiert die bisherigen Veranstaltungen und den partizipativen Prozess und reflektiert den Regionaldialog als Dialoginstrument zwischen Wissenschaft und Praxis.Not Reviewe

Wald und Klimawandel

Das Forschungscamp Wald und Klimaandel entstand in Kooperation von Schule, Revierförsterei und zweier Hochschulen. Der Leitfaden stellt das Konzept des "Forschungscamps Wald und Klimawandel" vor und soll als Hilfestellung bei der Planung, Durchführung und Evaluierung ähnlicher Bildungsangebote dienen. Außerdem bietet er Anregungen für die Gestaltung von Lernortkooperationen zwischen außerschulischen, schulischen und wissenschaftlichen Institutionen.Not Reviewe

Transdisciplinary research in support of land and water management in China and Southeast Asia : evaluation of four research projects

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552Transdisciplinary research (TDR) aims at identifying implementable solutions to difficult sustainability problems and at fostering social learning. It requires a wellmanaged collaboration among multidisciplinary scientists and multisectoral stakeholders. Performing TDR is challenging, particularly for foreign researchers working in countries with different institutional and socio-cultural conditions. There is a need to synthesize and share experience among researchers as well as practitioners regarding how TDR can be conducted under specific contexts. In this paper, we aim to evaluate and synthesize our unique experience in conducting TDR projects in Asia. We applied guiding principles of TDR to conduct a formative evaluation of four consortium projects on sustainable land and water management in China, the Philippines, and Vietnam. In all projects, local political conditions restricted the set of stakeholders that could be involved in the research processes. The set of involved stakeholders was also affected by the fact that stakeholders in most cases only participate if they belong to the personal network of the project leaders. Language barriers hampered effective communication between foreign researchers and stakeholders in all projects and thus knowledge integration. The TDR approach and its specific methods were adapted to respond to the specific cultural, social, and political conditions in the research areas, also with the aim to promote trust and interest of the stakeholders throughout the project. Additionally, various measures were implemented to promote collaboration among disciplinary scientists. Based on lessons learned, we provide specific recommendations for the design and implementation of TDR projects in particular in Asia

The ATLAS inner detector trigger performance in pp collisions at 13 TeV during LHC Run 2

The design and performance of the inner detector trigger for the high level trigger of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider during the 2016-2018 data taking period is discussed. In 2016, 2017, and 2018 the ATLAS detector recorded 35.6 fb(-1), 46.9 fb(-1), and 60.6 fb(-1) respectively of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV. In order to deal with the very high interaction multiplicities per bunch crossing expected with the 13TeV collisions the inner detector trigger was redesigned during the long shutdown of the Large Hadron Collider from 2013 until 2015. An overview of these developments is provided and the performance of the tracking in the trigger for the muon, electron, tau and b-jet signatures is discussed. The high performance of the inner detector trigger with these extreme interaction multiplicities demonstrates how the inner detector tracking continues to lie at the heart of the trigger performance and is essential in enabling the ATLAS physics programme

Capacity building in the field of climate change adaptation - First experiences from a rural research and development project in Germany

“Adaptation to climate change” as a new field of knowledge challenges agricultural and horticultural (vocational) education and extension. Farmers and horticulturists are confronted with vague scientific findings at best. A broad variety of global climate scenarios is “projected” onto regions and exact predictions are usually not possible. Often, personal observations and experiences seem to contradict scientific assertions. Under this condition farmers and policy makers must decide about future land use. What does this imply for capacity building? How to transform insecurity into concrete educational measures and programs? The authors discuss their first experiences within a German R&D network (INKA BB) in which they develop capacity building programs. Two examples from urban agriculture / urban gardening will be used as case studies. Strengths and weaknesses of the development processes and their management will be discussed. Since the topic is complex and adaptation is a continuous activity, learning in connection with climate change adaptation ideally begins on elementary level, continues in higher and vocational training, and does not end with extension. In other words: “learning chains” must be developed which enable life-long learning in formal, non-formal and informal learning environments. Competencies are needed beyond classical technological and economic skills. Problem solving - from problem perception, analysis, generation of alternative solutions, to implementation and evaluation - with a key competence in critical analysis and reflection of contemporary research findings - gain in importance. In INKA BB, participation is seen as axiomatic. As a consequence, an action-oriented, participatory approach has been chosen which enables mutual learning among partners from research, formal and informal, elementary, higher and vocational education. A crucial point is the question of “Who could be the bridge between science and the educational practitioner?” In INKA BB, a specific working group (the subproject on “Knowledge Management and Transfer”) facilitates the development processes and therefore plays a liaison role between theory and practice. In the long-run, sustainable ownership of this process must be achieved. A combination of network building, mutual learning in permanent work groups, provision of technical trainings, and joint planning, testing, monitoring and evaluation is seen as a precondition

Farming Systems Facing Global Challenges:Capacities and Strategies. Volume 1

IFSA Europe (www.ifsa-europe.org) is a platform for European Farming systems research. With the 11th European IFSA symposium we sought manifold answers that deal with challenges in an integrative, interconnected way on field and farm level, on regional or landscape level or even at a larger scale.Peer Reviewe

Triangulation in participation: Dynamic approaches for science-practice interaction in land-use decision making in rural China

Land use decision making requires knowledge integration from a wide range of stakeholders across science and practice. Many participatory methods and instruments aiming at such science-practice interaction have been developed during the last decades. However, there are methodological challenges, and little evidence neither about the methodological applicability and practicability under diverse socio-political conditions nor about their dynamics. The objective of this paper is to offer some insights on the design and implementation of reasonable science-practice interaction. The Chinese-German project SURUMER (Sustainable rubber cultivation in the Mekong region) served as a case study with the aim of developing sustainable land use strategies for rubber cultivation in southwest China. A triangulation of methods tailor-made for every specific stakeholder group allows the gradual deepening and broadening of participation in problem definition, knowledge generation, development of applicable solutions and implementation. The composition of methods should be reflected on and adjusted to the communication demands of specific stakeholder groups during project phases. It is important to invest in trust-building and allow time and space for the adaptation of approaches, especially in communities where participation is not a tradition.Peer Reviewe

Ein Handbuch zum Lernen in urbanen Gärten

Auf der Suche nach praktischen Antworten versammelt dieses Handbuch Bausteine für grüne Lernorte und eröffnet Einblicke in den bunten und kreativen Erfahrungsschatz urbaner Gärtner*innen. Hier trifft das alltägliche Lernen der „Dilettant*innen“ aus dem Allmende-Kontor, dem Prinzessinnengarten und dem Bürgergarten Laskerwiese auf das „Expertenwissen“ aus dem Bauerngarten, der Peter-Lenné-Schule und der Humboldt-Universität. Dabei kommt es zu einem offenen Wissensaustausch in Form von Gesprächen, Saatgut, Gartenkarten, Kompostwürmern und Rezepten. Berliner Bauernschläue, blumige Anleitungen und Stolpersteine - für alle, die wissen wollen, wie man sich die Finger „richtig“ dreckig macht!1\. Aufl