Abstract:
The Fourth International Conference on Community-Based
Adaptation (CBA) to Climate Change convened in Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania, from Sunday 21 February to Saturday
27 February 2010. The conference was organized by the
International Institute for Environment and Development
(IIED), Tanzania’s Environment Protection Management
Services (EPMS) and the Ring Alliance of Policy Research
Organizations.
More than 180 participants from 35 countries, representing
governments, non-government organizations (NGOs), intergovernmental
organizations (IGOs), community-based
organizations and research institutions took part in the
event, which focused on sharing and consolidating the latest
developments in CBA planning and practices, particularly in
vulnerable communities, throughout the world.
Prior to the start of the meeting, participants took part in two
days of field trips to see CBA projects and activities in different
parts of Tanzania. They then met for four days of interactive
plenary and technical sessions on a wide range of themes
relevant to CBA, including: strengthening institutions; water;
building adaptive capacity; insurance and microfinance; policy
linkages; agriculture; economics; drylands and pastoralism;
urban areas; managing and communicating knowledge;
scaling up and replicating best practice; vulnerable groups;
role of ecosystems in adaptation; disaster risk reduction;
methodologies; and funding.
Participants also formed ad hoc working groups based on
communities of interest to further explore a number of CBArelated
issues, including gender, economics, civil society,
monitoring and evaluation, communications and disaster risk
reduction. The groups will continue addressing these issues on
an intersessional basis by e-mail and through discussion forums.
A final plenary session discussed next steps for CBA, with
participants agreeing to further develop the Global Initiative on
Community-Based Adaptation (GICBA), a network which seeks
to support CBA-related activities by generating and sharing
relevant knowledge.
