Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change Bulletin

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.