Advancing Adaptation through Communication for Development

According to the Communication for Sustainable Development Initiative (CSDI) at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), community-based adaptation (CBA) to climate change is an approach for multi-stakeholder action, innovation, and social learning. Knowledge and communication are central to these processes. Communication for development (ComDev) is central to the CBA approach to climate change. It combines participatory communication methods and processes with a variety of media and tools ranging from rural radio to information and communication technologies (ICTs). In the context of community-based adaptation to climate change, ComDev involves the systematic design and use of participatory communication processes, strategies, and media to share knowledge and information among all stakeholders in a particular agro-ecological context. It aims to enhance people's resilience and capacity to cope through diverse livelihood options.

During this technical session, CSDI specialists shared the experiences they were documenting in their countries and discussed findings on good practices in the use of ComDev for CBA. The main purpose of this session was to assess and fully illustrate the role of ComDev in expanding the scope for stakeholders' participation, dialogue, and decisionmaking and to draw up a common framework on communication for CBA.

According to this report, lessons learned indicate that the ComDev approach in CBA to climate change can: facilitate participatory research and horizontal knowledge sharing; improve the quality of advisory services for technology innovation; enhance adaptation processes and disaster risk management; bridge the gap between global environment information and local communities' knowledge; and strengthen policy dialogue between institutions and small farmers.

Presentations summarised in this report include:

1. Seeking Livelihood Adaptation through Communication for Development by Mario Acunzo
2. Voices for Climate Change Adaptation in Natural Resource Management: The Need for Communication by Maria Protz
3. Communication for Development, Community Knowledge Systems: A Project on Livelihood Adaptation to Climate Change in Bangladesh by Dr. Cleofe S. Torres
4. Communication for Technology Adaptation in the Democratic Republic of Congo by Esperance Bayedila
5. ComDev in the Caribbean: A Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Perspective on Climate Change by Maria Protz
6. Building Capacity in Communication and ICT Applications for Community-Based Adaptation by Simone Sala
7. Building Capacity in ComDev for CBA through CSDI by Federica Matteoli

This document has been produced within the framework of the Communication for Sustainable Development Initiative (CSDI) project, a joint effort of the Italian Ministry of Environment and Territory and FAO to promote Communication for Development as a key for sustainable natural resource management, climate change adaptation, and food security.

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