Climate-Smart Villages as Platforms for Community-Level Anticipatory Climate Adaptation to Improve Food Security and Resiliency: A Roving Workshop

Country: Philippines

Organization: International Institute of Rural Reconstruction

Start date: 19 Sep 2023

End date: 30 Sep 2023

Registration deadline: 11 Aug 2023

19–20 September 2023: Virtual via Zoom
25–30 September 2023: Face-to-face at SEARCA in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines, and at the Yen Center of IIRR in Silang, Cavite, Philippines. The roving workshops will be in Bailen, General Emilio Aguinaldo in Cavite; Laguna province; and Pagbilao and Guinayangan in Quezon province.

Course Description

This 8-day blended course on Climate-Smart Villages (CSVs) as Platforms for Community-Level Anticipatory Climate Adaptation to Improve Food Security and Resiliency is designed and will be implemented by the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) in partnership with the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). SEARCA has advocated for climate change adaptation and mitigation, food security, and nutrition security. In addition, it provides a venue for high-level discussions that may support policy advocacy and encourage organizations to learn from the best practices of their counterparts from the Southeast Asian region.

This course is designed for participants from the ASEAN Climate Resilience Network (ASEAN-CRN), providing participants from the ASEAN region to visit communities to witness first-hand how food systems-sensitive climate change adaptation (CCA) platforms are established, sustained, and scaled at community levels. This collaborative effort aims to enhance the capabilities of participants in the promotion, dissemination, and advocating for local platforms, climate-smart adaptations, and other related measures.

Course Objectives

Improve knowledge and understanding of the CSV approach as an adaptation platform for building community level capacities to cope with climate change, address livelihood and food security priorities;
Identify practical strategies and approaches relying on diversification and intensification as ways to reduce the risks of smallholder farmers to extreme weather, rising temperatures, and variable weather;
Understand the challenges and opportunities in adopting CSA that are unique to different agroecosystems (coastal, lowland and uplands);
Identify and understand the social, institutional, technical, and policy considerations in programming for climate change adaptation in CSVs; and
Formulate an action plan reflecting application of lessons learned and insights gained from the course in line with their national or community’s food and livelihood security and in addressing inclusiveness.

Methodology

Module 1: Understanding the Climate-Smart Village (CSV) Approach for Building Capacities to Cope with Climate Change and the Practice of Establishing CSVs

The participants will have an overview of the CSV approach as an adaptation platform for building community-level capacities to cope with climate change, address livelihood and food security priorities. Participants will have an opportunity to share and learn at the same time, about their organizations’ interventions related to CCA and draw up lessons learned from the experience. They will learn about CCA approaches or options, efforts undertaken on community adaptation planning, in exploring partnerships with other organizations, the processes involved in setting up CSVs, the role of CSV support systems, and the importance of learning groups and participatory action researches.

Module 2. Strategies and Approaches to Reduce Risks to Climate Change and Understanding Challenges and Opportunities to Different Agroecosystems

Program/project sustainability is linked to participation and ownership of stakeholders. This module focuses on different participatory approaches, methods, and tools that can be employed to effectively engage communities to be active actors and learners during the project period and beyond.

Module 3. Reflection and Synthesis Workshop (Agroecosystem Specific Lessons)

From the field visit to the different clusters of agroecosystems in Guinayangan, Quezon Province and Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, Cavite, the participants will engage in a reflection and synthesis workshop to draw up lessons in relation to principles, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of interventions undertaken. These interventions, such as diversified agroforestry and mangrove restoration, link to enhancing biodiversity and de-risking ecosystems as a form of anticipatory adaptation to climate change. Relevant to the discussions in the community with small farmer holders and local partners, the participants will also look at scaling and sustainability approaches of interventions with considerations on communications, advocacy support and financing that all aim to help increase farm resilience while addressing social, institutional, technical and policy issues.

Module 4. Action Planning

The participants will prepare an action plan identifying programmes or activities along with the practical strategies and approaches that they will undertake upon their return to their country or community. They will include in their action plans, activities that are appropriate to their national or community’s food security priorities that can be generated from their reflection and synthesis workshop. Each participant will then later be asked to share their action plans in plenary to a panel of reactors that will take the lead in providing feedback or comments to the plans presented.

Location
SEARCA in Los Baños, Laguna and at the Yen Center of IIRR in Silang, Cavite. The places to be visited for the roving workshops will be in Bailen, General Emilio Aguinaldo in Cavite, San Pablo City in Laguna, and Tiaong and Guinayangan in Quezon province.