Adaptation to climate change has risen up the political and scientific agenda in recent years. The issue has received increasing attention within the UNFCCC, and programme activities are expanding through international and national level initiatives such as the creation of a GEF Adaptation Fund, UNDP’s Adaptation Policy Framework and the National Adaptation Programme of Action for Least Developing Countries and emphasising Adaptation in the fourth Assessment of IPCC.

Community-based adaptation activities are working to link climate change into sustainable development. Indeed, there are many examples of projects enhancing the capacity of communities to deal with the effects of climate variability and extreme events, some of which specifically focus on reducing the vulnerability of communities to the adverse effects of climate change.

The International Workshop on Community Level Adaptation to Climate Change is a timely opportunity for practitioners, researchers, policy makers, donors and community representatives to review the latest state of knowledge, discuss how climate change links to sustainable development and exchange experiences of community-level adaptation practices. The workshop aims to raise professional capacity in developing and implementing strategies, programmes and projects for adaptation to climate change.

The outcomes of the workshop will also improve existing project activities, and help identify new project ideas, providing a basis for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms needed to plan and implement adaptation.