Four newly begun projects will drive climate adaptation action by strengthening the capacity of researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and other key actors in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. 

Funded under the CLimate Adaptation and REsilience (CLARE) UK-Canada framework research programme, these four projects are rounding out a cohort of five projects designed to enable adaptation actors to contribute to climate-resilient development and support equitable climate change adaptation. CLARE is primarily funded by the United Kingdom which provides almost 90% of the funding as part of FCDO Research and UK International Climate Finance. 

These projects are: 

• The Tuwe Pamoja project (“Let’s be together” for equitable urban nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation), which will strengthen the capacity of key urban actors to co-design and implement nature-based solutions in ways that contribute to just, sustainable and climate-resilient urban development. 

• Accelerating women’s leadership in climate action, which aims to grow a pool of African women climate professionals who can serve as effective leaders and change agents. 

• Enhancing local capacities in socially inclusive resilience in Asia, which will identify the technical knowledge and capacity needs that local governments require to support inclusive climate action, then address these needs through a responsive capacity-strengthening program. 

• Innovative facilitation for resilience fellowships: Transforming complex dialogue for adaptation, which will strengthen the capacity of two cohorts of academics and practitioners in Africa and Asia to facilitate complex and socially inclusive climate dialogue. 

Another capacity strengthening project, co-funded by CLARE and the Step Change initiative, was launched last September at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi:  

• Synthesis program for African research on climate change (BAOBAB), works to strengthen capacity of African-led, transdisciplinary teams to conduct synthesis research and unleash new scientific insights to drive more evidence-based and inclusive climate action to reduce risks for vulnerable people and places in Africa. 

All CLARE projects integrate and promote gender equality and inclusion, recognizing that to achieve a more just future, actions to enhance climate resilience need to be gender-responsive and socially inclusive. This cohort of CLARE projects adopts a variety of approaches to strengthening gender equality and inclusion, from establishing fellowships, internships and training opportunities for members of under-represented groups to enhancing the ability of climate professionals to design equitable and inclusive adaptation solutions.

These projects will contribute to CLARE’s broader capacity strengthening efforts, which includes dedicated efforts to strengthen capacity of actors along the research to action chain to do and use climate adaptation research. Communities, practitioners, policy makers, researchers, and other actors engaged directly in the research contribute their knowledge and expertise and also learn through the process. Targeted training and peer learning opportunities are also employed. At the programme level, the CLARE Capacity Strengthening Hub supports all CLARE research projects and works with a cross-programme working group to foster learning and exchange. 

Learn more about CLARE and its portfolio of climate adaptation research projects.