CARE builds capacity on adaptation through tools and training Print E-mail

@CARE Vietnams

Development actors have an important role to play in supporting vulnerable people in their efforts to adapt to climate change. To do this, government and civil society organisations working with vulnerable communities must have capacity to analyze climate risks, identify appropriate adaptation responses and to plan and implement these responses. This is accomplished either through targeted adaptation initiatives or by integrating adaptation into development policies and programmes.


CARE is committed to providing its staff and local partners with the tools and knowledge they need to do this effectively. We are developing, testing and applying tools -- such as our Climate Vulnerability and Capacity Analysis (CVCA) tool and the Climate Risk Screening Tool - Adaptation and Livelihoods (CRiSTAL) -- to strengthen our work on adaptation.


Enhancing Capacity to Integrate Climate
Change Adaptation in Francophone Africa


©Angie Dazé/CARE    


A four-day training workshop in Niamey, Niger,

was organized in November 2008 by CARE in partnership with IISD. The objectives of this workshop were to provide participants with a framework for understanding vulnerability and adaptation to climate change, and to enhance capacity to integrate climate change

vulnerability and adaptation considerations into project design and management.


Group work and practical application were

strongly emphasized, including a field visit to

apply participatory tools in the field. This was the first CVCA and CRiSTAL training workshop offered in Francophone Africa. Participants came from various humanitarian, environmental and development organizations (including representatives from CARE, IUCN, Intercooperation, Plan International, Agrhymet, World Vision and the Government of Niger) throughout the region.

Training on concepts and practical
tools for adaptation for CARE staff and partners is an important element of our capacity building strategy. We have conducted adaptation training workshops in Canada, Ghana, Niger, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Nepal. These events have built the capacity of CARE and partner staff from more than a dozen countries around the world. Many of these workshops have been held in partnership with the International Institute for Sustainable Development, who have provided invaluable expertise on vulnerability and adaptation, and on the application of the CRiSTAL tool.