Developing Capacities on Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in the Asia-Pacific Region

Background

In September2015, member states of the United Nations have adopted the new 2030 Agenda forSustainable Development. This inclusive and transformative agenda sets thestrategic direction for building resilient cities and human settlements byresponding to concerns about the impacts of climate change and disaster risk.Prior to the SDGs, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 wasadopted as the first of the post-2015 development instruments and this newframework will have a profound impact on the lives of people for years to come.

In this regard, building resilience and adapting to climate change is crucial for citiesespecially those in the Asia-Pacific region. Theregion is subject to all major types of natural hazards and dominates disasterimpact categories across the world. During the past decade the region wasstruck by 1,625 disasters—over 40 per cent of the global total – and half amillion people lost their lives. The region has incurred substantial economicdamage of more than half a trillion dollars over the same period, accountingfor 45% of global total. Unfortunately, planning anddevelopment of cities and local government has given little consideration tothe consequences of natural hazards, which are at the forefront of disaster.

This training will provide tools to localize the global frameworks for climate changeadaptation and disaster risk reduction into plans and strategies to build safe, resilient andsustainable cities in Asia Pacific region. The training process includeslecture sessions with expert inputs combined with real-life case work and bestpractice. Session-based group work will enable participants to transformin-depth learning into practice and familiarize with coordinated action fordecision making. By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to localize and implement the international framework in their cities in the pursuitof greater disaster resilience and sustainable development.

Event objectives

The capacity building training workshop, while promoting the importance of climate changeadaptation and disaster risk reduction, will:

1. support the localization and implementation of Agenda 2030 and Sendai Framework for DRR
2. provide an international platform for knowledgeexchange, supporting sharing and dissemination of best practices and lessonslearned across cities.
3. promote city-to-city cooperation by establishinga strong network that leads to the development of the region.

Learning objectives

By the end of the training,participants will be able to:

• understand the globalframework for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction;
• build capacities witha focus on effective urban planning and implementation of making citiesresilient to disasters;
• utilize theoperational tools of Sendai Framework at local level to develop city actionplan;
• identify indicatorsfor monitoring and evaluation of the city action plan; and
• share good practicesand find ways to cooperate with other participating cities.

Content and structure

The workshop contents arecomposed of the following:

• Module1: Introducing the concepts and current tendencies
• Module2: Applying Making Cities Resilient(MCR) campaign tools
• Module3: Mainstreaming DRR and CCA into development
• Module4: Developing safe and resilient city action plan
• Module5: Setting indicators for monitoring and evaluation

Methodology

The training will be comprised of:

• lectures and presentations by experts
• self-assessment exercise and group work
• action plan presentation
• study visit