Climate Change Adaptation Practice and Policy Training

Faced with the reality of climate change and its consequences, all societal actors will have to develop ideas and solutions to deal with the unavoidable in the coming years and decades. The course focuses on presenting, demonstrating and critically reflecting on the latest knowledge in the area of climate change adaptation science, practice and policy.

Course Content

By mixing a large variety of learning tools and methods (classroom, on-site visits, discussions with experts, collaborative learning, collective sense-making, theory U-based approaches etc.), the participants will learn to apply specific methods and concepts, critically reflect and exchange views with experts, practitioners and fellow participants. Real-life examples from all over the world will help to understand the essence of climate adaptation initiatives, in particular investigating key aspects such as:

• Framing adaptation for good decision-making
• Politics, economics and institutions of climate change adaptation
• Basics of the underlying science of climate change impacts and risks
• Climate risk and vulnerability assessment
• Adaptive governance, stakeholder engagement, climate risk management, managing uncertainty
• Good practices in real-life settings in sectors such as agriculture, natural resource management, rural infrastructure, food security, cities, and health settings.

Course Outcomes

The course is designed to develop professional skills to manage, coordinate, and design effective adaptation initiatives in the policy and practice sphere. It aims at more than just knowledge transfer, but also to enhance abilities in critical thinking and problem-solving. Furthermore, participants will see improvements of their skills in creative thinking, collaborative, and interpersonal skills as a result of the diverse learning methods.

Course Level

The content is designed for an intermediate level of learners that have practical exposure to issues of climate change adaptation and some years of professional background, ideally in the planning and/ or implementation sphere, and an academic background in at least one of the following disciplines: agronomy, economics, environmental management, geography, ecology, political sciences or similar areas.

Tuition fee: 1550 euros  

Early Bird Offer: 1350 euros if you apply online through the enrolment form and pay the tuition fee invoice before April 30th 2019.

We welcome professionals working in international cooperation, in public administrative bodies and institutions, in the academic field, in NGOs or in the private sector.

Our short intensive courses promote learning through experience: 'Learning by doing' is the most important aspect of the SLE's training and teaching philosophy. Case studies, teamwork and other interactive methods create a learning environment in which participants can bring their own experience and link it to new topics and applications, addressing global and local development challenges. Course participants have different cultural backgrounds and professions which add to an intercultural and interdisciplinary exchange of experiences within an enabling learning environment. After having participated actively in the course, you will receive a certificate of attendance issued by SLE and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Further information and enrolment here.

Trainers

Martin Rokitzki has more than 17 years of professional experience working for inter-governmental and non-governmental development and environment organisations (amongst others UNEP, GIZ, FAO, UNCCD, IFAD, ACF, Oxfam GB) in over 30 countries, mostly least developed countries and low-middle income countries in Africa and Asia. Since 2015, he is the managing director of PlanAdapt, an international network of adaptation professionals providing knowledge services for effective climate change adaptation. He has provided scientific and technical advice in the areas of climate change adaptation, natural resource management, disaster risk management and sustainable land management to a wide range of actors, in particular government representatives and NGO staff. His expertise is particularly focused on how to mainstream adaptation into development and sectoral strategies and how to measure and monitor the effective implementation of adaptation action. His special interest is in brokering between producers and users of climate-related information by tailoring, filtering and translating them to user needs.

Till Sterzel has more than 12 years of experience in the field of climate change-related impacts and response. He works as a consultant, trainer and independent scientist in this field, with a particular focus on international development cooperation and urban development. Currently he is a Senior Project Manager at adelphi, working in the Climate Change Adaptation and Urban Transformation departments. Before his current position, he worked at the Potsdam Institute for climate Impact Research (PIK) and co-founded the network climate-babel.