What has been learnt in two years of dialogue between the climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction communities

By Revveka Trigka

The EU H2020 project PLACARD (Platform for Climate Adaptation and Risk Reduction), which started in 2015, is almost half way to its completion in 2020. With a main goal of providing a common space for multi-stakeholder dialogue that addresses knowledge gaps and institutional fragmentation between the climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) communities, PLACARD has been involved in the organisation or joint coordination of twenty-five information exchange events. The dialogue between CCA and DRR communities has taken the form of workshops, “webinars”, conference sessions and on-line discussions.

Targetting a variety of stakeholders, exchanges have focused on diverse themes such as integration of CCA and DRR at different governance scales, climate services, nature-based solutions, narratives for prevention and preparedness, foresight, loss and damage data, monitoring and evaluation, and climate risk management. It has been a fruitful two years in terms of learning how both communities could improve collaboration in these areas.

A few general findings are summarised below:

• Few differences exist between CCA and DRR, and there is real value in improving integration. At policy level, both are very similar in terms of the factors to consider. Differences often relate to governance, funding streams and language, rather than fundamental differences in terms of action on the ground.
• Communication between both communities is inefficient. One reason is an overlap in terminology, yet there is no governance of terminology or consistency of use. Clearly there should be comparable, consistent terminology across both communities. Another reason is that different CCA and DRR groups use different narratives. Also, the communities still operate in “silos”, with limited institutional cooperation. A further problem is that events often target only one community, providing little opportunity to share knowledge and collaborate.
• Agendas are often not synchronised, so that each community focuses on different issues.
• We should concentrate on adding value to what is already in place. Existing initiatives and platforms present opportunities to focus efforts on harmonising CCA and DRR, feeding lessons and ideas across both communities.

During 24-26 October 2017, PLACARD is organising a “Brussels Week”, with two workshops focusing on institutional cooperation, and the use of narratives to help the integration of DRR and CCA:

• 24 October 2017: PLACARD Workshop “Joining forces to improve DRR-CCA interaction”.
• 25-26 October 2017: PLACARD Workshop “Using strategic narratives to help integrate CCA and DRR”.