31 March 2011: The Fifth International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation (CBA), organized by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS), took place at the Sheraton Hotel in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 28-31 March 2011. The conference was themed “Scaling Up: Beyond Pilots,” and focused on the need to spread CBA knowledge and practical lessons horizontally across communities and vertically across levels of governance and action.

Recurring issues raised at the conference revolved around its theme of scaling up successful CBA projects. These issues included the importance of: understanding power-relations dynamics between genders, between local peoples, and between communities and other levels; incorporating youth and children into CBA project design and projects; communicating non-ambiguously with stakeholders at all levels; scaling meteorological prediction services down to levels more useful for dispersed rural populations; and integrating CBA with other developmental and environmental projects.

James Hardcastle, The Nature Conservancy, talked about the difficulties in progressing on CBA in extremely remote areas such as the outer atolls of the Marshall Islands. He remarked that creating national frameworks for action, as well as national guidance on CBA, are instrumental in achieving CBA goals in such diffuse contexts. He underscored the need to raise awareness about CBA, noting preparations for a canoe trip across Pacific islands to do so.

Jimmy Kereseka, The Lauru Land Conference of Tribal Communities, discussed building resilience across the Solomon Islands, focusing on Choiseul province. He promoted working with traditional leaders to make decisions sustainable and successful, networking amongst provinces, and a participatory 3D modeling tool to help islanders explore adaptation options.

Rajendra Pachauri, Chair, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), gave a closing talk, stressing the need for greater global attention to adaptation issues, emphasizing the importance of scaling up, linking up and ensuring that adaptation experiences are shared broadly. He also underscored the need for: ensuring adaptation measures address vulnerability; increasing adaptive capacity; work on adaptation on the global and national levels, with action centered on local initiatives; rigorous analysis ensuring that efforts are taken in the right directions; inputs from outside the CBA community; local preparedness through incentives and regulation; mitigation; and the building of synergies among sectors, including the development and disaster prevention communities. [IISD coverage of the CBA conference] [Official conference website including video highlights and video coverage]