16 March 2016
Asian Events Address Urban Resilience, Climate Change Adaptation
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Recent events in the Asian region have addressed climate resilience in urban areas and education for climate change-resilient agriculture and food security.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Forum on Improvement of Knowledge, Skills and Competence of Stakeholders in Climate Change Adaptation garnered experiences from ASEAN countries on how education and university curricula treat climate change in order to create knowledge and competencies for climate change-resilient agriculture and food security.

The second Asia-Pacific Forum on Urban Resilience and Adaptation – Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific 2016 brought together local governments, institutions and communities to discuss climate resilience in urban areas, including SDG 11.

asean_iclei_myanmar11 March 2016: Recent events in the Asian region have addressed climate resilience in urban areas and education for climate change-resilient agriculture and food security. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Forum on Improvement of Knowledge, Skills and Competence of Stakeholders in Climate Change Adaptation garnered experiences from ASEAN countries on how education and university curricula treat climate change in order to create knowledge and competencies for climate change-resilient agriculture and food security. The second Asia-Pacific Forum on Urban Resilience and Adaptation – Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific 2016 brought together local governments, institutions and communities to discuss climate resilience in urban areas, including SDG 11.

Organized by the Myanmar Climate Change Alliance (MCCA) in partnership with Myanmar’s Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development, and MCCA Programme of UN-HABITAT and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and funded by the European Union, the ASEAN Forum took place in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, from 7-9 March 2016. The event brought together representatives from ASEAN countries, UN agencies, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and universities to discuss climate change-related challenges to ASEAN countries’ development, which is heavily dependent on agriculture.

University representatives from Myanmar, Viet Nam and Lao People’s Democratic Republic emphasized the need for community-based and farmers’ capacity building as well as formal degree education in agriculture, food security, fisheries, livestock and water management. Reiner Wassmann, International Rice Research Institution (IRRI), identified the need to urgently develop stronger competences on mainstreaming climate change in the agriculture and food security sector. Participants agreed to develop a concept note for a Climate Field School programme to support farmers and advance formal education and research on climate change adaptation in ASEAN countries.

The second Asia-Pacific Forum on Urban Resilience and Adaptation, organized by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, took place in Melaka, Malaysia, from 2-4 March 2016. The Forum culminated in a Melaka Call for Action, in which representatives of city and subnational governments, local government networks, urban researchers and practitioners, private sector corporations, financial institutions and youth commit themselves to, inter alia: engage with national governments “that have transformed the global sustainability agenda into a mainly bottom-up process of national decisions and action” to support them in implementing and achieving their goals; adopt a process of development that promotes green growth, resilience and low-carbon development, and includes all stakeholders; extend support to youth and young leaders; and use the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 11 (Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable), as a foundation for ambitions of today to be mainstreamed into “the norms of tomorrow.” [UN-HABITAT Press Release on ASEAN Forum] [Myanmar’s Ministry of Information Press Release] [Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific 2016 Website] [Melaka Call for Action] [UN-HABITAT Press Release on Second Asia-Pacific Forum on Urban Resilience and Adaptation]

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