28 November 2011: A planning meeting convened in the Dominican Republic to support the preparations for a UN CC:Learn-supported project on Strengthening Human Resources and Skills to Address Climate Change. The purpose of the project is to strengthen the country’s human resource capacities to address serious climate change-related problems, such as sea-level rise and more frequent and intensive extreme weather events. The planning meeting, which was held on 22 November 2011, also provided an opportunity for staff of the Dominican Republic’s National Council for Climate Change and the Clean Development Mechanism (CNCCMDL) to engage in a working session on the UN CC:Learn project and to meet bilaterally with different institutions, including various ministries, the Santo Domingo municipality, local UN partners and the media.

The meeting was organized by the CNCCMDL and involved government officials, members of the civil society and the private sector, as well as UN organizations. During the meeting, participants defined the National Coordination Mechanism, which includes 23 national agencies, organizations and networks. Some of the operational tasks for the project will be led by a sub-committee that includes the CNCCMDL, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Environment, among others.

Preparations also include a major national workshop, scheduled to take place on 2 February 2012, that will bring together high-level representatives from key sectors and stakeholders. The main objective of the workshop will be to create momentum for the development of a national strategy to strengthen human resources and skills to advance green, low emission and climate resilient development. Participants highlighted that introducing climate change topics in training and education curricula, designing training materials, and developing training of trainers approaches, would be among the priorities for the concrete action that will be implemented in the framework of the strategy.

The UN CC:Learn pilot project aims to support five countries – Benin, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Malawi and Uganda – in taking a strategic and long-term approach to climate change learning, with the ultimate goal of mainstreaming climate change learning within existing learning systems. [UN CC:Learn Press Release]