Joint meeting of the Adaptation Committee and the Nairobi work programme: Available tools for the use of indigenous and traditional knowledge and practices for adaptation, needs of local and indigenous communities, and the application of gender-sensitive approaches and tools for adaptation

  Bonn, Germany
1-4 April 2014   Report of the meeting

Agenda of the meeting

    Background  

The Adaptation Committee (AC), in its three year workplan (approved at COP18) agreed to convene a workshop on best practices and needs of local and indigenous communities with input from and the participation of relevant bodies and programmes in order to share technical adaptation-related expertise.

In context of the Nairobi work programme, SBSTA 38 requested the secretariat, under the guidance of the Chair of the SBSTA and in collaboration with relevant organizations, to organize a technical expert meeting, before SBSTA 40 (June 2014), on the use of indigenous and traditional knowledge and practices for adaptation, and the application of gender-sensitive approaches and tools for understanding and assessing impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change, with a view to developing recommendations for practitioners on the use of indigenous and traditional knowledge and practices for adaptation, and the application of gender-sensitive approaches and tools for understanding and assessing impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change.

Following a recommendation from the AC (see report of the AC), SBSTA 39 further requested the secretariat to organize this expert meeting in conjunction with the Adaptation Committee’s workshop on best practices and needs of local and indigenous communities.

The meeting will be informed by the technical paper on the use of indigenous and traditional knowledge and practices for adaptation, and the application of gender-sensitive approaches and tools for understanding and assessing impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change, developed under the Nairobi work programme and made available to Parties priort to SBSTA 39.

Scope  

The meeting will seek to address a series of questions around the two themes of the meeting:
the use of local, indigenous and traditional knowledge and practices, and the application of
gender‐sensitive approaches and tools.

On the theme of local, indigenous and traditional knowledge and practices, the meeting will focus on addressing the following questions:

1. What are best practices, trends, needs and limitations in the use of indigenous,
   traditional and local knowledge and practices?

2. How can indigenous, traditional and local knowledge and practices be collected,
   evaluated and disseminated for use by local, national and international adaptation
   practitioners?

3. How can indigenous, traditional and local knowledge and practices inform
   adaptation and how can practitioners integrate indigenous, traditional and local
   knowledge with scientific knowledge in adaptation planning and implementation?
   When is it appropriate to do so?

4. How can holders of indigenous, traditional and local knowledge and practices be
   effectively engaged in the adaptation process?

With respect to the theme of gender‐sensitive approaches and tools, the following questions will be explored:

1. What gender‐sensitive tools and approaches exist at different levels and sectors
   to support the understanding and assessing impacts, vulnerability and
   adaptation to climate change?

2. How can information on approaches and tools be collected, evaluated and
   disseminated for use by local, national and international adaptation
   practitioners?

3. How can gender‐sensitive approaches and tools inform adaptation and how can
   practitioners integrate gender‐sensitive approaches and tools in understanding
   and assessing impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change? When is
   it appropriate to do so?

4. How can adaptation practitioners best apply gender‐sensitive approaches and
   tools across adaptation process and ensure that adaptation initiatives are
   gender‐sensitive?

Scoping paper

  Practical information  

Information for participants

Documentation

Information provided by participants highlighting different experiences in applying local, indigenous and traditional knowledge and practices in adaptation.

Information highlighting different experience in applying gender‐sensitive approaches and tools in the adaptation process, including the understanding and assessing impacts, vulnerability and adaptation.

Presentations

Day 1, Session 1 - Introduction

Day 1, Session 2 - Sharing of experiences

Day 2, Session 4 - Good practices and tools

Day 3, Session 1 - Introduction

Day 3, Session 2 - Sharing of experiences

Day 4, Session 4 - Good practices and tools