On 7 - 11 May 2018, a practical Training of Trainers (ToT) Workshop on Building Cities' Resilience to Climate Change and Disaster Risks was convened by AIT and partners at the Sukosol Hotel in Bangkok. This event was developed with the aim to strengthen the capacity of national training institutions, master-trainers, and city government officials responsible for capacity development in Asia and the Pacific to deliver training on mainstreaming climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction into city development plans and strategies.
21 participants from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand, participated in this event.
During the 5-day workshop, participants practiced using United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction's Making Cities Resilient Global Campaign tools for assessing and planning for city resilience, including the 10 Essentials for Building Cities' Resilience, the Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities, and the Quick Risk Estimation Tool. Attendees also worked in groups to strengthen their understanding and skills for designing and managing city resilience action plans, and setting indicators for monitoring, evaluation, and follow up.
The event also included valuable presentations by representatives from partner organizations:
UN-Habitat presented its New Urban Agenda and explained why this agenda is so critical;
UNFCCC discussed the Paris Agreement for Climate Change and the key challenges for implementation at the local level;
United Nations Development Programme presented case studies on mainstreaming climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction into sectoral programmes for socio-economic development;
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific introduced some science-based tools and practical decision-support tools for implementation of Building Cities' Resilience Essential 2: Identify, understand and use current and future risk scenarios;
Stockholm Environment Institute provided insights for transforming development and disaster risk, utilizing results from their latest applied research;
Food and Agriculture Organization facilitated a dynamic session on how to bring the 10 Essentials together and connect rural-periurban-urban actions for city resilience.
Attendees also went on a field visit to the Khok Kham Mangrove Forest Study Centre located in Amphoe Mueang District in Samut Sakhon. This tour served as a pragmatic example of community-led efforts to build resilience against the adverse effects of climate change and development such as coastal erosion.
This workshop was organized by RRC.AP AIT with funding from the Ministry of Environment of Japan.