Call for Partnerships: GCA Global Hub on Locally Led Adaptation
Project: Sustainable Management of Ecosystems in Miombo Ecoregions of Zambia
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) invites concept notes from partners with experience in facilitating locally led adaptation planning in rural contexts in the Miombo woodlands in the Copperbelt, Central, and Muchinga Provinces of Zambia, with a focus on sustainable ecosystems.
Introduction to the Global Center of Adaptation
GCA is an international organization that works as a solutions broker to catalyze action and support for adaptation solutions, from the international to the local, in partnership with the public and private sector, to ensure we learn from each other and work together for a climate resilient future. Adapting to impacts of climate change provides a “win-win” for livelihoods, food security, water supply, health, security, and economic growth. The work of the GCA elevates the visibility and political importance of climate adaptation and facilitates solutions, such as smarter investments, new technologies and better planning to become more resilient to climate related threats. GCA is a rapidly growing organization with offices in Abidjan, Beijing, Dhaka, Groningen, and Rotterdam.
GCA’s ambitious 2020-2025 business plan and strategy have three pillars:
- Programs and Action: Food Security; NbS for more resilient Infrastructure; Water for Urban Growth and Resilience; Climate Finance; Youth Leadership; and Locally Led Adaptation (LLA).
- Knowledge Acceleration: Building adaptation knowledge globally through cutting edge products such as the State and Trends in Adaptation Report and the State and Trends Knowledge Exchange Platform (STAKE).
- Agenda Setting and Advocacy: Formulating policy messages to move the global, regional, and local adaptation agendas forward.
Introduction to GCA’s Work on Locally Led Adaptation
The impacts of climate change are most acutely felt by socially, economically, and politically disadvantaged and marginalized people and groups because of their higher vulnerability and lower adaptive capacity. Recognizing the highly localized nature of climate impacts; the importance of local adaptation action; the potential and creativity of communities to develop locally appropriate and innovative solutions; the ownership benefits of community-driven action; and the strong need for accountability to poor and marginalized communities affected by climate change, the GCA is strongly committed to addressing barriers to accelerating and scaling up LLA through the Global Hub on Locally Led Adaptation. The Hub aims to promote LLA at scale, with speed, to reduce climate risks for populations and sections of society that are most vulnerable to climate change. The activities of the Hub are guided by the eight Principles for Locally Led Adaptation.
In addition to knowledge sharing, peer-to-peer learning and capacity strengthening, the Global Hub on LLA supports the development of People’s Adaptation Plans to inform project design and investments by International Financial Institutions (IFIs), as part of the GCA’s Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP). The Hub is currently supporting People’s Adaptation Plans in multiple countries across Africa and cities in Bangladesh. These Plans are produced by vulnerable communities, with facilitation by GCA partners, to inform investments by projects by IFIs such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank.
Project: Sustainable Management of Ecosystems in Miombo Ecoregions of Zambia
Project Objectives
GCA intends to support communities living in and around the Miombo woodlands in the Copperbelt and Muchinga Provinces of Zambia to develop People’s Adaptation Plans to inform investments by a project supported by the World Bank.
The Miomo woodlands are a vital source of livelihoods for rural communities, and for biodiversity and climate regulation. However, they face severe threats from deforestation, unsustainable agricultural practices, and climate change. Coordinated efforts from government, private sector, and civil society to protect these crucial ecosystems are necessary.
Project Outcome/Results
- Communities in the Muchinga and Copperbelt Provinces are supported to map and understand current and future climate risks, identify adaptation and resilience solutions, and develop People’s Adaptation Plans to inform investments by the World Bank project.
- Project implementation teams in other project areas are enabled to implement similar planning approaches in other project areas.
Project Outputs/Activities
- People’s Adaptation Plans are developed by climate vulnerable communities in the Muchinga and Copperbelt Provinces in Zambia, through a locally led process.
- A guidance/ training manual is produced for project implementation teams to implement the locally led planning process in other project areas.
- Capacity building and training support is provided for project implementation teams to implement the approach in other project areas.
Project Approach/Methodology
The formulation of the People’s Adaptation Plans will conform to the eight principles of LLA and draw on best practices documented by the GCA in this Guide. The following broad process is contextualized to local context to formulate the Plans:
- Stakeholder mapping to determine roles and responsibilities of different actors and convene expertise and leadership to drive the process.
- Formation of Steering and Local Advisory Committees to steer the work on the ground, and formalize arrangements with local governments.
- Formation of consortia with non-government and academic institutions working in the project area (including a local university for support with climate vulnerability risk assessments and data analysis).
- Climate risk assessment by local university to inform and complement community-led climate risk profiling.
- Training of community mobilizers to work as co-researchers for data collection and community engagement.
- Settlement profiling through community mobilizers and co-researchersto map out key geographical features, infrastructure, natural assets, particularly climate vulnerable areas etc. using GIS mapping, for a broad understanding of climate related risks and challenges.
- Household enumeration in particularly climate vulnerable areasfor a more thorough understanding of adaptation related challenges and requirements.
- Analysis and community validation of data.
- Climate risk profiling by the community through an iterative process, to rank climate risks, diagnose impacts, evaluate potential solutions, and assess opportunities and barriers.
- List of costed priority interventions for adaptation and resilience building, developed and validated by communities, for investment through the project.
Alignment to GCA Core Values and Experience in Partnership Engagement
- Demonstrated support of the core values of GCA and its commitment to climate action and adaptation.
- Active engagement in partnerships and initiatives with, inter alia, United Nations, intergovernmental, national, subnational, industry or sectoral, non-governmental and other related organizations in support of climate, environmental and/or social causes.
- Demonstrated support of the principles of sustainable development, including inclusion and social and environmental corporate responsibility.
- Compliance with recognized environmental and social standards.
Submission Guidelines
- Only registered non-profit organizations (INGO, NGO, CBO, Company Limited by Guarantee) are eligible to receive a Sub-Grant from GCA.
- The organizations responding to this call must meet the minimum eligibility criteria and demonstrate their capacity to implement all the technical criteria.
- The Concept Note and all supporting documents must be submitted as a PDF, no later than 27 August, 18:00 Central European Time (CET) to subgrants@gca.org and cc’d to anju.sharma@gca.org.
- Informative Session for prospective partners to address programmatic and procedural questions: Wednesday, 14 August, 11:00 to 12:00 CET. You can access the meeting through this link.