What are the latest developments in community-based adaptation financing, planning and best practices? IIED’s 8th Annual Community Based Adaptation Conference (CBA8) aims to provide the latest thinking from climate scientists, policy makers and practitioners to answer this question, and to share lessons learned.

IIED’s 8th Annual Community Based Adaptation Conference will take place in Nepal, addressing financing local adaptation (Credit ikerender, via Creative Commons: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

Based in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 24-30 April 2014, CBA8 includes:

·         three days of field visits to projects in Nepal (24-26 April – locations to be confirmed) to examine how communities in different ecosystems are dealing with financing local adaptation, plus

·         three-and-a-half days of plenary and interactive sessions (27-30 April) at the conference in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital city

Aims and objectives of CBA8

To consolidate and share the latest developments in community-based adaptation financing, planning and best practice in different sectors and countries globally. The draft programme is now online [PDF].

CBA8 aims to:

• Bring together different stakeholders and practitioners to share and discuss knowledge of CBA financing, planning and best practice
• Enhance the capacity of the most vulnerable groups and people, improve their livelihoods and integrate lessons learnt on financing CBA into local, national and international planning for development and climate change
• Share lessons learnt at the conference through the online event coverage
• Develop a minimum set of advocacy ‘asks’ for financing local adaptation

Field visits (24-26 April)

Participants will be divided into groups and taken to different areas to see how communities in different ecosystems are dealing with financing local adaptation.

A range of field visits have been proposed, and full details of the planned trips are available for download (PDF). However, participants should note that the field visits have yet to be confirmed.

Conference (27-30 April)

Each conference day will consist of a number of plenary and parallel interactive sessions relating to the following focus areas within the overall conference theme “financing local adaptation”:

• Securing finance by mainstreaming adaptation into existing development planning
• Private sector financing of local adaptation
• Donors and bilateral agency support for financing adaptation: challenges and lessons learnt
• Lessons from financing CBA in urban areas
• Securing local funding and non-monetary support for adaptation
• Local level governance: a pre-requisite for financing
• Playing games to learn about financing CBA

Confirmed high-profile participants

By the beginning of March, a host of high-profile participants had confirmed their attendance at CBA8. These include:

·         Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary, UNFCCC

·         Jose Maria Clemente Sarte Salceda Co-Chair, Green Climate Fund Board

·         Mamadou Honadia, Vice Chair of Adaptation Fund Board

·         Margaret Mukahanana Sangarwe, Chair UNFCCC Adaptation Committee.

·         Pa Ousman Jarju, Climate Envoy of the Gambia and previous LDC Group Chair.

How to take part

The conference is open to anyone interested in community-based adaptation: particularly policymakers, non-governmental organisations, research and policy institutes, academics and practitioners with a particular focus on grassroots adaptation work.

Participants are encouraged to bring and present posters on the financing aspects of CBA project activities. Attendance is limited to 250 participants, all of whom must complete an online application form.

Once registration has been completed, participants who have already secured funding will be asked to complete this payment form.

Unfortunately, applications are no longer being accepted from participants who require funding, but these are encouraged to sign up as Virtual Internet Participants(see VIPs section below).

Registration

US$600 (covers all conference materials, meals and management costs)

Field visit (optional): US$300 (covers travel, accommodation and meals).

·         I wish to participate and can pay the registration fees

·         I wish to register as a Virtual Internet Participant (VIP – see section below)

An alternative way to pay, without completing a form online, is available by downloading this payment authorization form. Participants who have registered should complete the payment form and either fax it to 00 977 1 5527724 or email it to cba8nepal@gmail.com.

Accommodation in Nepal

Participants are requested to arrange their own hotels bookings for their stay in Nepal.

A list of hotels and contact details are available via the registration form, and their is also anonline booking form. Early booking is advised as rooms will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, but participants yet to obtain funding are advised not to book accommodation until registration has been completed and funding has been secured.

A number of opportunities are available for exhibitors at CBA8. Detailed information about the exhibition schedule, facilities, the transportation and storage of materials, customs, signage and accessories can be found in this section.

·         Full hotel booking, travel and other useful information, including tour and excursion details

·         Exhibition information

Virtual participants

Can’t attend the conference? Worried about your carbon footprint? Don’t worry, there is no need to miss out. We will be tweeting and blogging live from the conference, and we will also post video interviews with key speakers here on this page to allow you to participate virtually.

Those unable to attend can also register as a Virtual Internet Participant (VIP) to join the same online networking and collaboration spaces and contribute to the final conference outcomes. Virtual participants can:

• Watch some conference presentations and interviews with key speakers
• Receive regular updates throughout the whole event via tweets, blogs and video footage, all uploaded to the conference website allowing them to learn alongside real participants
• Make valuable connections for future collaboration on global CBA projects.

More information

For further information, contact the Conference secretariat:

Sunil Acharya, Raju Pandit Chhetri
Clean Energy Nepal
140 Bulbule Marga, Thapagaun, Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel: +977 1 4464981, +977 1 6915649
Email: cba8nepal@gmail.com, sunil@cen.org.np, rajupc80@gmail.com