Adapting the Power

Transforming the Region - Regional Coalition towards Inclusive Climate Change Adaptation

Countries: Mozambique, Zimbabwe, DR Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, Mauritius

Partners: Alternactiva, La Via Campesina SEAf (LVC), Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC), Centre for Alternative Research and Studies on Economic, Social and Environmental Issues (CARES)

Allocated amount: DKK 2.997.578

Project start: 01/08/2023 Project end: 31/07/2026

This intervention promotes a transformative cross-sectoral approach to climate change adaptation (CCA) in the Southeastern region of Africa by strengthening a coalition of civil society organisations and associated grassroot movements from within the region, enhancing their capacity to integrate issues of CCA in their social justice work and thus enabling them to advocate for alternative CCA solutions that centre informed local actors and demand driven interventions. As such, the intervention addresses the barrier of exclusion of local key actors in decision making on issues of CCA, and it aims to ensure that civil society is able to positively impact national and regional CCA policies so that they are based on just, rights-based and transformative approaches to CCA, thus strengthening the resilience of local populations. In this way, the intervention also seeks to prevent the expansion of so-called false climate change adaptation solutions that undermine local populations’ resilience.

Development objective:

Civil society in the region positively impacts the governance of national and regional climate change adaptation policies in the Southern African Region so that it is based on just- and transformative approaches to climate change adaptation, thus strengthening the resilience of local populations

Immediate objectives:

The intervention builds on three immediate objectives: 

1:  First of all the intervention seeks to strengthen solidarity and mutual understanding within civil society actors in the region through a network-based approach. This objective will be reached by facilitating opportunities for stronger collaboration and continuous knowledge sharing and collective learning via coalition building activities, through popular education and political schooling, and via the establishment of a research collective. 

2: Secondly, the strengthened coalition of partners as well as other CSOs in the region should be equipped with knowledge and resources to engage with key stakeholders in the pursuit for more inclusive and locally led, and eventually transformative CCA approaches. Through a local and community oriented approach, led by our partners, we seek to build democratic power and create opportunities for emancipatory knowledge creation and problem solving on locally led CCA solutions. This work includes a strong emphasis on target group engagement, elements of capacity strengthening activities of representatives of local communities, action-oriented research, and advocacy elements such as campaigns and policy engagements at the national and regional level. 

3: Finally, the intervention applies a solutions and policy oriented advocacy approach, seeking to influence the international community to recognise the need for alternative, south-driven transformative CCA solutions that centre questions of justice and human and nature’s rights. This is done through bilateral and coordinated advocacy- and policy engagement efforts, where partners will provide input and examples from across their contexts and sectors of promising practices. The purpose is to identify truly transformative and people-led CCA approaches and create roadmaps or guidelines for how to engage with stakeholders in order to prevent them from falling into climate traps and pursuing insufficient incremental CCA solutions. 

Target groups:

1.The coalition partners, thus the members of the partnering organisations who hold special responsibilities within the execution of the interventions’ activities and outputs. 2. The partners’ constituencies and extended networks of CSOs and informal grassroot movements, who are invited to participate in the activities. 3. Extended local communities from across the region. 4. Duty bearers who are responsible for, or very influential on, the CCA strategies and programs in the countries of the partners. 

This project is organized by Klimagruppen