Engaging Local Communities for Climate Change Adaptation
Résumé
Participatory Action Research (PAR) is an innovative way to address environmental issues through inclusive governance and the development of solutions in partnership with and from a dialog among various actors and researchers. This chapter aims to examine the process used in a community to adapt to climate change considering the needs for greater resilience. The PAR approach was used in conjunction with a community resilience capacity-building tool to enhance the capacity of the targeted community to increase their resilience to climate change. From 2011 to 2014, the researchers of the project called Climate Change Challenges, a Community-University Research Alliance, worked with actors (public sector, economic sector, and civil society) of the community to fill this adaptation gap. Various public engagement techniques, such as the Method of Evaluation by Group Facilitation (MEGF), participative mapping, “kitchen assemblies,” focus group on climate changes issues, and individual interviews, were used to reinforce adaptive capacity and resilience. The results led to emergence of issues (territorial planning, awareness/education, and ecological safeguards), elaboration of a community resilience plan, a better understanding of risks and hazards with their distinct consequences, identification of adaptation solutions, and monitoring and evaluation of actions. The commitment of the researchers helped achieve high-quality results by bringing greater involvement of the different actors. With greater awareness of issues and changes in perceptions, this process may have long-lasting effects for this community. This can serve as an example to replicate in other communities.