Integrated Knowledge System on Climate Change Adaptation

Conceptual & Technological Framework

OneWorld South AsiaDecember 2008

Rational & Context■ Climate justice is an integral human development challenge, given that it is the poor and the

marginalised who are the most affected

■ Climate change is real and there is an urgent need for adapting to current and projected consequences of climate change;

● This urgency is magnified in the context of vulnerable communities, who have lesser abilities to cope with the consequence of climate change

● New technologies and a collective pool of ICT facilitated knowledge can support adaptation and mitigation efforts that address both development and climate change challenges

■ Integrated Knowledge System on Climate Change Adaptation (IKS-CCA) seeks to address this by enabling knowledge support services:

● To collate and/or refer to the wealth of community level knowledge resources in terms of climate change adaptation experiences and potentially replicable good practices

► In Text, Images, Audio and Video● Supplement these with available knowledge on adaptation strategies and new technologies ● Enable their easy and open access across multiple delivery mechanisms: web, fixed line telephony,

mobile, SMS, radio – or an innovative mix of these channels

■ Being developed for South Asian context, but can be replicated/scaled up for Global South

Goals & Deliverables■ The IKS-CCA is to serve as a knowledge resource base and knowledge service on

climate change issues – with special attention to the adaptive needs of grassroots communities.

■ IKS-CCA would ● provide contextual knowledge on the basis of geography, language and local

concerns for local and grassroots needs ► drawn from community sources and adapted from existing knowledge resources;

● enable a platform for stakeholder engagement, knowledge-based advocacy and campaigns to further climate justice efforts and initiatives from the South.

Salient FeaturesThe proposed System ■ focuses on the adaptive needs of the developing world, of poor and marginalised

groups and grassroots communities; ■ includes information and knowledge from a range of sources in a variety of

formats; ■ uses a combination of technological tools and media to facilitate collation and

dissemination

IKS-CCA can be unpacked in terms of 3 (three) interlinked aspects:■ Digital content of contextual knowledge on climate change adaptation;■ Multi-stakeholder and multi-dimensional knowledge partnerships; and■ Technology solutions and services for knowledge acquisition and delivery

IKS-CCA: Content■ Locally usable content derived from the growing body of knowledge on climate

change and related concerns,● emanating from the global initiatives on climate change research, collaboration and

dialogue; and● debates, discussions and advocacy on issues of climate change adaptation at the

regional and national levels

■ Documentation of experiential learning in terms of adaptation strategies at the localised level – facilitated and strengthened by knowledge partners of IKS-CCA

■ Appropriation of emerging media tools and Web 2.0 technologies to facilitate content acquisition and delivery in the form of text, audio, image and video

IKS-CCA: Knowledge Partnership

■ Knowledge partnerships with agencies and organisations that are leaders in their geographical or thematic areas

■ Community-oriented or community-based organisations and networks for collation of grassroots content and solutions

■ Linking with the growing global community and dialogues● to draw upon the available body of knowledge on climate change and on adaptation;

and ● in turn share knowledge in terms of people's perspectives and grassroots solutions

■ Appropriation of technologies to support collaborative knowledge partnerships

Integrated Web2.0 Approach

IKS – CCA

Community

Experts/ Knowledge Contributer

■ Voice is an easier mode of commutation and information sharing for grassroots communities

■ Access deficit of mobile phone and community radio are much less than that of computers with Internet

Audio as Key Knowledge Exchange Medium

■ Core of the IKS-CCA deployment■ Carries a humane rather than an

environment oriented vocabulary

IKS-CCA Taxonomy

KNOWLEDGEDATABASE

Knowledge Contributors/ Experts

Content management System

LEGEND

User

Knowledge Contributor

Expert

IKS - CCA

Content Acquisition/ delivery through SMS / MMS

Mobile Integration to Web

Capability Attribution Issues■ Capacity of grassroots communities to leverage the New Media and Web 2.0 tools

innovatively● Space for Civil Society action?

■ Capacity to create/aggregate/share locally relevant digital content in local language

● Ensuring community owned decision on locally relevant knowledge► Who decides & how?

● Is there adequate capacity within community to make judicious decisions?

■ Capacity to appropriate traditional and emerging technologies with the Web● Not enough capacity within ‘the next billion’ ● How to develop that capacity – longitudinal vs one-off approach

Thank You