You might have missed it under the deluge of Trump and Brexit news, but the UK Climate Risk Assessment 2017 was published last month. A five-yearly requirement under the 2008 Climate Change Act, the results will be used to inform the development of the next instalment of the UK National Adaptation Programme, due in 2018.
The seventh annual Oxford Adaptation Academy is scheduled for August 13-25th, 2017. That may seem a long way off but, each year, there are sadly a few people who try to book at the last minute and discover that they have left it too late. It can take longer than you realise to organise flights, visas, sponsorship, leave from work, and so on.
Our approach is rooted in complexity--navigating complex landscapes, making decisions when outcomes are unknown, learning from practice. A few years ago we pioneered an approach to M&E that extends our practice to managing project performance recognizing quite diverse contexts. John Colvin led our contribution on this them for a UNEP/GEF report, under the auspices of Anand Patwardhan (GEF STAP member). The synthesis paper will be out later this year. We also have an earlier booklet.
The approach recognizes different contexts: what you can learn depends on the context, as does what you monitor to support learning and future practice.
So, I enjoyed reading the report to the GEF Council that cites this work as one of the major contributions of STAP to changing the world (if we take that as the GEF mission). Kudos to all the contributors who shared insights and helped shape the way forward in a field that is both technical and contextual.
If I could describe the Oxford Adaptation Academy in one word; Unique!
