Reflections from the 2022 CASTT Adaptation Academy

Photo credit: IHE Delft Institute for Water Education

Recently I had the opportunity to take part in this year’s CASTT Adaptation Academy, a program AGWA has been leading alongside the UNFCCC in partnership with several leading global academic and research institutions. In 2021 we successfully held three week-long regional trainings in a virtual capacity. A product of multiple years of preparation and collaboration, the first in-person training course (10-28 October) concludes this week. This shift to in-person program at IHE Delft in the Netherlands represented another step forward in the evolution of the Adaptation Academy.

Capacity building remains a pressing need, particularly for developing countries, and the Adaptation Academy provides a knowledge sharing opportunity around the theory and practice of water-centric climate adaptation. For those who are less familiar with the initiative, the goal is to provide advanced training and peer-to-peer connections for NDC focal points and others working on national climate adaptation policies, covering aspects of planning, implementing, and reporting. All of this is under the broader goal of the UNFCCC to ensure that countries can conduct and report on climate actions to meet the ambitions of the Paris Agreement.

My time at this year’s Adaptation Academy was brief. I joined for part of the second week. Twenty-five participants converged in Delft to represent countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, and the LAC. Their greatest similarities: an acknowledgment that every country needs to play a part on the global climate stage, and that there is still much to learn. I was excited to be part of the effort to help their respective governments and organizations do even better work on climate adaptation — and humbled at how much the participants could teach me in return. Learning goes both ways.

Photo credit: Nathaniel Mason

As participants shared their experiences and challenges around climate governance and adaptation projects, we jointly discussed new ideas and approaches to create more impactful programming related to NDCs and NAPs. Each guest lecture added a new element to the equation, a new filter or approach to analyze and strengthen national climate efforts. Experts from the UNFCCC, IHE Delft, Oregon State University, Asian Institute of Technology, Korea Adaptation Center for Climate Change, AGWA, and elsewhere gave presentations and led discussions on a range of topics from the latest climate science to risk assessment approaches to economics and finance. My session largely focused on water’s role as a connective thread across often-siloed climate activities, using the Water Tracker as an example of how to put the principle into practice. Participants were immediately receptive to the idea as they engaged in group exercises to apply parts of the tool to selective NDCs.

This was only the beginning of the conversation, and I look forward to seeing how AGWA and the Adaptation Academy can continue to support these professionals and civil servants as they shape the future of adaptation actions.

Alex Mauroner

Fayetteville, AR, USA