An international network on climate change adaptation teaching and research.

The UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 on “Climate Action” recognizes climate change as one of the greatest challenges of our time, fundamentally undermining the ability of all countries to achieve sustainable development. While climate change affects all countries on all continents it disproportionately affects the developing world, with unprecedented and increasing risks to life, livelihoods and ecosystems. Adaptation to changing and new environmental conditions is therefore of fundamental importance to sustainability and implies interdisciplinary scientific knowledge.

However, climate change adaptation (CCA) is not a straightforward but a complex and interwoven process. The current translation from research to CCA practice shows important limitations. Moreover, it is widely recognized that human capacities and knowledge, and thus education, are a critical resource to address CCA, but comprehensive teaching curricula at the university level are missing in Switzerland and countries in the South.

This project addresses this major challenge by developing and implementing dedicated joint teaching programs and introducing new approaches to put research into value for practice and development. For this purpose, we systematically adopt a joint knowledge production (JKP) approach where researchers, policy makers and groups of civil society engage and cooperate in a framework of different forms of knowledge to ultimately negotiate adaptation.

We directly respond to SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 4 (Quality education), and also contribute to SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities), and SDG 15 (Life on Land).

Veruska Muccione

www.knowledgeforclimate.net

Muccione, V., Huggel, C., Bresch, D. N., Jurt, C., Wallimann-Helmer, I., Mehra, M. K., & Caicedo, J. D. P. (2019). Joint knowledge production in climate change adaptation networks. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 39, 147-152.

• ETH Zurich
• Zurich University of Arts, ZHdK
• University of Fribourg
• University of Applied Sciences, BFH HAFL
• National University of Colombia, UNAL
• Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, PUCP
• Universidad Centroamericana, UCA
• Tribhuvan University, TU
• Jawaharlal Nehru University, JNU
• National University of Sciences and Technology, NUST