Reinforcing locally led adaptation: a climate workshop for the French-speaking Indian Ocean region

By the Climate Centre

As climate impacts intensify across the Indian Ocean, the IFRC and the Climate Centre this week joined forces with the French Red Cross and its regional intervention platform (PIROI) to provide workshop training “to strengthen climate action in humanitarian programmes and reinforce locally led adaptation,” said María Martínez, IFRC Head of Country Cluster Delegation for Indian Ocean Islands.

The week-long workshop, which was supported by the European Commission, ended today in the PIROI* centre in Saint-Denis, the capital of La Réunion.

The workshop got a group of French-speaking Red Cross personnel up to speed on disseminating climate knowledge and strengthening resilience in their National Societies.

Sixteen staff and volunteers from La Réunion itself as well as Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles took part, and the sessions were facilitated by experts from PIROI, the IFRC, the French Red Cross and the Climate Centre.

Problem trees, resilience stars

The structured workshop included oral presentations, practical activities and group discussions. The participants were first introduced to the reality and the science of climate change and how to address it through adaptation, before exploring more specific insights from the Climate Action Journey and locally led adaptation – empowering them with the capacity to integrate climate action into programmes.

In the practical sessions, the participants used tools such as problem trees, resilience stars, climate storylines and seasonal calendars.

The popular workshop was adjudged a great success overall, and participants said they now felt confident to help integrate climate-smart practice into their National Societies’ planning and activities at community level, highlighting “the need for these capacity-building initiatives to be pursued and expanded,” as one put it.

*Plateforme d’intervention Régionale de l’Océan Indien

PIROI Director Eric Sam-Vah speaking at this week’s climate workshop in Saint-Denis, which he officially opened on Monday. (Photo: IFRC via social media)