The advanced international training in Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in arid areas for the South-South Cooperation in arid areas, part of the Chinese Ecological Forum, was organised by the Institute of Geographic and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The training, which took place from 10 to 21 October in Beijing China, was sponsored by the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission. SASSCAL Zambia’s Programme Scientific Officer Mutukwa Musole participated in the training.
The objective of the workshop was to provide advanced training to researchers, managers and staff working in climate change, in developing countries, as part of the efforts to strengthen South-to-South cooperation. In total, 26 professionals in fields related to ecosystem based adaptation from Asia-Pacific and African countries, including Afghanistan, Benin, Cameroon, Egypt, India, Kenya , Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Senegal, Seychelles, Vietnam and Zambia. Through this dynamic workshop, with multi training forms including lectures, field trips, group discussion and reporting visits, the trainees were familiarised with the approaches and practices of the practitioners and by sharing experiences from each country.
The training included lectures and presentations from senior researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and associated institutions. In addition to the lectures, the participants had an opportunity to visit different research institutes and facilities. The training mainly focused on EbA approaches in arid areas in the face of global change. The presented approaches extend beyond arid areas and can be applied in different ecosystems and to different environmental challenges.
The training provided many learning experiences relevant to SASSCAL, in particular to data management, service provision from research and opportunities for collaboration. The EbA provided numerous insights, learning experiences and fruitful interaction with other participants. Most relevant and valuable to SASSCAL is the model of data management and service provision that are being conducted by the different institutes that are part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) consortium. Some aspects of the model can be adopted in the implementation of the Open Access Data Centre / Competence Centre model. There are many common focus areas that SASSCAL shares with the different institutes and centres of excellence, which provides many opportunities for collaboration.
