 Urban planners and decision-makers from 10 Asian countries concluded a course on cities and climate change adaptation. The course which focused on vulnerability assessment and climate change action plans helps cities improve their planning and response to climate change.
Tools developed by UN-HABITAT's "Cities and Climate Change Initiative" such as Developing Local Climate Change Plans, and by the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) such as Climate PRO, an Excel based climate change decision making support tool, formed the basis for the course. Participants were given first-hand experience on application of the tools and benefited from concrete case studies from Korea as well as field visits organized by the International Urban Training Centre, (IUTC).
Anwar Hussain, Executive Director for the Local Councils Association of the Punjab (LCAP) commended the course for highlighting the need to incorporate consider climate change and disaster preparedness in planning - "given the extreme floods Pakistan experienced last year and again in 2011, better planning with the communities who understood the situation on the ground is essential", he said.
The 10-day course was jointly organized by UN-HABITAT, the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (HIS) and the International Urban Training Centre (IUTC). Participating countries included Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. |
