Deadline: 11 May 2015
UNESCO’s Climate Frontlines initiative with the support of the Japanese Funds-in-Trust to UNESCO has issued a new call for proposals for pastoral/herding communities across 13 countries in the sub-Saharan region.
The project aims at understanding pastoral peoples’ own knowledge of weather and climate, their forecasting skills, and their observations of environmental change.
UNESCO is looking for individuals who will work with their communities to achieve the following project’s goals:
- to build dialogue between community members and climate scientists,
- to strengthen local capacities to engage with national policy-makers on climate change adaptation.
Successful applicants will work with their community to document how men and women the weather and cope with environmental uncertainty and change. We ask that you propose appropriate ways to develop this documentation. You will help build dialogue between knowledgeable community members with natural and social scientists. These exchanges will contribute to climate policies based on both indigenous and scientific knowledge that address the concerns and needs of pastoral communities. You will need both the time and the skills to work with a variety of stakeholders including researchers and policy-makers, supported by UNESCO, our partners and other successful applicants.
KEY QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED
The work you will do with your community will contribute to addressing key questions like the following:
- How do people in your community read the weather, forecast rain or drought, and use their meteorological knowledge to guide day-to-day decision-making?
- What environmental changes and trends are being observed by men and women, and how are these affecting herding livelihoods?
- Is your community witnessing an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, and if so, how are you adapting?
- Have people in your community had the opportunity to dialogue with national meteorological services or engage in national debates on climate change adaptation? How might such opportunities be increased and enhanced?
The proposals must involve herding/pastoral/agro-pastoral peoples based in one or more of the following countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, Tanzania or Uganda.
For more information, visit this link, to start with the application, click here or download the application form.
