Experience of the Research and Transfer Centre “Sustainable Development and Climate Change Management (FTZ NK)” at HAW Hamburg in supporting European-African collaboration on climate change adaptation capacity development

Finding practical, workable and cost-efficient solutions to the problems posed by climate change is a global priority. Most developing countries still fail to adapt to the impacts of climate variability and change and adequately transform their potential to implement and increase their climate protection ambitions. This often is a result of a lack of human and institutional skills and know-how to integrate ambitious climate change adaptation strategies and policy into comprehensive development planning. Overcoming capacity constraints is a core challenge in developing countries. The more capacity countries have, the better they are equipped to face climate change and build resilience.

The Research and Transfer Centre “Sustainable Development and Climate Change Management (FTZ NK)” has a several decades experience in supporting fundamental and applied research on climate issues and contributing to knowledge and technology transfer at the national and international levels. Among the Centre’s projects and initiatives that contribute to capacity development in climate change impacts and adaptation in Africa are:

The International Climate Change Information and Research Programme (ICCIRP) that has been created to address the problems inherent to the communication of climate change and to undertake a set of information, communication, education and awareness-raising initiatives which will allow it to be better understood.

World PhD Students Climate Change Network that has been created to support doctoral students in providing a platform for their interaction, collaboration, exchange with other interdisciplinary groups, international PhD students and experts from outside of their organizations

Project “Green Garden/Jardins adaptés au climat (Towards Climate Resilient Farming/Des jardins partagés et d'adaptation aux changements climatiques)”, jointly funded by the Government of Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemienschaft (DFG) brings together 200 vulnerable farmers from seven enterprises in Benin, Morocco, and Canada and 20 researchers representing an interdisciplinary consortium of academic partners from Canada, Germany, Morocco, and Benin to support the design and adoption of successful climate change adaptation practices in agriculture and agroforestry in collaboration with vulnerable groups.

Project “RECC-LUM (Feasibility Study on Climate Change, Land Use Management, and Renewable Energy in The Gambia)” funded by BMBF and supported by The Gambia Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science, and Technology (MoHERST) focuses on sustainable land management practices within the Gambian agricultural landscape and the role played by using renewable energy in the process.  it will also develop a curriculum of Master of Science (MSc) program focused on renewable energy, climate change, and land use management for The University of The Gambia (UTG).