A one-week course called "Strengthening the Capacity of City Officials for Urban Adaptation and Resilience" is planned for the staff of local governments. There are full scholarships available to cover the costs for participants from low- and middle-income nations.
In the next 20 years the world’s urban population is expected to rise from 3.3 billion to 5 billion. Urbanisation will increase the pressure on infrastructure and services like road networks and the provision of electricity and water and sanitation. Climate change presents an additional challenge for cities in both developed and developing countries. Increasing temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, rising sea levels and more frequent and severe extreme events threaten to overwhelm urban infrastructure, emergency services, social services and urban management systems.
Adaptation will require action at the local level to adapt to climate change and protect the residents, industries, societies and economies from the impacts of climate change.
This course is aimed at strengthening the capacity of city officials who have been mandated to engage with adaptation and resilience in urban areas. It will be particularly appropriate for local government employees in towns and cities that have recently identified climate change adaptation as a priority, but that are still at early stages in developing their responses.
More information: http://centers.