News

Fundación CoMunidad awarded micro-grant for adaptation project

25.02.2022

Fundación CoMunidad in Panama, a member of the Mountain Partnership (MP) and Steering Committee representative alternate for Major Groups in North and Central America and the Caribbean, is one of the recipients of the Adaptation Research Alliance (ARA) micro-grants initiative.

With the launch of its micro-grants call in November 2021, the ARA seeks to support initiatives exploring burning adaptation issues faced in developing countries that knowledge and research can help solve.

Fundación CoMunidad’s winning project proposal focuses on the development of a resilience action plan for the Santa Maria Watershed to improve livelihoods, boost food security, and enhance agricultural productivity.

“This project contributes significantly to the role mountains play as key ecosystems that provide freshwater resources and host family farmers who live in the highlands,” says Alberto Pascual, Director of Fundación CoMunidad.

Julio Araujo, who heads up the micro-grant initiative, adds, “The micro-grants enable access to financial, technical and collaborative support that can help drive country-level activities to realization and increase climate resilience on the ground in the communities that need it the most.”

The outputs from the micro-grants are expected to feed into several ARA workstreams, including evidence reviews, consultative processes and a soon-to-be-initiated co-creation space. They aim to provide greater understanding of the knowledge needs for action, particularly the intersection between knowledge, action and collaboration, which can lead to co-produced solutions.

The 27 micro-grant awardees in Africa, Asia and Latin America will participate in a global workshop to learn about and share experiences on collaborative approaches and co-production. This will be followed by individual co-creation spaces held by the initiatives to address their specific burning issue.

Regional workshops will also be held to support awardees in strengthening networks and partnerships toward locally relevant adaptation solutions beyond the grant period.

Read more

Photo: Cristhian Carreno/Unsplash