angelicaospina Uncategorized

ICTs and Farmers’ Decision-Making: New Tools for Climate Change Adaptation?

The way in which decisions are taken plays a key role within climate change adaptation.

Access to relevant information, the skills required to apply that information into local practices, the availability of traditional knowledge and experience, the perception of risk, the sense of social identity and the existence of social networks and institutions that can either advise, enable or constrain actions, are just some of the factors that play a role in adaptive decision-making processes.

The complexity of such processes is exacerbated within contexts characterized by increasing climatic uncertainty, more frequent and intense seasonality, limited access to information, poverty and resource constrains. And it is within these contexts that Developing country farmers are facing tough decisions that can either hinder or strengthen their ability to cope and adapt to the challenges posed by the changing climate.

Experiences from the field suggest that “environment related information ranks high in the needs of rural populations in developing countries” (Karanasios, 2011, Panchard et al., 2007), and that the increasing diffusion of technologies such as mobile phones provides a potentially powerful platform for the dissemination of relevant information.

But the availability of information is not enough to foster processes of adaptation and change.

Could Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) such as cell phones, the Internet and related applications help to strengthen farmers’ decision making and to adapt more effectively to the impacts of climate change?

A recent report titled “Decisions Made by Farmers that Relate to Climate Change” (Hogan et al., 2011) explores the factors that play a role in adaptive decision making, and provides a good basis to reflect on the potential of ICT tools -and innovative approaches- within farmer’s adaptive decisions.

Based on the findings of the report, the following areas of ICT potential in decision-making can be identified:

  • ICTs helping Farmers Transition from Short-term to Long-term Planning

By facilitating the production and access to climate models and projections, ICTs can contribute to the identification of future and emerging risks and opportunities associated with climate change. Local decision-making can be informed by alternative scenarios, and the diversification of livelihoods, farming practices, or skill sets required to deal with change can be considered as part of long-term planning.

  • ICTs helping to Bridge the Gap between Researchers, Advisers and Farmers

By making climate change-related information more accessible and relevant to the local actors (e.g. through Web-based materials designed in the local language and addressing local priorities, or through text messages with simple, strategic content delivered to farmers’ cell phones) ICTs can contribute to improve the information and knowledge sharing between key stakeholders.

  • ICTs helping to Strengthen the Links between Scientific and Traditional Knowledge

By providing a platform to document and share both scientific and traditional knowledge through blogs, audio-files or community videos, among others, ICTs can help to strengthen adaptive practices, learning and social identity.

  • ICTs helping to Foster Inclusion and Connectedness

By enhancing participation, monitoring and exchange between community members and broader networks, the use of ICTs can help to ‘give a voice’ to groups and individuals that could be, otherwise, excluded. The use of tools such as mobile phones and the Internet can contribute to community-based environmental monitoring, while ICT-capacity building can strengthen local-empowerment and the ability to self-organise in response to external climatic disturbances.

In sum, providing relevant information for long-term planning, building on multi-level and multi-sectorial synergies, linking both new and traditional knowledge, and facilitating more inclusive processes, are some of the areas in which ICT tools can contribute to local decision-making, helping vulnerable groups -such as farmers- to adapt more effectively to the impacts of climate change.

Further research on these emerging areas could help inform the design and implementation of public policies and innovative adaptation strategies within developing environments.

angelicaospina Uncategorized

The Role of Trust in Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience: Can ICTs help?

Amidst the magnitude and uncertainty that characterizes the climate change field, trust is a topic that is often overlooked, despite being one of the cornerstones of resilience building and adaptive capacity.

Trust is an essential element of effective communication, networking and self-organisation, and thus is indispensable in efforts to withstand and recover from the effects of climate change-related manifestations, being acute shocks or slow-changing trends. It’s an equally important basis for vulnerable communities to be able to adapt, and potentially change, in face of the -largely unknown- impact of climatic occurrences.

Associated with the belief, reliability, expectations and perceptions between people and the institutions within which they operate or interact, trust often acts as an underlying cause of action or inaction, constituting an important factor in decision-making processes.

With the rapid diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) such as mobile phones and the Internet, the unprecedented speed at which information is produced and shared is posing a new set of possibilities -and challenges- to communication management and trust building, both essential to the development of resilience and adaptation to the changing climate.

Adaptation experiences suggest that vulnerable communities are more prone to act upon information that they can ‘trust’, a complex concept that could be linked to factors such as the source of the information -and the local perception of it-, the language used to convey the message, the role and credibility of ‘infomediaries’ or local facilitators that help disseminate the information, the use of local appropriation mechanisms and community involvement, among others.

Climate change Adaptation Strategies and National Programmes of Action are increasingly called to foster trust-building processes by engaging local actors and gaining a better understanding of local needs and priorities. Thus, trust building in the climate change field involves finding new collaborative spaces where the interests of all stakeholders can be heard, and both scientific and traditional knowledge can be shared and built upon towards more effective adaptive practices, and potentially, transformation.

The widespread diffusion of ICTs -such as mobile phones, Internet access and even community radios– within Developing country environments could be opening up new opportunities to use these tools in support of trust-building processes, a necessary step towards change and transformation.

So, how can ICTs help to build trust within climate change resilience and adaptation processes?

Research at the intersection of ICTs, climate change and development suggests the following aspects in regards to the supportive role of ICT tools towards trust:

  • Multi-level Communication: ICTs can facilitate communication and trust-building between and across actors at the micro (e.g. community members), meso (e.g. NGOs) and macro levels (e.g. policy makers), fostering participation in the design of adaptation -and mitigation- strategies, as well as accountability and monitoring during their implementation.
  • Network Strengthening: The role of social networks is key within processes of adaptation to climate change and resilience building. Trust is at the core of networks functioning. The use of ICTs such as mobile phones can help to enhance communication and the bonds of trust within and among networks, which can in turn contribute to the effectiveness of community networks’ support and the access to resources.
  • Self-organisation: The ability to self-organize is a key attribute of resilient systems, and involves processes of collaboration that require trust among stakeholders and institutions. By facilitating access to information and resources through both point-to-multipoint and point-to-point exchange, ICTs can be important contributors to self-organisation and to the coordination of both preventive and reactive joint efforts in face of climatic events. They can help climate change actors to verify or double-check facts if the information source is not entirely trusted, diversifying their potential responses to the occurrence of climatic events. Additionally, ICTs can play a role towards trust by enabling the assessment of options and trade-offs involved in decision-making.
  • Appropriation and Infomediaries: The role of actors that ‘translate’ or ‘mediate’ the technical and scientific information to suit the needs of the local context, is vital for the appropriation of information. Tools such as the Internet, GIS or mobile phones can support and strengthen the role of agricultural extension workers, deepening the relationships of trust that they have established with local producers affected by climate change manifestations by offering them a broader set of options and information, for example, on crop diversification or plague management, including more immediate response to their queries.
  • Transparency and Fluency: Online platforms that provide new channels for citizens to voice their views and concerns, and that allow an interaction with decision makers, are an example of ICTs potential towards transparency and information fluency, which is an important factor in the local perception, expectations and ‘trust’ on local, regional and national institutions.

While at the onset of extreme events we are quick to recognize the importance of communication, we often fail to acknowledge the pivotal role of trust towards adaptation and resilience, as well as the potential of innovative tools such as ICTs to help fostering trust, strengthening networks and collaboration.

But as important as discussing the potential of ICTs towards trust building in adaptive processes, is discussing the risks associated with their use.

Ensuring the quality, accuracy and relevance of the information is key to avoid maladaptive practices and poor decision-making, which could potentially lead to deepen existent vulnerabilities and inequalities. Issues of power and differential access to information also need to be addressed when considering the potential of these tools towards trust building, network strengthening and participatory processes –including those related to climate change.

Ultimately, ICTs could play an important supportive role helping to build and strengthen trust within vulnerable communities affected by climate change impacts, as well as in National Adaptation Plans and Programmes of Action seeking to build long-term climate change resilience with a multi-stakeholder, participatory base.

angelicaospina Uncategorized

ICTs and the Climate Change ‘Unknowns’: Tackling Uncertainty

Determining the repercussions of the changing climate is a field of great unknowns. While the impacts of climatic variations and seasonal changes on the most vulnerable populations are expected to increase and be manifest in more vulnerable ecosystems and natural habitats, the exact magnitude and impact of climate change effects remain, for the most part, open questions.

Such uncertainty is a key contributor to climate change vulnerability, particularly among developing country populations that lack the resources, including access to information and knowledge, to properly prepare for and cope with its impacts.

But, how can vulnerable contexts prepare for the ‘unknowns’ posed by climate change? And should the quest for ‘certainty’ be the focus of our attention?

The rapid diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) within developing country environments, the hardest hit by climate change-related manifestations, is starting to shed new light on these issues.

A recent article by Reuters identified 10 climate change adaptation technologies that will become crucial to cope and adapt to the effects of the changing climate over the next century.

The bullet points found bellow link these 10 aspects with the potential of ICTs within the climate change field, highlighting some of the ways in which they can help vulnerable populations to better prepare for and cope with the effects of climatic uncertainty.

  • Innovations around Infectious Diseases: Extreme weather events and changing climatic patterns associated with climate change have been linked to the spread of vector-borne (i.e. malaria and dengue) and water-borne diseases. Within this context, ICTs such as mobile phones, community radio and the Internet have the potential to enable information sharing, awareness raising and capacity building on key health threats, enabling effective prevention and response.
  • Flood Safeguards: Climatic changes such as increased and erratic patterns of precipitation negatively affect the capacity of flood and drainage systems, built environment, energy and transportation, among others. ICT applications such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can facilitate the monitoring and provision of relevant environmental information to relevant stakeholders, including decision-making processes for the adaptation of human habitats.
  • Weather Forecasting Technologies: ICTs play a key role in the implementation of innovative weather forecasting technologies, including the integration of community monitoring. The use of mobile phones and SMS for reporting on locally-relevant indicators (e.g. likelihood of floods) can contribute to greater accuracy and more precise flood warnings to communities. Based on this information, authorities could design and put in action more appropriate strategies, and farmers could better prepare for evacuations, protect their livestock and better plan local irrigation systems, among others.

  • Insurance Tools: Access to new and more diversified sources of information and knowledge through tools such as the Internet or the mobile phone can facilitate the access to insurance mechanisms, and to information about national programs/assistance available to support vulnerable populations.
  • More Resilient Crops: In the face of higher temperatures, more variable crop seasons and decreasing productivity, ICTs have the potential to enhance food security by strengthening agricultural production systems through information about pest and disease control, planting dates, seed varieties, irrigation applications, and early warning systems, as well as improving market access, among others.
  • Supercomputing: According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the use of ICT-equipped sensors (telemetry), aerial photography, satellite imagery, grid technology, global positioning by satellite (GPS) (e.g. for tracking slow, long-term movement of glaciers) and computer modeling of the  earth’s atmosphere, among others, play a key role in climate change monitoring. New technologies continue to be developed, holding great potential for real-time, more accurate information key to strengthen decision-making processes.
  • Water Purification, Water Recycling and Efficient Irrigation Systems: ICTs can contribute to the improvement of water resource management techniques, monitoring of water resources, capacity building and awareness rising. Broadly diffused applications such as mobile phones can serve as tools to disseminate information on low-cost methods for desalination, using gray water and harvesting rainwater for every day uses, as well as for capacity building on new irrigation mechanisms, among others.
  • Sensors: In addition to the role that sensors play in monitoring climate change by helping to capture more accurate data, research indicates that they also constitute promising technologies for improving energy efficiency. Sensors can be used in several environmental applications, such as control of temperature, heating and lighting.

This short identification of areas of potential does not suggest that ICTs can eliminate climatic uncertainty, but it does suggest their potential to help vulnerable populations to strengthen their capacity to withstand and recover from shocks and changing climatic trends.

By contributing to building resilience and strengthening adaptive capacity, ICTs have the potential to tackle climate change uncertainty not only by providing access to information and knowledge, but also by fostering networking, personal empowerment and participation, facilitating self-organisation, access to diverse resources and learning, among others, which ultimately contribute to better preparedness and response, including the possibility of transformation in the face of the unknown.

The need to reduce uncertainty should not substitute efforts to foster creativity and flexibility, which lie at the core of resilient responses to the ongoing challenges posed by climate change.

—————————————————–

*Further examples on the linkages between ICTs, climate change and vulnerability dimensions can be found at: https://www.niccd.org/ScopingStudy.pdf

angelicaospina Uncategorized

Innovation in the face of Vulnerability: ICTs and Climate Change

As the intensification of climatic uncertainty and variability continues to affect vulnerable contexts worldwide, the importance of adopting innovative, yet locally-appropriate approaches to climate change challenges has become critical.

While the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP16) unfolds in Mexico, and global headlines highlight the struggle of the most vulnerable to withstand, recover and adapt to the changing climatic conditions and the impact of acute events, the importance of ‘innovation’ is increasingly emerging.

But what do ‘innovative responses’ involve within developing contexts where poverty and vulnerability prevail?

Based on resourcefulness and creativity, innovation within vulnerable environments often involves adopting new practices using the tools at their disposal; tools that include, increasingly, low-cost Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) such as mobile phones.

According to the International Telecommunication Union, ICTs can play a key role tackling climate change not only by enabling a low-carbon future (e.g. helping to reduce emissions through green and smart applications), but also by providing the means for implementing new approaches to environment/climate monitoring, disaster preparedness and adaptation within developing contexts.

Experiences from the field are starting to evidence this potential. In terms of monitoring, for example, mobile phones can contribute to effectively communicate meaningful climate data, including alerts, to small farmers and vulnerable populations, while community radio stations are being used to share and disseminate climate change adaptation practices, giving local stakeholders the possibility to interact within a broader community, while helping to bridge the gap between new and traditional knowledge in this area.

The use of Web 2.0 and digital media is also changing the way in which we perceive and understand the challenges posed by climate change, helping to provide a voice to the most vulnerable –specially young generations- to share the impacts of climate change manifestations in their lives, as well as the coping mechanisms adopted in response to them. And interesting example in this regard is the initiative ‘Portraits of Resilience‘, which empowers youth to create awareness on the local impacts of climate change using digital media.

Understanding innovation within contexts constrained by challenges related to food security, water supply, health, habitat and migrations, socio-political or livelihood vulnerabilities, requires the adoption of a broader development perspective.

It requires to consider how available resources and low-cost tools can be used to foster creativity and discovery, empowerment and new learning processes that ultimately strengthen local resilience, or the capacity to adapt, change and transform in face of both short and long-term climate change impacts. And it increasingly involves the use of ICTs as part of local efforts to reduce the vulnerabilities that climate change exacerbates within developing contexts.

Have you heard of innovative responses, using ICTs, to the challenges posed by climate change?

Share them here!

angelicaospina Uncategorized

ICTs within a Changing Climate: On their Transformative Potential

According to the latest Information Economy Report prepared by UNCTAD, over the past few years “the penetration rate of mobile phones in the world’s least developed countries (LDCs) has surged from 2 to 25 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants”, and is expected that by 2010 the total number of mobile subscriptions will reach 5 billion.

But this is hardly a story about numbers and statistics. Beyond the rapid diffusion of these tools within developing contexts, the report emphasizes the transformational potential of mobile telephony in the lives of the most vulnerable populations, who are precisely the hardest hit by the impacts of climate change, and are at the forefront of its unpredictable, yet often devastating effects.

According to the report, by enabling access to relevant information on markets and prices that are relevant to local producers, helping to reduce travel –often hazardous in rural areas- and waiting times, strengthen social networks and knowledge exchange, among other, mobile phones are being increasingly recognized as valuable tools in the fight against poverty.

But what about the role of these technologies towards climate change mitigation, monitoring and adaptation?

Evidence on these linkages is starting to emerge, suggesting that the role of ICTs towards poverty reduction and the strengthening of local livelihoods is closely connected to their potential in enabling developing country communities to better withstand, recover from, and adapt to the changing conditions posed by climate change –what can, overall, be termed ‘resilience’.

There is still much to learn about the role and potential of ICTs in the climate change field, including their effects in strengthening -or weakening- local responses and strategies to climate change-related effects. However, these technologies are integral to processes of experimentation, discovery and innovation, which are, in turn, essential components of learning and key to enable more effective mitigation measures, monitoring, and local adaptive capacities within vulnerable environments.

As the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP16) takes place in Mexico, is important to remember that the role of ICTs within the climate change field is not a story about numbers and statistics, but a story about tools with the potential of transforming lives and empowering the most vulnerable to better prepare for, withstand, recover and adapt to the changing climatic conditions.

It’s about understanding that billions of connections to mobile devices worldwide represent an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen local livelihoods, and build the resilience of the poorest to the challenges and the uncertainty posed by climate change.

It’s about the potential of ICTs to transform lives, and be themselves transformed into valuable development tools amidst a changing climate.

angelicaospina Uncategorized

Climate Change Resilience and Innovation: Learning from New Orleans

Five years after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans with devastating force and catastrophic consequences, important lessons about vulnerability, resilience and innovation continue to emerge.

Despite the fact that this disaster took place in the context of a developed nation, its effects on poor and marginalized populations reminded us that prevailing vulnerabilities can act as threat multipliers, and suggest key lessons in terms of the ability of a system –at the household, community and national levels- to withstand, recover and adapt to short term hazards and long term climatic trends.

These lessons are becoming increasingly relevant for developing countries, struggling to cope and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

What can developing contexts learn from disasters such as Katrina in terms of the role of resilience and innovation?

The lessons are multifold. A recent article by Andrew Revkin identifies eight key resilience findings from New Orleans, all related to the challenges posed by climate change and associated hazards. The following are some of the main issues drawn from Robert Kates’ findings, which can in turn be used to reflect on the potential of ICTs towards climate change resilience:

  • Understanding and tackling existing vulnerabilities play a key role in the response to climate change, in both developed and developing contexts.
  • Building community resilience is a long-term process that involves much more than ‘bouncing back’ in the aftermath of a disaster, including the capacity for anticipation (e.g. early warning systems), emergency response, rebuilding and reconstruction.
  • Surprises should be expected, and resilient communities learn from them in order to strengthen future anticipation, response and recovery strategies.
  • The importance of scientific and technological knowledge resides in the extent to which is effectively disseminated and used at the micro, meso and macro levels.
  • Multi-stakeholder partnerships and social networks constitute important foundations of resilience in vulnerable environments.
  • Disasters accelerate pre-disaster trends, including issues such as declining livelihoods sustainability and migration.
  • Vulnerability has numerous dimensions, and the impact of climate change-related events is hardest when geophysical vulnerability is matched by vulnerability at the social, economic and political levels.
  • Increased adaptation to short term, frequent threats can increase long-term vulnerability to rare disasters or changing trends. This suggests the need for systemic, longer-term perspectives in climate change strategies.

These findings evidence the important role of resilience to strengthen the ability of vulnerable communities to anticipate, respond, recover and adapt to climatic events. But the rapid diffusion of mobile phones and the widespread adoption of Internet and Web 2.0 tools, pose the challenge of rethinking these findings in light of the potential (and risks) of innovative tools such as Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) within vulnerable environments impacted by the effects of climate change.

Therefore, based on Kates’ findings we could ask:

How can innovative approaches using ICTs tools help us tackle existing vulnerabilities in the face of both short and long term climate change threats, help vulnerable communities to better anticipate and respond to climatic uncertainty, facilitate the dissemination and access to relevant knowledge, and foster partnerships and collaborative networks to help reduce climate change vulnerability?

One approach to analyzing the linkages between ICTs and resilience is based on the set of resilience sub-properties identified in a recent paper produced by the University of Manchester’s Centre for Development Informatics with the support of Canada’s IDRC, as follows:

  • the role of ICTs to strengthen the robustness of vulnerable systems (e.g. increasing preparedness through applications such as GIS or modeling applications);
  • the role of ICTs in broadening the scale of assets to which communities can have access (e.g. integrating local producers with broader supply chains through mobile applications);
  • the role of ICTs fostering redundancy of resources (e.g. facilitating access to additional financial capital through Internet applications);
  • the role of ICTs increasing rapidity in the access and mobilization of assets (e.g. through mobile-based communications networks or mobile banking);
  • the role of ICTs supporting flexibility to identify and undertake different actions (e.g. by enhancing access to knowledge and supporting livelihood diversification);
  • the role of ICTs in support of processes of self-organisation (e.g. facilitating social networking and collaboration);
  • the role of ICTs fostering learning (e.g. enhancing local skills and dissemination of traditional and new knowledge).

Most of these sub-properties can be related to the resilience findings that Kate highlights from the experience of New Orleans, and play an important role in the exploration of the role of ICTs and innovation towards resilience building within vulnerable contexts.

—————————————————

For additional information on resilience lessons from New Orleans see:

Colten, C.E., Kates, R.W, and Laska, S.B. (2008), “Community Resilience: Lessons from New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina”, CARRI Research Report 3. Available at: http://www.resilientus.org/library/FINAL_COLTEN_9-25-08_1223482263.pdf

angelicaospina Uncategorized

Building Climate Change Resilience: the Role of Social Memory and ICTs

Remembering plays an important role in times of change.  It provides us with the necessary experience to move forward and with sources to seek renewal and re-organisation, which in turn are crucial for building resilience and strengthen the capacity of vulnerable communities to adapt to the effects of climate change.

Although the role of memory tends to be overshadowed by that of innovation, the two are in fact important foundations for change, and are equally relevant within contexts that are struggling to adapt to the uncertainty inherent to natural disasters and slow changing climatic trends.

In a 2006 article for the Global Environmental Change journal, Carl Folke stated that resilience was much more than being persistent or robust in the face of disturbances. It is also about the opportunities that disturbance opens up, the possibility to transform into more a more desirable state [1].

And part of the ability to identify and act on those opportunities is based on the role of our ‘Social Memory’, which Folke defined as “captured experience with change and successful adaptations embedded in a deeper level of values, and actualized through community debate and decision-making processes into appropriate strategies for dealing with ongoing change” [2].

Social memory is therefore key for linking past experience with present and future adaptation actions, and in turn allows for novelty and innovation.

Although emerging evidence on the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) within the climate change field indicates their potential in processing and accessing climate change information, making sense of scientific data and relating it to the local context [3], less has been documented in regards to their role in building social memory within vulnerable contexts to climate change. So the following question emerges:

How can ICTs contribute to strengthen social memory and build resilience within vulnerable contexts to climate change?

ICTs could play a role mobilizing social memory from past adaptive experiences, capturing local traditional knowledge and facilitating innovative responses based on lessons from the past.

Mobile phones and emerging Web 2.0 applications (e.g. social networking sites, Blogs, wikis) can become useful tools recording the adaptive experiences and the history of marginalized communities impacted by the effects of climate change; thus helping local stakeholders to identify options, re-organise and implement novel solutions in the event of present and future climatic disturbances.

ICTs can also help fostering community debate around climate change issues, as well as more transparent and inclusive decision-making processes that lead to adaptation strategies relevant to the needs of the local context.

The role of social memory is closely linked to the concept of resilience, as it contributes to the robustness of the system to resist the occurrence of climatic disturbances, but also fosters its ability to self-organise, learn, and ultimately adapt. In turn, the linkages between ICTs and resilience sub-properties (e.g. robustness, self-organisation and learning, among others) have been reflected in the e-Resilience Framework recently developed by the University of Manchester Centre for Development Informatics with the support of Canada’s IDRC.

Within the emerging field of ICTs and climate change, the role of the past is not to be discarded.

While much remains to be explored about the links between collective memory, resilience and innovation, ICT tools offer a still untapped potential for local communities to capture, disseminate and learn from past adaptation experiences, and to foster novel, yet locally appropriate solutions to the challenges posed by the changing climate.

——————————————————————————

[1] Folke, C. (2006) ‘Resilience: The Emergence of a Perspective for Socio-Ecological Systems Analyses’, Global Environmental Change, 16:253-267.

[2] Folke, C., Hahn, T., Olsson, P. & Norberg, J. (2005) ‘Adaptive Governance of Socio-Ecological Systems’, Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 30:441-473.

[3] Labelle, R., Rodschat, R. & Vetter, T. (2008) ICTs for e-Environment: Guidelines for Developing Countries with a Focus on Climate Change. International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Geneva http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/docs/itu-icts-for-e-environment.pdf.

angelicaospina Uncategorized

e-Resilience: Rethinking the Potential of ICTs towards Climate Change Adaptation

The concept of Resilience occupies an increasingly prominent place within the climate change debate.

Defined by the Resilience Alliance as “the capacity of socio-ecological systems to absorb disturbances, to be changed and re-organise while maintaining the same identity”, resilience means much more than just bouncing back after the occurrence of a climatic event.

It entails the ability of the system to learn from the disturbances, to change and adapt; ultimately acquiring the flexibility necessary to deal with the uncertainties and the opportunities posed by climate change.

The attributes of resilience are particularly relevant within developing contexts, where the effects of more intense and frequent climate change-related events exacerbate existing vulnerabilities, further limiting their capacity to withstand, recover, and adapt to the changes.

But, how can vulnerable contexts that are already facing the burdens of poverty and marginalisation, build resilience?

The rapid diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), such as mobile phones and the Internet, is adding new angles to this debate. Effective access and use of ICTs could pose new opportunities for developing countries that are at the forefront of climate change impacts to build resilience and achieve adaptation.

According to a recent paper titled “Linking ICTs and Climate Change Adaptation: A Conceptual Framework for e-Resilience and e-Adaptation”, ICTs have the potential of contributing towards climate change resilience and, therefore, could help to enable livelihood strategies that allow adaptation; that is recovery and adjustment in the face of climate change.

Defined as “a property of livelihood systems by which ICTs interact with a set of resilience sub-properties, enabling the system to adapt to the effects of climate change”, e-resilience is suggested as an emerging area of study to understand how innovative ICT tools and approaches can strengthen the response of vulnerable systems to the challenges and uncertainty posed by climate change.

According to this approach, ICTs have the potential of contributing towards a series of resilience sub-properties (namely robustness, scale, redundancy, rapidity, flexibility, self-organisation and learning), thus helping to strengthen the adaptive capacity of vulnerable systems affected by climatic disturbances.

Although much remains to be explored in terms of the role of ICTs towards systemic resilience, the introduction of this concept constitutes a positive first step towards a debate that could shed light not only on the role of these tools within climate change, but also on the extent to which ICT4D initiatives have addressed and contributed towards resilience building in the field.

Evidence on the role and challenges posed by ICTs within climate change are still, for the most part, anecdotal and scarce, particularly in regards to adaptation. But as research continues to advance in this topic, and the linkages between the fields of climate change, ICTs and development continue to strengthen, the concept of e-resilience will likely re-emerge, to be discussed and transformed.

As the impacts of extended periods of drought, heat waves, extreme storms or slow-changing climate trends continue to intensify, so will the need for developing countries to build resilience, a complex concept that goes well-beyond ‘bouncing back’ in the aftermath of a climate-related event. Resilience increasingly entails finding innovative solutions, with the help of tools such as ICTs, that enable vulnerable contexts to learn, adapt and possible transform in face of the uncertainties posed by the changing climate.

angelicaospina Uncategorized

From ‘What If?’ to ‘What’s Next?’: Emergent Research on ICT, Climate Change and Development

The rapid diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has been accompanied by an increasing body of research exploring both the potential and challenges associated with the use of these tools, particularly in developing countries. Research in the ICT for Development (ICT4D) field has advanced by often aiming at moving targets, as new technologies are continuously developed, different priorities emerge, traditional technologies merge with newer ones in development practice, and players and agendas at the local, national and international levels constantly transform.

ICT4D research takes place within contexts that are in continuous metamorphosis: social, economic, political, and increasingly, climatic.

Research at the intersection of ICTs, climate change and development constitutes a field of possibilities and challenges that were unimaginable only a few years ago. The role of ICTs towards dematerialisation, transport substitution or climate change governance, which in the past may have seemed far removed from the priorities of the global South, are becoming issues of increasing attention, along with the exploration of new approaches to climate change monitoring and adaptation that are viable and sustainable within contexts affected by poverty and marginalization.

What a few years ago constituted “What if” questions in regards to the role of ICT within the climate change field, are given way to the question “What’s next?” particularly in regards to the needs of developing countries, where the effects of climatic disturbances often exacerbate existing development challenges and vulnerabilities (IPCC, 2007; Moser et. al, 2008).

A recent report titled “Unveiling the Links between ICTs & Climate Change in Developing Countries: A Scoping Study” addresses this question by suggesting six emerging research areas at the intersection of these fields [1]:

(a) Mitigation

  • ICTs and community-level mitigation
  • ICTs, climate change and global value and supply chains
  • ICTs, climate change and emerging consumer trends
  • ICTs, climate change and emerging business practices

(b) Monitoring

  • ICTs, climate change monitoring and local empowerment

(c) Adaptation

  • ICTs, climate change and localization
  • ICT and local livelihoods
  • ICTs, local voices and awareness raising
  • ICTs and emerging social aspects of climate change

(d) Strategy

  • ICTs, climate change and inclusion
  • ICTs, climate change and governance challenges
  • ICTs and climate change decision-making processes

(e) Disaster Management and Response

  • ICTs, disaster management and response

(f) Technologies: Impacts and Issues

  • Low-cost and emerging technologies

Although these issues are not meant to constitute an exhaustive list of emerging topics, they do invite reflection by ICT, climate change and development practitioners, researchers and visionaries alike, in order to determine a new agenda of research and action towards the future.

Innovative ‘what if’ approaches have paved the way to new solutions that are increasingly being tested and implemented in the field, as the diffusion of ICTs, particularly mobile phones, continues to permeate the fabrics of developing country societies.

But as the impacts of stronger storms, drier seasons, heavier precipitation or rising sea levels become more visible, so does the importance of identifying What’s next? in terms of research in the ICT, climate change and development field.

Therefore, this entry ends with an open question, an invitation to think about

‘What else is next?’

Which other topics could we identify in terms of the potential of ICTs to help developing countries to effectively adapt, monitor, and ultimately contribute to mitigate the impacts of climate change?

———————————

[1] The areas and issues identified in the report are based on an overview of the trends that literature on ICTs, climate change and development has followed in since the 90’s, the main components of the Overview Model on ICTs, Climate Change and Development, as well as on the analysis of experiences emerging from developing countries as key areas for future research.

References:

IPCC. 2007. Fouth Assessment Report (AR4). Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), http://www.ipcc.ch

Moser, C. & Satterthwaite, D. (2008) Towards Pro-Poor Adaptation to Climate Change in the Urban Centres of Low and Middle-Income Countries. International Institute for Environment -and Development (IIED), London http://www.iied.org/pubs/pdfs/10564IIED.pdf

Ospina, A. V. & Heeks, R. (2010) Unveiling the Links between ICTs & Climate Change in Developing Countries: A Scoping Study. Centre for Development Informatics, Institute for development Policy and Planning (IDPM), University of Manchester, https://www.niccd.org/ScopingStudy.pdf

angelicaospina Uncategorized

ICTs, Creativity and Resourcefulness: Can ICTs enable Adaptive e-Ingenuity?

More than 10 years ago, before the debate over climate change was at the forefront of the international agenda, Thomas Homer-Dixon referred to Ingenuity as ideas applied to solve practical social and technical problems; a concept that goes beyond the development of new technologies or drought-resistant crops, and includes more efficient markets and better social arrangements (1).

Today, amidst growing evidence of a changing climate and its impact on vulnerable populations, ingenuity could be a key factor in the adaptive capacity of developing country communities affected by climatic variability and changing trends.

For the poor, whose livelihoods are largely dependent upon natural resources, responding and adapting to the unpredictability of dry or rainy seasons and their effect on water supply and food scarcity, among others, depends not only on their (limited) access to resources, but often on their inventiveness, resourcefulness and creative skills to cope with the challenges of daily life, within contexts characterised by marginalization and development constrains.

The increasing diffusion and adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can help enable ingenuity and contribute towards climate change adaptation, as emerging evidence from the field is starting to suggest.

A project led by the Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN), a NGO based in Kenya, uses iPods as tools for marginalized communities to access content relevant to their livelihoods, particularly farming and husbandry techniques. Through podcasts that tailor the most pressing needs of rural farmers affected by climatic variations, ICTs are playing a key role in the distribution of information and best practices, including markets and market prices, appropriate seeds and crops, alternatives to costly fertilizers and pesticides, among others. The information disseminated is rooted in field experience from local practitioners and traditional knowledge that emerges from the community. Some of these podcasts can be viewed online.

At the same time, Maarifa Centres (Maarifa is the Swahili word for knowledge) are used at the community level to engage local stakeholders with the use of ICTs, while linking the information accessed to the priorities of local adaptation efforts to the effects of the changing climate, particularly food scarcity and water supply due to changing patterns in rain.

The adaptive efforts of the Kyuso community in Kenya, and the role of Maarifa Centres, can be seen in a video available online (7:02 minutes).

Young members of the community are trained to act as infomediaries, supporting communities to access relevant information and document best practices that are disseminated using the Internet, video clips, blogs and Web 2.0 tools. According to a recent article published on the project’s Web site, farmers will also be using a Web-based portal and SMS to share market information including prices of commodities and bidding online.

As initiatives such as this one continue to emerge in developing countries, it seems relevant to ask:

Could the use of ICTs within local adaptive strategies lead to increased ingenuity –i.e. to the emergence of new ideas to solve practical problems caused by the effects of climate change?

Early evidence suggests that ICTs could play an important role inspiring, sharing and helping to realize adaptive ideas, fostering community-based practical solutions to the challenges that arise from climate change impacts, and potentially benefiting from emerging opportunities (2).

But although evidence from the ICT4D field suggests the potential of these tools facilitating access to information, fostering knowledge sharing and strengthening social networks and productive processes (among others), further research and analysis is required in order to assess the full extent of their role, and of the challenges associated to it, within adaptive processes in the global South.

ICT-enabled ingenuity towards adaptive actions, or what could be referred to as ‘e-ingenuity’, is a concept that may deserve further attention, as evidence on the role of ICTs within the climate change field continues to emerge.

From new ICT uses and applications, to strengthened social networks and organizations that support local adaptive efforts, ingenuity could act as an enabler of effective responses to climate change-related hazards and variability, while building on the existing social capital, knowledge and experiences of local actors.

As the work conducted by ALIN reflects, the ICT for development field is in no shortage of inspiring projects and initiatives that defy the constraints posed by deeply rooted development challenges.

The task is now for the academic and practitioner communities to articulate efforts towards the systematization and analysis of emerging experiences from the field, including the ways in which developing country communities are adapting and solving the challenges posed by climate change in their daily lives: through creativity, resourcefulness, and increasingly, through the use of ICT tools.

———————————————–

(1) Homer-Dixon, T. (2000) The Ingenuity Gap, Vintage, London.

(2) Ospina, A. V. & Heeks, R. (2010) Unveiling the Links between ICTs & Climate Change in Developing Countries: A Scoping Study. Centre for Development Informatics, Institute for development Policy and Planning (IDPM), University of Manchester, https://www.niccd.org/ScopingStudy.pdf