Community participation in climate change adaptation research

On 25 January 2016, 17 researchers, government officials, civil society organizers and academics – six of them women – participated in a national training on Participatory Action Research (PAR) for Community-Based Climate Change Adaptation in Chiang Rai, Thailand. The training aimed to strengthen the capacity of researchers by making use of active participation in communities. It was provided by RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests through the ASEAN-Swiss Partnership on Social Forestry and Climate Change (ASFCC) and RECOFTC Thailand Country Program.

Participants in this training learned about the concept and process of PAR and were provided the opportunity to practice this method. By doing this, it is expected that participants will be equipped with a method to conduct field research related to climate change adaption. This training module focused on providing the concept, process and technical aspect of Participatory Action Research. Aside from classroom activities, participants also had the opportunity to conduct practice field-research in Bann Ngam Muang, Chiang Rai. There, participants were able to practice implementing the participatory research method they learned in the classroom and observe the linkages between the traditional practices of indigenous people and the way communities adapt to the impacts of climate change.