The CARIBSAVE Partnership has been designated
as Managing Partner to the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) for
managing Climate Change Research projects in the Caribbean. This is a critical building block in the
ongoing work being conducted by CDKN, UKAID (formerly DFID) and other donors in
the region.
The two-and-a-half year project is providing
appropriate resources to build on three key initiatives and document developments
that have been taking place over the past months in the region; namely the
completion of the ‘Regional Framework for Achieving Development Resilient to
Climate Change’, CARICOM’s Regional Implementation Plan (IP) and the Caribbean
Regional Diagnostic for Research (RD).
In addition, the project will provide a platform for the extensive
capacity and the pragmatic dissemination of high-quality research. In this role CARIBSAVE will be responsible
for designing and running the Research Calls; issuing and managing research
grants; designing and implementing a knowledge sharing strategy and publishing
research reports.
Under this partnership, the first call is the Caribbean
Climate and Development Research Call, and the objectives of this Call
are to:
1.
attract and fund competitive, demand-led
research that addresses questions of regional priority;
2.
inform the design of local climate compatible
policies and programmes in the Caribbean;
3.
enhance the research capacity of regional
researchers in technical research design; and
4.
improve the dissemination of research results
to policy makers and the uptake of these research results.
The selected
Priority Research Themes have been identified as research priorities for
climate change and development in the Caribbean; they fall under CDKN research themes and
address the aim and overall objectives of the CARIBBEAN Climate and Development
Research Call. Furthermore, they address
some of those areas that require additional research, policy strengthening and
enhanced capacity. The Priority Research
Themes are:
1.
Responding to Climate Change Impacts - Vulnerabilities and Socio-Economic
Implications
2.
Climate
Compatible Development - Policies and Processes
This Call will facilitate the design and
delivery of high quality research that is both demand-led and bridges knowledge
gaps in climate and development. Capacity building, communication and
dissemination of knowledge – the “democratization” of science – are also
important pillars in this initiative. As such, elements of the Call have been
designed specifically to enhance the research capacity of
regional researchers, both in technical research design and in the improvement
of the dissemination of research results to policy makers, and the uptake of
these results. Ultimately, it is anticipated that the forthcoming research will address
questions of regional priority and inform the design of local climate
compatible policies and programmes in the Caribbean in an era of climate change
and in light of the heightened vulnerability of Small Island Developing States.
