Building with Nature

Creating Smart and Climate-Resilient Cities with Nature-based Solutions in Southeast Asia

This course is organized with the support of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nuffic.

Should I join this course?

This course is intended for Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP)/Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP) alumni from the Philippines and neighbouring OKP/NFP countries. As the course takes place online, eligible countries are Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Pakistan. Alumni are allowed to invite colleagues, if well motivated and to a limited extent. This course is aimed at alumni whose current practice is related to the theme of the course. Female participation is strongly encouraged. The participants will be chosen based on their relevant professional backgrounds, strong motivation and high potential of the prolonged development impact of the training.

Course content

Nature-based Solutions (NBS) is an emerging multidisciplinary urban planning approach that, instead of focusing on hard infrastructure and technical and engineering solutions, works together with natural systems to improve climate resilience and disaster risk reduction. The course presents participatory mapping tools, methods for valuing natural and environmental resources, and the decision-making tool Climate Action Prioritisation that was developed by IHS. These tools value the perspective and ideas of multiple stakeholders in the planning process, from assessment to project identification and implementation. These user-friendly tools, which build on local knowledge, can be used by everyone instead of relying just on experts’ experience. The proposed refresher course will then provide new knowledge, skills, and competencies by introducing NBS in developing smart and climate-resilient cities in Southeast Asian countries.

Most of the climate adaptation and mitigation solutions from governments of developing countries are hard infrastructure that is often cost-ineffective and in the end, does not address the real issue. The course will introduce a new paradigm of solving climate change-related issues through NBS. It can provide state-of-the-art insights into NBS, share know-how on planning and implementing this approach, and facilitate discussions on its applicability in the Southeast Asian context.

Module 1: General introduction

• Origins of NBS
• Definitions of NBS
• Types of applications of NBS
• Mainstreaming and Governance Strategies for NBS
• Business & Innovation Models for NBS
• Case study examples in the Philippines
• Case study examples in Southeast Asia
• Panel Discussion: Issues & Challenges: Making NBS a reality.

Module 2:  Theories, Concepts and Practical Examples and Applications of NBS

• Theories and Concepts on Smart and Climate-Resilient Cities
• NBS for water management
• NBS for food security
• NBS for disaster risk reduction
• NBS for climate change adaptation and mitigation

 Module 3 (practical):  Application of Tools and Methodologies

• Citizen science
• Vulnerability assessment
• Climate change action prioritization
• Climate change action planning methodology

Module 4: Case study analysis

• Introduction to the case study area
• Area assessment
• Stakeholders Analysis
• Problem analysis

Module 5: Climate Action planning

• Objective setting
• Strategy development
• Action plan development
• Monitoring and evaluation plan development

What will I learn?

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

• Understand the origins, definitions, and types of applications of nature-based solutions (NBS).
• Explain the importance and contributions of NBS in developing smart and climate-resilient cities in Southeast Asian countries.
• Understand and apply tools and methodologies for planning and mainstreaming of NBS applications towards smart and climate-resilient cities
• Evaluate the potential of NBS, including its replication and upscaling opportunities, based on a local case study context
• Formulate an NBS inspired climate change action plan, including a proposed financing and governance model.