As we had announced in the previous Newsletter, the Intensive Course for Students of the CARE Project was held in Medellín (Colombia) between March 5th and 14th, 2018. Approximately 150 people, among students and professors of the 16 project partners, attended this Course. The 4 objectives of this event were: (i) to give an introduction to the conceptual maps methodology to the students; (ii) to apply with them the mapping strategies that were developed with the professors in the Quito and Quevedo workshops (iii) to show how the cities have been resilient to Climate Change from different perspectives -urban, social, cultural, governmental; and (iv) to make a follow-up of the management tasks related to the work packages of the project.

During the introductory sessions on conceptual maps, students were emphasized that the development of a CMap begins with a linkage between concepts with the purpose of showing their interrelation, in addition to allowing the generation of new knowledge from previous knowledge. After this introduction, 4 working groups were formed, in which both Latinamerican and European teachers tutored the students with the concept mapping methodology through exercises. These groups worked during the mornings.

In the afternoons, plenary sessions were held where professors and external guests presented projects related to their work areas and framed in the thematic areas of the project. The students and professors assumed a deliberative, participative and constructive attitude and made significant contributions to the experiences reported by the speakers. Some of the topics discussed were: risk management in the Aburrá Valley, sustainable rural energy, water management and scarcity, methodologies for prioritization measures to adapt to Climate Change, and watershed management.

The Postgraduate Program in Architecture and Urbanism of the Universidade Federal do Pará UFPA held a panel entitled “Climate Change in the Amazon Context: Challenges and Opportunities” on May 28, 2018, with the aim of gathering students, professors, researchers from the UFPA and other institutions around topics related to the impacts of Climate Change, in order to address the vulnerabilities of Amazonian populations to climate change, as well as to producing materials for UFPA’s Open Training Module, which will be available on the e-learning platform of the CARE project. 170 people signed up to attend this panel: 119 undergraduates, 26 post-grad students and 25 researchers/professionals.

In the Amazonian context, the intensification of rains and droughts causes a great impact for the inhabitants of the cities, especially due to the intensification of the floods. According to the coordinator of the PPGAU and the CARE Project at UFPA, professor Ana Cláudia Cardoso, aspects such as deforestation and land use change and uncontrolled urban expansion must be discussed since they have a direct influence on the ability to adapt to extreme events, that occur more and more frequently.

The products of this panel will be used to develop the Brazilian module of the CARE project, with publications, videos, and other materials. This and all modules will be available on the Internet as of October 2018 and will remain online for two years.

Link to the original news:
https://www.portal.ufpa.br/index.php/ultimas-noticias2/8413-projeto-empowering-climate-resilience-e-ppgau-realizam-evento-sobre-mudancas-climaticas-na-amazonia

Climate resilience is a topic that is gaining more relevance in areas beyond academia, such as government’s programs, debates, and forums. Thus, this concept is appearing more often in news, reports and official documents. In this issue, we mention a few press article in which climate resilience is the main topic.

Southeast Asia is a leading region in the formulation of tools related to climate resilience. The Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APNG) reports that it developed and has been testing a pilot tool to facilitate the adaptation to climate change in topics such as environment, infrastructure, communities and risk management. The pilot tests have been taking place in Cambodia and Vietnam. Simultaneously, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), in their Southeast Asia and Oceania Regionals, has been working along with the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN), developing a toolkit that supports communities in the development of resilient strategies. Such kit is based on information, models, knowledge from previous experiences and best practices found in pilot tests performed 10 years ago in 10 Asian countries. The kit is being tested in three Indian cities.

In the Latin-American context, the Misiones Online paper reported that the Brazilian city of Foz de Iguaçu was the first from the Triple Frontier (Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay) to adhere to the Developing Resilient Cities Campaign, after diagnosing the critical actors in each city of the border, as well as problems and vulnerabilities derived from climate events.

Before the workshop in Medellín, all Latin American partners carried out local educational activities concerning both climate resilience and the use of concept mapping as a learning tool.

More than 200 students have been involved in such activities, which included: the presentation of the CARE project; activities within existing university courses, but also targeted seminars and workshops, aimed at identifying correlations between each course’s theme and resilience to climate change; familiarisation with the use of concept maps; presentations by selected students about the correlation between their fields of study and climate change; specific preparatory activities targeted at those students already selected for the Medellín workshop.

After the workshop in Medellín, some of the partners keep carrying out local activities related to the CARE project, such as further concept mapping exercises, and specific seminars and open discussions related to climate change. Some of the students are also planning to include climate change issues in their personal investigations.

The partners from Universidad de la República participated in the kickoff of the National Adaptation Plan of Cities to Climate Change, held on May 2018. They have begun contacting the national authorities in charge of such plan since it shares objectives and methodologies with CARE Project, especially capacity building through training of local human resources. They will start exchanging information and collaborating directly, taking advantage of the knowledge and experience attained with the CARE Project.

Presentation of the the National Adaptation Plan of Cities to Climate Change. 24/5/18

Source: www.presidencia.gub.uy/comunicacion/comunicacionnoticias/mvotma-eneida-de-leon-lanzamiento-plan-nacional-respuesta-cambio-clmatico

Regarding teaching and research activities, the work done by the group who attended the Medellín’s Intensive Course has boosted a bachelor’s thesis in Environmental Management about the impact of Climate Change over the Maldonado-San Carlos – Punta del Este central agglomeration. This thesis will be submitted by mid-2019.

Agglomeration map. Taken from the research: El espacio público como factor de inclusión social. Acuña et al, 2011.

Finally, the CMap methodology was applied at the beginning and end of the course of Theory of Territorial Planning. This course is taken by advanced students of the Environmental Management Landscape Design Programs. The CMap allowed analyzing the concept and objectives of territorial planning and the need of its conceptualization and generation of theoretical frameworks. The final CMap was developed considering the data, concepts, authors, methodological proposals, social and environmental aspects, among other contents that must or should be related to territorial planning.

Last May, the group of Politecnico di Milano presented the CARE Project in the 3rd Conference of Resilience Projects Observatory (http://www.osservatorioresilienza.it/?set_language=en), a project shared by the CARE group of Politecnico di Milano with the CARE Associated Partner REsilienceLAB and other research institutes

The Observatory is the first national experience dedicated to the analysis of the relevance and complexity of the concept of resilience and to the monitoring of its implementation, through the census and representation of the most significant Italian initiatives and practices that promote the resilience of territories. The Observatory supports the territorial institutions and communities, through a capacity building process, in a process of transition towards a stronger, more aware and resilient society.

The 3rd Conference has consolidated and enhanced the knowledge and solutions sharing process among all the observed actors working on promotion and implementation of resilience practices, focusing on processes and methods of co-production of knowledge and solutions for resilience.

The CARE group of Politecnico has given his contribution to the focus of the Conference, offering a reflection on how Concept Maps can be a useful tool for the representation of knowledge held by different subjects involved in resilience process, for the comparison between different ideas and positions, for the construction of a shared vision on problems and its solutions.

The Brazilian CARE team from Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC) carried out a dissemination action after the Intensive Course in Medellín. The UFABC team participated in one of the classes of the Lato Sensu postgraduate course: Specialization in Public Management with Local Government Emphasis promoted by ENAP – National School of Public Administration (a school of government, Federal Executive, which provides training and improvement in Public Administration to federal public servants in Brazil) and IBAM – Brazilian Institute of Municipal Administration. IBAM is a non-profit civil association created on October 1, 1952, with its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Its foundation was supported by municipal associations and movements related to Brazilian municipalities. On May 24, 2018, Professor Katia Canil gave a lecture on the experience of the application of geotechnical maps in the metropolitan region of São Paulo and related this instrument to federal prevention policy disaster management and risk management. This participation is the result of the partnership that is being established between UFABC and IBAM. IBAM will make available the OTMs to the associated municipalities on its website and will also use the platform’s teaching materials in its courses and training.

After the Intensive Workshop among the Academic Staff of the project held in Quevedo and Quito (Ecuador) in July, 2017, the partners returned to our home countries with the challenge of personalizing the Cmap 1.0 that was discussed in the workshop. In each University, during courses, seminars and workshops, all partners presented the Cmap with the aim of adapting and personalizing it to the particular context of each region or country. The challenge during the Intensive Course with Students that will be held at Universidad Nacional de Colombia, in Medellín, Colombia, from March 5th to March 14th, 2018, will be to test the Cmap 2.0 (the result of adaptations and personalization from all partners) with students coming from the 10 Latin-American universities participating in the project, as well as to stablish future goals as the project’s finalization approaches, with the aim of strengthening a European and Latin-American Network for Climate Resilience. Stay tuned for our next Newsletter, with all the information about this Course.

On December 19th, 2017, the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) issued the approval letter of our Intermediate Report, submitted by Universidad Pablo de Olavide, coordinator of the CARE Project (project ref. 574220). The report describes the progress in all work packages and outputs. The report highlighted the relevance of the project in the national context and the initiatives adopted in the scope of climate change and resilience of each of the countries involved.

The EACEA appreciates the correct implementation of the activities according to the established plan, as well as the active participation by the partners and the incorporation of third partners to the project in this first period. This is due to the efficient internal communication and high participation of the partners in the meetings and management processes, a trait highly valued in the report. Among the project’s products, the website, the E-learning Platform and the Communication Plan stand out.

On November of 2017, during the Seminar of the Ciencias de la Decisión Research Group at Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL), the CARE project team, led by Prof. Santiago Arango and Daniel Henao, presented the CARE Project and the Cmap 2.0. They gave a general context of the concept map methodology and reviewed the concept map with the professors and students that attended. In parallel to the CARE project, UNAL has been working on two other projects related to Climate Change. The first one consists on the Formulation of the Action Plan against Climate and Variability Change in the Aburrá Valley. This seeks to identify and prioritize the adaptation and mitigation measures that could be implemented over the next years. Also, the University leads a project for the country’s Ministry of Mining and Energy, aimed to develop methodologies for prioritizing adaptation measures in the mining sector. Finally, with support of the CARE Project, the Research Groups is leading the construction of the Finance Engineering and Decision Sciences Laboratory -CifiLab. The lab will be ready in the next weeks and will serve for all University practices related to decision-making processes. This lab will allow the University to implement innovative educational practices (contributing to one of the project’s objectives) all will be of great support to all other ongoing projects.

Inside the Seminar “Viento del Este” 1st Colloquium-Public Debate on the construction of the Territory in the Eastern Region, that was held from September 14 to 16, 2017, The Uruguayan team of CARE project presented the main aims of Erasmus Plus to a great audience of researchers, government and local communities.
The activity was organized by the Regional University Center of the East – CURE (The Department of Territory, Environment and Landscape, The Group of Studies on internal migration – DCSH, The Area of Studies on Tourism) and the South American Institute for Resilience and Sustainability Studies SARAS Institute.
More than 200 people from different sectors participated in the three days of intense activities More than fifty papers, posters and documentaries were presented at the event, as well as talks and lectures by national and international experts. Discussions focused on the following 5 main themes: Territorial Planning and Governance in the Eastern Region, Value of natural and cultural resources, The territory and its socio-demographic dynamics, Impact of tourism on local development, Transformative economies and development models.
Also, From December 2017 to February 2018, The Uruguayan team of teachers participating to CARE Project, organized the course on Urban Resilience to Climate Change at the CURE, Universitarian Centre of East Region, with the aim of preparing the students to Medellín workshop on March. The team invited to participate the main experts in these topics in research centers, such as SARAS Institute, as well as Institute of Urban Affairs and Territorial Planning (ITU). We also have the collaboration of the Fulbright Visiting Professor Tom Angotti from the Earth & Environmental Sciences, Graduate Center, City University of New York.

During the second semester of 2017 in the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Jonathan Barton worked with CMap with two cohorts of students. In the ‘Urban Explorations: the Santiago Metropolitan Area’ course with 40 undergraduate students from different degree programmes of Catholic University, CMap was used to explore the potential effects of climate change on the metropolitan region and how adaptation was taking place. A list of key references were provided to the students and, in groups of two, the objective was to represent these materials in CMap form, as a summary visual. The other experience was with a smaller group of 8 postgraduate students taking a course on ‘Climate Change and Urban and Regional Planning’. In their, individual, exercise, the students were asked to CMap on of two options: ‘The challenges of urban and regional adaptation to climate change in Latin America (or Chile only).’ This exercise was based on the course recommended reading list but other sources were also included.
The exercise of using CMap was effective for several reasons: 1. The tool is easy to learn and use. 2. Students who put more effort into the exercise are rewarded with a more complex, elaborate CMap, with strong connectors and a clear logic to the organisation of the information. 3. It is a good vehicle for converting written materials into a synthetic visual, which encourages both critical reading and creative representation capacities. 4. In presenting the CMap, students develop their oral skills and need to have understood the basic components of the exercise and the materials to do this effectively, with good connectors enabling a strong presentation.
Overall, the use of CMap was a positive contribution to both courses. Marks were wide-ranging as there is scope to do a Cmap quickly with little thought or reflection, or to delve deeply and use it reflexively, critically and creatively. Most important, however, is the utility of CMap as an alternative learning tool, providing more diversity in group and individual work, and encouraging discussion of key texts in the process of conversion into a graphic.
On January 5, an internal meeting was held with all the selected students and the coordinating team of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. This is formed by professors Cristián Henríquez and Valeria Fuentalba of the Institute of Geography and Jonatahan Barton of the Institute of Urban and Territorial Studies, together with the administrative support of Margot Lagos of the Faculty of History, Geography and Political Science. In this meeting, along with providing information for the Medellín workshop, the experiences of the work with Cmap were shared and a small workshop was held for the rest of the students.

The last December, a two-day exercise was carried out at the Politecnico di Milano to develop a concept-map. The exercise was made by 9 groups of about 4 students each who attended the course of Energy & Urban Planning, held at the School of Architecture, Urban Planning and Construction Engineering, for the Master of Science in Urban Planning and Policy Design.
The exercise consisted in a representation of the SWOT analysis and the consequent regeneration intervention strategies of a district of the city of Milan, more precisely “Porta Romana – Vettabbia”, developed by each group of students.
The exercise highlighted the students’ difficulty in using a different representation tool compared to those that are generally used in urban planning, but also pointed out that a different point of view of a problem faced could make aspects previously neglected considered.
The quality of the Cmaps elaborated was generally satisfactory and in all cases the theme of representation was dealt with in a pertinent and creative way.

The Universidad Tecnològica Equinoccial in Quito and the Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo warmly welcomed our partners and hosted the meetings.

Following the workshop activities, a CARE Cmap 2.0 will soon be delivered and the organization of the third CARE Workshop, to be held in Colombia in spring 2018, will start.

During  the workshop,  the  contents  and  objectives  of  the  project  were presented to partners, and the technical while revising financial aspects.  The first meetings  of  the  Steering  Committee  and  the  Quality  Board did also take place.

The coordinator of the CARE Project, Dr. Pilar Paneque, attended, representing the consortium, at the Capacity Building for Higher Education Project Representatives Meeting, which took place at Brussels on January 25th-26th, 2017.