Africa 2030 - Strengthening the Capacity of African Countries to handle the Challenges of a Changing Environment

3rd SYMPOSIUM ON CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN AFRICA

It is widely known that Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents to climate change. As the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has shown, climate change is expected to have widespread impacts on African societies, and Africans´ interaction with the natural environment. There are also signs that the impacts of climate change are already being felt, not only in terms of increases in temperature, but also in respect of agriculture (with lower crop yields) and the availability of water resources, among others. The links between climate change and the incidence of diseases - such as malaria - are also becoming clearer.

The above state of affairs illustrates the need for a better understanding of how climate change affects African countries, and for the identification of processes, methods and tools which may help African nations to adapt. There is also a perceived need to showcase successful examples of how to cope with the social, economic and political problems posed by climate change in Africa.

It is against this background that the Symposium "3rd SYMPOSIUM ON CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN AFRICA" is being organised by the University of Nairobi (Kenya), Manchester Metropolitan University (UK), the Research and Transfer Centre "Sustainable Development and Climate Change Management" of the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany) and the International Climate Change Information and Research Programme (ICCIRP).

Under the title "AFRICA 2030 - STREGTHENING THE CAPACITY OF AFRICAN COUNTRIES TO HANDLE THE CHALLENGES OF A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT", the event will discuss the means via which African nations may foster their resilience and their capacity to adapt, meaning that it will serve the purpose of showcasing experiences from research, field projects and best practice in climate change adaptation in African countries, which may be useful or implemented in other countries in the continent. The Symposium will be a truly interdisciplinary event, organised in the framework of the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, and Agenda 2036 of the African Union, mobilising African and non-African scholars undertaking research and/or executing climate change projects in the African continent.

Consistent with the need for more cross-sectoral interactions among the various stakeholders working in the field of climate change adaptation in the African continent, the aims of the Symposium are as follows:

I. to provide research institutions, universities, NGOs and enterprises from Africa and those working in Africa with an opportunity to display and present their works in the field of climate change adaptation;
II. to foster the exchange of information, ideas and experiences acquired in the execution of climate change adaptation projects, especially successful initiatives and good practice across the African continent;
III. to discuss methodological approaches and experiences deriving from case studies and projects, which aim to show how climate change adaptation may be implemented in practice;
IV. to network the participants and provide a platform so they can explore possibilities for cooperation.

Last but not least, a further aim of the event will be to document and disseminate the wealth of experiences available today. To this purpose, the "African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation: learning, sharing and advancing efforts to promote climate change adaptation in Africa" will be published, with all accepted papers.

This will be a further volume of the award-winning book series "Climate Change Management" published by Springer, which since its creation in 2008 has become the world´s leading book series on climate change management. The decision of the editors as to which papers may be selected and undergo peer review for the book and for the special issue, is final.

Africa 2030 - Strengthening the Capacity of African Countries to handle the Challenges of a Changing Environment, organized by Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany), Manchester Metropolitan University (UK), University of Nairobi (Kenya).