Fact sheet of the project Social appropriation of knowledge and capacity building in adaptation to climate change of rural youth: Context, objectives, location, partners, methodology, initial results and next steps. The Cauca CSV is led by Fundación Ecohabitats, with support from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)

1. Rural youth are the heirs of the land, culture and history of their communities; if they feel no roots in their lands and choose
to migrate to the city, the peasant culture is doomed. Lack of opportunities for professional, economic and social growth
are not the only cause of this migration, the impacts of climate variability in rural areas are increasing losses in agricultural
systems, whereby young people migrate to cities to provide cheap labor or are forced to travel to other rural areas to
engage in illicit activities.
CCAFS supports the initiative of Fundación Ecohabitats and its partners to incorporate the theme of climate change and
gender into the formal educational processes of rural education institutions in Colombia, providing scientific knowledge
for the construction of school environmental projects, as well as the strengthening of capacities in information and
communication technologies (ICT) and geographic information systems (GIS) for a territorial appropriation by the children
and young people of the community.
Social appropriation of knowledge and capacity building in
adaptation to climate change of rural youth
JLUrrea(CCAFS)

2. Objectives
• Include climate change and gender topics into the
formal educational processes of rural education
institutions, promoting a culture of adaptation to climate
change.
• Linking young people to climate change adaptation
processes in their community, strengthening their
capacities and generating appropriation of their
territory.
• Strengthening inter-generational links, transmitting
traditional and scientific knowledge.
Location
Cauca CSV (Colombia)
Partners
Fundación Ecohabitats, Las Mercedes School and The
Regional Environmental Authority of Cauca (CRC).
Methodology
• Teachers, parents and young people participate in the
School Environmental Project (PRAE in Spanish), which
includes the training of teachers on climate change and
adaptation; design of a methodological route for the
generation of learning guides and the adjustment of the
educational curriculum.
• Implementation of a Citizen Environmental Education
Project (Proceda in Spanish), which includes a land
planning for adaptation with a watershed approach
including the educational institutions.
• Consolidation of the Northwest Rural Node of Popayán
(Cauca) Network of ‘Jóvenes de Ambiente’ (Youth
of the Environment), as promoters of adaptation to
variability and climate change in rural areas.
• Pedagogical strategy with children under five years,
through learning by doing in the school garden of the
children’s nursery located in the CSV.
Initial results
Through a pilot project in the local school, the project
seeks to generate evidence of a successful approach to
climate change education, articulated with the National
Environmental Education Policy and the National
Education, Training and Public Awareness Strategy on
Climate Change, of the Ministry of Environment and
Sustainable Development.
Next steps
• Implementation and evaluation of the PRAE as a
replicable experience in other rural educational
institutions.
• Validate the learning guides at Las Mercedes School for
dissemination in other rural areas of the country.
• Strengthening the capacities of young people in
information and communication technologies (ICT) and
geographic information systems (GIS).
• Promote the replication of the pedagogical strategy with
children under five years for the implementation in other
children’s nurseries.
More information
Liliana Paz, Ecohabitats director
lilianapazb@yahoo.es
www.ccafs.cgiar.org
About CCAFS
The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), led by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT),
brings together some of the world’s best researchers in agricultural science, development research, climate science and Earth System science, to identify and
address the most important interactions, synergies and tradeoffs between climate change, agriculture and food security. www.ccafs.cgiar.org.
CCAFS Latin America
International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
Km. 17 Recta Cali-Palmira.
Palmira, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
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