TOT on CC Adaptation

Session 4.1 Tools and Frameworks

Using VCA & CEDRA

Terry Cannon

What is VCA?

• A version of PRA tools modified for disaster vulnerability

• We can modify it for adaptation to climate change

• Participatory: the people get involved – as important as the product itself

• You can get quantitative data• It is a powerful way of cross-checking other

information• It can help to make a questionnaire much more

effective

International Federation of Red Cross

VCA methodology for disaster vulnerability and capacity assessment

Many other examples from NGOs etc

Three examples from VCA

A: Community mapping

B: Institution (power) mapping

C: Problem tree – diagnosing causes

• People in a group draw a map of their community and what is important in it

• Use paper, sticks in the earth, colour pens• Should be easy for people to reach – can be on

the ground but older people may not be comfy• Can do several “layers” –

– basic information and vulnerabilities– Risks and hazards – all types– Resources and sources of resilience

• Goal is to empower people to think about risks and risk reduction

A: Community mapping

Community mapping

• Better if you do it after a transect walk or walkabout– People get involved, you can identify participants– Should allow for “spontaneous” focus groups e.g.

Turkey RC Izmir – women, disabled….Can do mapping with different groups – e.g. women, children – they often show different maps and pictures

• Could use simple cheap digital cameras and get people to take photos to link to map – collect results a week later

“Make that change” Red Cross IFRC

http://www.unu.edu/unupress/food2/UIN11E/uin11e0c.htm

Kenya study by UNU

Using Google Earth for mapping

• Images can be used to correlate with community maps

• Quality of images varies a lot• You can put markers on Google Earth to

log information and share it with others• In Disaster Risk Reduction this could be

used to pressure for government action to reduce risks – e.g. highlighting dangerous schools

Murshidabad, West Bengal

B: Institution (Power) mapping

• Often uses Venn diagrams (chapati diagrams…)

• Size of circle shows level of power

• Various ways to show power relationships

• Important to centre on the people in survey

• It will involve disputes – power is about conflicts

• Call it institution mapping!!

FAO example of a typical Venn diagram – it shows different sizes for various institutions and levels of power

World Bankhttp://images.google.co.uk/url?q=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/WBI/Resources/Analyzing_Social_Capital_in_Context-FINAL.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHu7YyqE64M4t0N0GE1QKSVZROc_Q

Benefits and drawbacks of method

• Engages people – you have to think about power and influence of different actors

• May be sensitive – we leave but the people are stuck there, and we may stir up a hornets nest…

• Maps may use the idea of distance and space – people may take a while to understand how to use this

• E.g. they may show an institution as being distant, even though it is immensely powerful

Problem Tree

• Identifies factors that are important in creating a problem

• Helps to identify the causes• Can be used to design projects and

activities that reduce causes rather than treating the symptoms

• Will help to identify what you can and cannot do

• Needs for campaigns and advocacy to reduce causes

CEDRA

Climate Change and Environmental Degradation Risk & Adaptation Assessment

From Tearfund

Key benefits of CEDRA

• It links climate problems with environmental degradation

• It clarifies what the NGO project can and cannot do

• Advises on how to connect with other stakeholders

• Shows how to link up to scientific knowledge and local knowledge

Possible limitation

• Lack of clarity on how to link disaster context with the “everyday” issue of livelihoods and climate trends and variability

• But we are ALL learning on this – we can invent and modify!