Local Communities in Jordan Train for Climate Change Adaptation

30 climate change youth ambassadors and 30 community-based organisations (CBOs) from Irbid, Zarqa and Balqa participated in a capacity-building session on climate change theory and science in Amman over the weekend.

It was the first of five workshops organised by the West Asia–North Africa (WANA) Institute as part of a project aimed at empowering local communities to design climate change adaptation plans, taking into account the effects of climate change on gender roles. The project is funded by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Jordan and supported by the IUCN.

During last weekend’s training, the participants were briefed about climate change theory and science. The upcoming trainings will cover various topics including climate change adaptation and mitigation, climate change and gender, social media, advocacy and campaigning, and proposal writing.

“As I am studying law, this workshop will help me to participate in drafting new laws that benefit and preserve the environment in the future,” Climate Change Youth Ambassador Tasneem Al Shamaileh from Zarqa said.

“After the capacity-building programme, the youth ambassadors and CBOs will draft a climate change adaptation plan for their governorate, which will be shared with decision-makers in 2019,” said Sawsan Batarseh, Team Leader and Senior Researcher at the WANA Institute.

The climate change youth ambassadors were selected after taking part in a competition earlier this year, in which youth between the ages of 19 and 25 from Irbid, Zarqa and Balqa were invited to submit a video or photo story explaining their original solution to a water, energy, or food issue linked to climate change in their area. The 10 best candidates from each governorate were nominated.