Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change: The Case of a Community University Workshop in Taiwan

Adaptation to climate change is an important issue now and will continue to be for generations to come. This study designs an educational and practical workshop for adaptation to climate change at a local community level. The community universities in Taiwan normally facilitate social activities and informal learnings. This study thus defines the educational or social activities conducted in community universities as community-based affairs. After reviewing the phase II adaption action plan of Taiwan, critical adaptation sectors of disasters and water resources are identified. A case study on designing the community-based adaptation (CBA) workshop for water resources management in the Dahan River Basin is thereby developed. The learning subjects or practicing topics include an introduction to climate change impacts and their mitigation and adaptation; adaptation sectors of disasters, infrastructure, water resources, and agricultural production; and the utilization of water resources under climate change. Concept mapping of climate change impacts and debating possible global climate trends could further encourage participants to think in-depth and to act accordingly. This study also applies the rigor and relevance (R&R) framework to assist in the design of the CBA workshop and thereby to assess the effectiveness after its delivery. To further investigate the two-dimensional R&R levels of the CBA workshop, this study proposes eight combinations of contents and outcomes (tasks). In summary, this workshop gives background knowledge on geography and applies the analysis tool of concept mapping. The 10 learning subjects or practicing topics developed are mostly at the high rigor levels of 4-Analysis and 5-Synthesis. The overall "application level" of the CBA workshop is ranked as level 4 of "predictable real-world application." The eight tasks that can "expand" the rigorousness of knowledge acquisition and "empower" the relevance of skill application are found to fall into Quadrant "C-Assimilation".