Conference: The politics of climate change adaptation in Mongolia and Nepal - understanding power in climate and development interventions

The conference has the main goal to synthesize and disseminate the findings from the RCN-funded project (project number 293938/H30) "The politics of climate change adaptation". We envision this activity as a highly relevant contribution to achieving the a cademic objective number 4 of the Norklima programme (in that it contributes to improving knowledge regarding the requirements for strengthening adaptive capacity) and the strategic objectives referring to improved communication (effective communication o f results) and quality of research (ensuring international high standard). Although we have planned this conference from the inception of the project, in light of our findings and the recent increased attention to funding climate change adaptation via int ernational development aid channels, it appears that the conference would benefit from including as broad a spectrum of Norwegian policy makers and development cooperation stakeholders as possible. We envision a one-day conference where our findings are presented and open for contrast and comments from experts working with similar topics (e.g. the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, in the UK). The main focus will be on our main findings in the two countries under scrutiny (Mong olia and Nepal). At the same time, we want to draw parallels and implications to recent Norwegian development and adaptation investment strategies. Representatives from several ministries involved in these strategies may be interested in participating. In addition, we expect several major NGO's working at the interface between climate change adaptation/humanitarian aid/development cooperation will also be interested in participating. In order to be able to accommodate this interest and increase the releva nce of the conference we need to expand our originally planned synthesis workshop/conference to include a larger number of participants including experts that can provide useful counterpoints.