Engaging Communities in Climate Vulnerability Assessment

This report details lessons from participatory climate vulnerability assessments conducted in nearly 100 communities in Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe from 2024 to 2025. It emphasizes the need to integrate scientific data with local knowledge, involve local governments early to ensure institutionalization, and maintain transparency and sensitive communication during overlapping crises to ensure effective community-based adaptation.

• Participatory climate vulnerability assessments serve as the basis for locally led adaptation by combining local insights on vulnerabilities and climate impacts with climate projections, providing a detailed view of risks affecting various livelihoods, ecosystems, and social groups.
• Effective community engagement requires integrating scientific climate data with community knowledge, which necessitates a strong grasp of climate science and strategies to address cognitive biases.
• To institutionalize community-based adaptation, it is critical to involve other key actors and local governments from the beginning and throughout the assessment process.
• When assessments occur during simultaneous political, economic, biodiversity, and climate crises, practitioners must employ effective expectation management and sensitive communication.
• Maintaining community engagement depends on transparent communication regarding the capabilities and limitations of the participatory climate vulnerability assessment process.
• The quality of results and the process of participatory climate vulnerability assessments are improved when diverse partners blend their expertise and approaches, which creates shared ownership within large consortia.

APA

Dazé,, J. D. M. (2026). Engaging Communities in Climate Vulnerability Assessment. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/community-engagement-climate-vulnerability-assessment

Chicago

Dazé,, Julie Dekens,Stefan Mielke,Angie. Engaging Communities in Climate Vulnerability Assessment. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2026. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/community-engagement-climate-vulnerability-assessment.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dazé, |first1=Julie Dekens,Stefan Mielke,Angie |title=Engaging Communities in Climate Vulnerability Assessment |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=26 February 2026 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/community-engagement-climate-vulnerability-assessment |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{daz2026engaging, author = {Dazé,, Julie Dekens,Stefan Mielke,Angie}, title = {{Engaging Communities in Climate Vulnerability Assessment}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2026}, month = feb, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/community-engagement-climate-vulnerability-assessment}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }