Research need
The project aims to equip small-scale fishing communities and decision-makers with information, resources and capacity to proactively and autonomously achieve more equitable, sustainable and risk-informed futures through a Participatory and Integrated Planning Approach to livelihood futures.
The rate, scale and interconnectivity of global change processes pose both risks and opportunities for Pacific Island countries. Managing oceans and coasts is becoming more complex as the demands and risks to marine and maritime resources intensify. Innovative and holistic approaches to effective management are needed. Further, siloed management sectors lead to fragmented governance characterised by gaps and unnecessary overlaps in policy. The impact of these is especially detrimental on coastal ecosystems and communities, which are influenced by activities on land, along the coast, and from the ocean.
A previous ACIAR research investment supported (FIS/2020/111) the establishment of the foundations of the novel Participatory and Integrated Planning Approach. The approach comprises a set of tools and processes to support communities and other stakeholders to make decisions based on a spatially explicit, integrated assessment of multiple risks and hazards (e.g., climate, natural resource extraction). Using this approach, the research will respond to escalating calls in the Pacific region for more integrated approaches to community-based climate change and disaster risk management, while drawing on the strengths and traditions of district, provincial and national levels of government to achieve sustainable island lifestyle and livelihoods.
