Capacity Development on Participatory Climate Risk Assessments with the PACDR Tool

Brot für die Welt commissioned FAKT to provide support the work with the Participatory Assessment of Climate Change and Disaster Risks (PACDR) tool. The Participatory Assessment of Climate and Disaster Risks (PACDR) tool can help communities to identify local climate and disaster risks and to strengthen their capacity to respond to the challenges they face. The PACDR manual provides a simple and hands-on guidance for facilitators to implement the community assessment and action planning. Results can then inform project, programme, and community planning.

The PACDR tool enables users to:

• understand how climate and other hazards affect lives and livelihood resources of local communities,
• learn how people and communities currently respond to these hazards,
• identify and plan adaptation and risk reduction options to enhance people’s resilience, and
• include gender and minority considerations throughout the assessment of climate and disaster risks.

The PACDR tool and its manual are designed to be self-explanatory to the degree that first-time users with experience in community-based participatory approaches and basic knowledge of climate change and disaster risk reduction can work their way through the modules without assistance. It is applicable in both, rural and urban settings. Non-governmental or community-based organizations and district or local governments may initiate and facilitate the process. Community-level project developers, managers and field staff may also find the tool useful in assessing existing or planned development projects.