Science and technology
- Merits of indigenous versus scientific adaptation within the development strategies of Uganda?
- This article presents the benefits to vulnerable communities of indigenous based climate change adaptation and the advantages of collaborating with scientific strategies, instead of remaining a separate entity, to produce the strongest and most appropriate result. The author discusses the tendency for traditional local knowledge to be discarded in favour of mainstream development activities and conventional knowledge based policy.
Human societies have adapted to climate variability and other challenges for millenia and much of the knowledge in embedded in the fabric of social structures operating at at the community level. This knowledge is highly relevant for climate adaptation and provides an important information supplementary source of expertise to the information generated by more formal scientific insitutions and processes.
However, knowledge of future climate change resides mainly in formal scientific structures, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and national scientific academies, communities also have to linked to such knowledge structures. Therefore climate change adaptation creates an important need for scientists and communities to work closely together, basing actions on pooled knowledge.
The focus of research includes the development of scientific and technical capacity in the developing world; the targeting of climate models to improve decision-making on climate adaptation and how to establish a demand-driven approach to climate science.
Technology has helped to reduce the vulnerability of societies to the impacts of climate change by increasing their ability to cope, protect themselves and react effectively. This has been through using ‘hard' engineering and equipment, such as coastal defences, geographic information systems and drought resistant seed varieties; or ‘soft' technologies, such as training and educational material that increase adaptive capacity.
However, knowledge of future climate change resides mainly in formal scientific structures, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and national scientific academies, communities also have to linked to such knowledge structures. Therefore climate change adaptation creates an important need for scientists and communities to work closely together, basing actions on pooled knowledge.
The focus of research includes the development of scientific and technical capacity in the developing world; the targeting of climate models to improve decision-making on climate adaptation and how to establish a demand-driven approach to climate science.
Technology has helped to reduce the vulnerability of societies to the impacts of climate change by increasing their ability to cope, protect themselves and react effectively. This has been through using ‘hard' engineering and equipment, such as coastal defences, geographic information systems and drought resistant seed varieties; or ‘soft' technologies, such as training and educational material that increase adaptive capacity.
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