Vulnerable towns lead the way in climate resilience

Community-led climate plans unveiled for vulnerable towns Workshop highlights bottom-up model for building inclusive, climate-smart cities

Vulnerable communities in Bangladesh are taking the lead in climate action by developing their own adaptation strategies to tackle recurring challenges such as floods, waterlogging, and heatwaves.

The results of this community-driven approach were presented on Sunday at a national workshop in Dhaka, showcasing the People's Adaptation Plans for Inclusive Climate-Smart Cities initiative.

For the first time, residents of climate-affected towns like Laksam, Feni, and Mirsarai have created locally grounded roadmaps to build urban resilience. The initiative is funded by the UK Government's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), supported by the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), and implemented by Save the Children Bangladesh and Young Power in Social Action (YPSA), with technical support from Jahangirnagar University.

Speakers including ABM Firoz Ahmed of the British High Commission and Golam Md Baten of Feni Municipality called the initiative a turning point in community-led urban development.

A key feature has been the integration of GIS mapping with grassroots data from household surveys and focus groups. "These PAPs are their plans, not ours," said Abdullah Al Mamun of Save the Children.

The project has reached over 2,100 beneficiaries across 27 low-income communities, trained Community Mobilizers, and formed Local Adaptation Committees.

Rita Lohani of GCA said the model could serve as a blueprint for other developing nations. Panelists from LGED and DDM urged municipalities to adopt PAPs into Annual Development Plans and align them with the Smart Cities agenda.