PLACARD started in 2015, the same year of both the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Paris Agreement. This context created a momentum in several policy areas, where the linkages between disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) were highlighted and the potential of climate change to increase climate extremes and exacerbating adverse impacts was stressed. Both research communities – DRR and CCA – aim to reduce negative impacts of climate change and disasters on the natural environment, human society and economies by anticipating risks and uncertainties and by addressing vulnerabilities. However, each field does so through different actors and institutions, and with different time horizons, research methodologies, language, policy frameworks and patterns in mind. These differences can lead to suboptimal strategies and duplicated research funding programmes. As climate change is likely to make extreme events more frequent and intense, it becomes paramount to mainstream CCA and DRR into both development practice and planning at the sub-national, national and international levels.
PLACARD’s vision was to become a recognized platform associated with high quality dialogue, knowledge exchange and collaboration between CCA and DRR communities. In a landscape where there is a large and complex variety of stakeholder networks, research, policy initiatives and sources of information and knowledge, PLACARD was a hub for activities to enhance the coherence and give direction to CCA and DRR research, policy and practices, to strengthen cooperation in these domains and counter the ongoing process of fragmentation. The PLACARD concept (Figure 1) followed three key principles:
1. Provide a common ‘space’ where CCA and DRR communities could come together, sharing knowledge and experiences and creating opportunities for collaboration;
2. Facilitate the communication, information and knowledge exchange between both communities especially at the science-policy-practice interface;
3. Support the coordination and coherence of CCA and DRR research, policy and practices.
Figure 1 - PLACARD concept for increasing the coordination between CCA and DRR research, policy and practice.
