Capacity Development and TVET: Accredited Qualifications for Improving Resilience of Coastal Communities—A Vanuatu Case Study

Abstract

For countries like Vanuatu, climate change is the most significant single threat to sustainable development, in particular due to the large proportion of the population living in coastal communities. Additionally Vanuatu is the world’s most at-risk country for natural hazards mainly affecting coastal communities (Birkmann and Welle in The world risk index, 2015). One of the key barriers to improving Pacific Island Countries’ resilience to climate change impacts is the lack of local and regional capacity and expertise resulting from the absence of sustainable accredited and quality assured formal training programs in climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk management (DRM) (Jordon et al. in Climate change policy in the European Union: confronting the dilemmas of adaptation and mitigation. Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom, 2010; Martin et al. in Training needs and gap analysis. Suva, Fiji, 2015). The European Union funded PacTVET project has partnered with The Pacific Community (SPC) and the German aid agency (GIZ) Coping with Climate Change in the Pacific Region (CCCPIR) programme to support the delivery of the first accredited TVET certificate in Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction (CCDRR) in the Pacific Islands region. This TVET qualification provides outcomes based learning specifically focused on coastal communities through practical activities and field work involving vulnerable coastal areas throughout the provinces of Vanuatu. The delivery of the CCDRR course is being led by the Vanuatu government through the Vanuatu Institute of Technology and is leading regional and global developments in formal accredited TVET training for Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction.