Local organizations from six countries meet in Costa Rica to strengthen resilient landscape planning

• For five days, community-based organizations exchange knowledge and design strategies for nature-based solutions to address climate challenges. 

With the aim of promoting adaptive planning from the territory, representatives of 12 local organizations from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador are meeting from August 18 to 22 at the Training of Trainers Workshop on Landscape Planning with an Adaptation Pathways Approach. The activity is organized by the PARES Project – Peace, Action, Resilience, and Sustainability in Latin American Landscapes – and seeks to provide participants with practical tools to lead sustainable transformation processes in their communities.

The meeting is held on the campus of CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center), in Turrialba, Costa Rica. The activity is part of the technical and methodological strengthening process promoted by the project, with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and funding from the European Union (EU). 

Over five days, participants work on analyzing data obtained through participatory assessments, collectively building landscape visions, and designing adaptation pathways that integrate nature-based solutions (NbS), territorial governance, and scalability. 

“This workshop allows us to translate evidence generated in the territories into concrete adaptation strategies. We are committed to planning that is science-based yet deeply connected to local realities”, said Ileana Ávalos, Coordinator of the PARES Project. 

The agenda includes technical training sessions, practical exercises, and peer exchange spaces, as well as a field trip to the canton of Sarapiquí. There, delegations will learn about ecological restoration experiences led by local governments, production with bio-inputs, and Payment for Environmental Services (PES) schemes. 

One of the core components of the workshop is the PARES Community of Practice, a horizontal learning space where organizations share their methodologies, challenges, and lessons learned. The topics of the exchange forums were selected based on a survey conducted with the organizations and address areas such as community participation, sustainable production, territorial defense, and multi-level governance. 

The workshop is held within the framework of the alliance “Facilitating targeted approaches to address climate and environmental risks related to peace and security.”Through this alliance, the EU and UNEP have joined forces with CATIE to implement the PARES Project.