A three-day regional Training of Trainers (ToT) on Community-led Micro-planning organised by the Rural Livelihoods and Climate Change Adaptation in the Himalayas-Himalica Programme was held 1 – 3 September 2015 in Dhulikhel, Nepal. A total of 24 participants from the United Nations, government and non-governmental organisations , aslocal authorities and community-based organizations of five countries participated the training. This was the first regional training of such kind where interested parties including community leaders from pilot villages of Himalica participated.

The session opened with the programme coordinator of  Himalica , Valdemar Holmgren, stressing the important role community-led micro-planning plays in reducing vulnerability and enhancing the ability of communities to adapt to the climatic and socio-economic changes at the local level.

‘It helps to empower community people to come together and make collective decisions for their own development’, Holmgren said. ‘This is a powerful tool to ensure follow ups and commitments from community people for their long-term thinking and sustainability ”.

The goal of the training was to help communities and local participants to develop community-led micro-plans in their respective pilot villages. Training covered concept and rationale of micro-planning; climate change adaptation and its impact on local livelihoods and the environment; understanding community situation using different Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools and group exercises; problem identification; and prioritization and planning with community visioning exercises. As a part of way forward and to ensure commitment, each country team created an action plan for development of micro-plan in their respective areas.

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