Asian Journal of Environment and Disaster Management 2010 2 4

doi: 10.3850/S1793924011000794

Preface

Dr. Linda Anne Stevenson Executive Science Officer, Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research.

The Asia-Pacific Network (APN) for Global Change Research is an international network of member governments whose mission is to enable investigation of change in the Earth’s life support systems as it occurs in the Asia-Pacific region to (a) identify, explain, and predict changes in the context of both natural and anthropogenic forcing; (b) assess potential regional and global vulnerability of natural and human systems; and (c) contribute, from the science perspective, to the development of policy options for appropriate responses to global change that will also contribute to sustainable development. Recent research and supporting observations have provided new insights into some changes in the Earth system and their impacts but have, at the same time, opened a number of new and challenging scientific issues. The APN seeks to identify such emerging issues and to promote and encourage regional cooperative research to address these through the Annual Regional Call for Research Proposals (ARCP) and its Capacity Development Program, CAPaBLE.

“Strengthening Capacity for Policy Research on Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change in Agriculture and Water Sectors” is an APN CAPaBLE project (Reference Number: CRP200902NMY-Pereira). It was initiated in August 2009 by the Institute for Environment and Development, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (LESTARI-UKM), in collaboration with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), India, and the Institute ofMeteorology,Hydrology and Environment (IMHEN), Vietnam. The project aims to strengthen research capacity on mainstreaming climate change adaptation concerns into agricultural and water policies and create a network for adaptation policy research in Asia.

The project partners have participated in two workshops organized in Malaysia, in 2009 and 2010, in collaboration with principal linkages — the Asian University Network on Environment and Disaster Management (AUEDM) and ORBICOM, the Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communication — as well as national partners. Workshop participants were from government, intergovernmental bodies, academia, research institutes, business, and non-government organizations in the Asia Pacific. The workshops served as a platform to disseminate project findings, build capacity, and lay the foundation for the proposed network for adaptation policy research.

Volume 2, Issue 4 of the Asian Journal of Environment and Disaster Management is the first collection of 10 peer-reviewed papers from the two workshops. It represents findings of the project, documenting climate change adaptation perspectives in the Asia Pacific, and country experiences in the water and agriculture sectors. The target group is practitioners and researchers. In publishing the papers, the APN assures that the results of the research project contribute to the development of a sound scientific base for decision- and policy-making related to climate change adaptation in the region.