A Study on Climate Change Technology Transfer Needs

Abstract

Climate change is a concern for all countries; however, for Latin America, the impact of climate change is especially acute as the population is vulnerable to a decrease in their qualify of life. Due to this fact, the CELA (Network of Climate Change Technology Transfer Centre in Europe and Latin America Project) was initiated in order to look at these issues and foster greater cooperation between countries in Latin America and Europe. CELA is being undertaken as part of the ALFA III Programme of the European Commission and involves countries from both Latin America (Bolivia, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Peru)and Europe (Germany and Estonia). This report presents the results of a transnational survey, which was coordinated by Galileo University on behalf of the project partnership. Its results show that while there is a great potential for the inclusion and dissemination of matters related to climate change in curriculum as well as in the research and extension activities undertaken by Latin American and European universities, much of this potential remains dormant. It also points out the need for action at the institutional level and the relevance of international cooperation in order to reverse this trend. The approach and structure of this report will prove useful in the effortort to promote climate change at universities, especially those concerned with the problems posed by the lack of expertise and training in this important field. A special thanks goes to the team at Galileo University for the coordination of the document and to the project partners for their input. I also want to thank the many experts and scientists in Latin America and Europe who have contributed to the survey and who without this effort would not have been successful. It is our hope that this report will catalyze the further development of educational approaches to climate change at universities and encourage its further implementation throughout Latin America and Europe. We hope you find our study interesting and insightful.