In order to find an EbA solution for e.g. the development of an area in which multiple actors have an interest in, it is important to synergistically combine various interests, ambitions, challenges and goals.

oThis process had been led by Department of Planning Management (DPM) under Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) in collaboration with Institute of Strategy and Policy for Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE) and with technical support from GIZ. This was the first-ever effort had been made in this regard in Vietnam without any precedence. The draft Planning Bill is expected to constitute a comprehensive legal framework for planning in Vietnam that was rather chaotic in the past. MPI’s ambition is to bring all stakeholders and their interests in one plan and to improve the regulatory framework for integrating EbA into the planning processes. oA comprehensive concept note providing a comprehensive picture/panorama on how to integrate Climate Change and Ecosystem Service Considerations into the planning system in Vietnam from the Law, Decree, and Circular levels has been made available to policy makers of MPI, GoV, and National Assembly. oConcrete recommendations and texts for integrating CC and ES have been made available to the draft Planning Bill for MPI for their consideration. oCapacity building for MPI’s officers have been made.

Updating the Provincial Climate Change Response Action Plans (CCRAP) of Quang Binh province and Ha Tinh province for 2016 – 2020 was an important entry point for EbA mainstreaming. This process had been led by Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE) of Quang Binh and of Ha Tinh with technical support from GIZ. The Provincial CCRAP is a legal basis for all coordinated efforts of Quang Binh and Ha Tinh provinces in response to climate change mitigation and adaptation. This CCRAP includes priority projects and programs implemented by different provincial agencies to response to climate changes in Quang Binh and Ha Tinh during the period of 2016 – 2020. Findings and recommendations from the Vulnerability Assessment for Socio-Ecological Systems including recommendations of EbA have been fed into the CCRAP process at both provincial and local levels to create synergies. Expected impacts are to reduce negative impacts of climate changes in Quang Binh and Ha Tinh in the short run and in the long run.

The EbA vulnerability assessments (VA) provide an overview of climate change hotspots and identify priorities for Action at the the macro- (Provincial-level) and micro-level (community or local-scale). The Macro-level VA uses existing information on province’s ecological, social and economic assets and climate change projection and identifies specific “hot spots” that require cloer attention. It enables a province to get a comprehensive overview of climate change issues and identify priorities for action. The micro-level VA focuses on a selection hot-spots and repeats the analysis, applying more conventional bottom-up methods of field work, local data collection and stakeholder participation. The key concept here is VA for Socio-Ecological System (SES) incl. the following: Scoping the provincial context for climate change to identify and prioritize the important issues ; Identification of SES and key economic assets based on economic, social and ecological profiles, and using the expert judgment based on Google Earth to identify different types of land cover, infrastructure and human activities; VA of SES and KEA including assessment of impacts, adaptive capacities, vulnerabilities; Identifying EbA and other Adaptation Options.

Local stakeholders learn to become environmental leaders. They learn about their water reality. When people understand the local problems and their community's responsibility, they can meet and engage with similar groups of stakeholders from other communities across the conflict. The common ground for these cross conflict meetings is the safeguard of the shared watershed and the communities engage in productive meetings to identify solutions. Together they identify projects that speak to the self-interest of both sides. Through this process, the communities gain the capacity to advance solutions even within a turbulent political environment. In most cases, the combination of a strong youth program and outspoken adult leadership creates the political will of mayors and other municipal leaders to get involved.

Top-Down is the process to create broader political awareness of the issue. It includes advocacy for national and international support. Commonly a concept paper that explains the problem initiates this process with further research to support and document the issues. It is important to appeal to the news media, as their attention is necessary to heighten the political awareness of the issues and to convey the information to the public, resulting in the creation of a broader public demand for action. Media attention mobilizes national and international engagement and can foster domestic and international resource mobilization. In our experience, public opinion plays a decisive role in dictating the political agenda to local leaders as well as national decision makers.

In order to support decision makers for planning and prioritizing coastal protection measures based on latest evidence, several methods were developed and tested. Along 400 km shores at the coast of the Mekong Delta, ‘coastal numerical modelling’ and some recent investigations on currents, waves and tides have shown where breakwater fences are an appropriate solution to halt erosion and where other solutions are needed. The ‘video shoreline assessment’ is an in-expensive method to gather up-to-date information on threatening erosion hot spots and shoreline condition. With this tool, more than 470 km of coast in Kien Giang and Ca Mau have been classified as stable or in different stages of erosion. ‘Historical mapping’ looks back into the course of the shoreline about 130 years ago and was piloted in Soc Trang. This tool helps decision makers to understand the natural dynamics of the coastline and its dramatic retreat during this period. The ‘sea-dyke quick scan assessment’ is supporting the authorities in provinces and national ministries to prioritize sea-dyke construction in a resourceful and sustainable way. The results of these decision support tools are an the pre-condition for the planning of the coastal protection system.

Key impediments to sustainable lowland development are the lack of integration of coastal zone management policies and approaches, and limited translation into practice and limited community engagement during design and implementation of plans. The Indonesian government has embarked on various integrated master planning processes and established taskforces and working groups to address these challenges. A large proportion of the solution is dedicated to supporting this policy dialogue process, creating an enabling environment. At community level, project partners have been invited by the target communities to facilitate the development of 10 year village development plans and regulations that guide resources management. These will define ambitions for sustainable aquaculture and coastal security. Community-village plans will contribute to implementation of the provincial master plan, addressing community priorities and needs. This alignment greatly increases community ownership with regards to decision making and engagement in implementation of development plans. After the project, representatives of all 10 target communities will have actively become involved in government-led planning.

The DEA NRM land user incentive programme, along with co finance from CSA donors, allows CSA to fund alien clearing in priority catchments. Eco rangers then employed to work with farmers, on rotation grazing, they control grazing of livestock and ensure rotational grazing is enforced. They keep areas alien free, they help protect cattle through mobile kraaling and also gather data on cattle and biodiversity and monitor veld condition and determine when an area needs to be closed from grazing. They also ensure compliance with rested areas and report those not compliant. They also ensure protection of biodiversity against poaching. Also ecorangers play a crucial role in ensuring that alien invasive plants do not come back and are responsible for pulling out seedlings that grow back. It is their responsibility as well to rehabilitate degraded areas where erosion dongas are beginning to appear. Incentives for land owners include not only ecorangers but also vaccinations and access to markets through auctions. Springs and streams that have dried started flowing again after these approaches have been implemented.

CSA used the Lets Respond Toolkit and a facilitation resource they have developed to assist with the implementation of the toolkit in order to assist the Alfred Nzo District Municipality in mainstreaming climate change into their district and support the development of an enabling environment for EbA. CSA developed a Vulnerability assessment with the Alfred Nzo District Municipality which included ecological, social and institutional vulnerability to climate change. In the process the layers of vulnerability were translated into GIS and an overarching EbA priority map was developed which guides decision-making within the district. The VA also contains an index which is used to monitor the vulnerability over time. CSA then also assisted the ANDM to develop a Climate Change Response Strategy guided by the VA and the maps in order to develop key adaptation (and mitigation) priorities of which EbA was part. It was critical to then integrate this plan within ANDM and the use of the ANDM climate change committee was integral to this as well as for the monitoring of vulnerability.