Last month, our member Mahi Patki facilitated a special session of the Adapting to Climate Change (AdACC) workshop, and as far as we know, this was the very first time the workshop has been run in Japan! This initiative was part of a course on environmental science and sustainability taught by Mahi for high school students from the United Arab Emirates, who visited Tokyo this summer for a two-week program. A group of seven students was guided through the workshop.
What is the AdACC workshop?
Developed in France and already used widely in Europe and other countries – including in Asia, Adapting to Climate Change is an interactive workshop that helps participants:
- Understand what adaptation to climate change means
- Explore different adaptation strategies in a hands-on way
- Imagine how communities can respond to local climate risks
You can read more about the AdACC workshop here:
- Workshop summary, by our friends at Climate Clarity
- Official website “Ateliers Adaptation Climat” (in French)
Why it matters
When we talk about climate action, most of the focus is on mitigation: reducing greenhouse gas emissions to slow down global warming. That’s crucial, and it’s the core theme of workshops like 2tonnes.
But we also need to talk about adaptation: how societies will cope with the impacts of climate change that are already unavoidable: as visible on the IPCC chart below, even in a “very low” future emissions scenario (the most optimistic), global warming happens.
Rising heat, floods, storms, droughts: these risks are here – as seen with Climate Fresk, and adaptation is about preparing for them in a fair and effective way.
Source: IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report
That’s why workshops like AdACC are such a good complement to Climate Fresk and 2tonnes: they help participants think not only about prevention, but also resilience.
- Read more: What is climate change adaptation and why is it crucial? (UNDP, 2024)
What’s next?
For now, Adapating to Climate Change is not part of Ichigo Bloom’s regular workshop menu. At the moment, we’re focusing on launching two new workshops: the Digital Collage, on the environmental impact of digital technologies, and a workshop about a major social challenge in Japan.
That said:
- If your organization is interested in a session of the Adapating to Climate Change workshop in English for a small group, we can explore arranging one. Please feel free to contact us.
- And of course, we’re always keeping an eye on new formats like ADACC to expand our catalogue in the future.
We’re grateful to Mahi for piloting this workshop in Japan, and to the students who joined her in exploring one of the most important (and under-discussed) aspects of the climate challenge. Workshops like AdACC remind us that while mitigation is essential, adaptation will shape how communities everywhere – including in Japan – live through the coming decades.
Ichigo Bloom offers climate and biodiversity collaborative workshops such as the Climate Fresk and the Biodiversity Collage, to raise awareness and ignite change within organizations in Japan.
