Training and Learning Circles

Description

Goal and objectives

The key objective of the TLC initiative was to set up a CBDRM “Training and Learning Circle”, that would be the core of a support system for trainers and educators on disaster risk reduction in South and Southeast Asia. Specifically, the Training and Learning Circle seeked to:

  1. Assess the content of current and past training products and programs of TLC partners, and identify training materials that are not yet available and could be jointly produced. This activity included stock taking (inventory) of current and past training materials. The assessment also aimed at identifying key areas for improvement in the field of training and learning as perceived by the TLC partners.
  2. Organise and create a circle of selected training practitioners, who can act as the main resource for sharing training tools and methodologies and for producing identified training products in each TLC country.
  3. Produce the identified training products in a participatory and collaborative manner for wide use.
  4. Promote CBDRM to selected universities, learning centers and training institutes.
  5. Facilitate interactive learning mechanisms and exchanges/sharing of experiences, practices, research, concepts, methodologies and tools in training and education for application of people-centred disaster risk reduction.
  6. Support CBDRM trainers and facilitators by making readily available publications and applicable materials, experiences, technologies and resources.
  7. Ensure and foster south-south cooperation throughout the TLC activities.

Partners

The Special Unit for South-South Cooperation (SU-SSC) in UNDP’s Regional Centre in Bangkok was put in charge of the overall coordination of this activity.

The All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI) for South Asia and the Centre for Disaster Preparedness in the Philippines (CDP) for Southeast Asia have acted as the initial focal and lead organisations and partners at the country level. The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) has acted as the regional lead and focal point for organising regional workshops and in mobilising experts’ inputs.

Timeline

The project started in December 2007.

Outputs & events

  • TLC flyer
  • Launch of Philippines Training and Learning Circle, December 2007: A first TLC meeting with training on mapping and network analysis took place in Manila from 11 to 14 December 2007 in collaboration with the United Nations Capacity for Disaster Reduction Initiative (CADRI) (www.unisdr.org/cadri) and PACT USA (www.pactworld.org/services). The aim of the meeting was to train representatives from the All India Disaster Mitigation Institute, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (Bangkok) and the Center for Disaster Preparedness (Philippines) as well as a selected number of other actors on a methodology to map key community-based disaster risk management training agencies and networks in South and Southeast Asia. This meeting was followed by the launch of TLC Philippines, which was attended by over 70 participants. See the workshop report, and the CDP webpage for further information.
  • The launch of the TLC in India was held on July 4, 2008, at the India International Center (IIC), New Delhi, India. Nineteen participants from national universities, Administrative Training Institutions (ATIs), National Institute for Disaster Management (NIDM), civil society organisations, and members of the UN family attended the event.
  • In 2008, AIDMI and CDP created strong national networks of training institutions and individual trainers in India and in the Philippines and ADPC has collected and reviewed a wide range of community-based disaster risk reduction training manuals and materials. Based on these activities, the three partners have been developing joint training tools specifically targeted at trainers and AIDMI and CDP have additionally approached academic institutions to explore the development of guidelines for mainstreaming community-based disaster risk reduction into their curricula.
  • On 14-15 September 2009, a TLC regional workshop in Phuket gathered 25 trainers and educators from India, Thailand and the Philippines to discuss the need to jointly collect and assess existing training tools, identify gap areas, and strengthen networking among trainers in the region.
  • Training materials jointly produced by TLC partners are available on their websites.

Links