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Pacific climate change fellowship initiative wins funding
Funding of almost $106,000 has been awarded to Australia’s peak local government professional body, Local Government Managers Australia (LGMA), to run its inaugural Pacific Local Government Climate Change Fellowship program.
Under the program, five local government practitioners from the Pacific region will be invited to Australia to exchange knowledge and skills in relation to managing climate change impacts, an area in which Australian local government is an acknowledged leader.
The program will commence with orientation and induction of the Fellows in Canberra, followed by six weeks of professional placements within Australian councils.
It will conclude at the 2012 LGMA National Congress and Business Expo being held 20–24 May in Perth, where the Fellows will participate in an International Masterclass on climate change.
The National President of LGMA, John Bennie, said the organisation is delighted to have received this significant funding through AusAID’s Australian Leadership Awards Fellowship (ALA Fellowships) Program. The ALA Fellowships is a competitive grants program that funds short-term in-Australia study, research and professional development activities hosted by Australian organisations. The aim is to develop leadership, address priority development issues and build partnerships and linkages between Australian organisations and partner organisations in developing countries. It targets senior and mid-career professionals who will be in a position to advance key regional development priorities and increase institutional capacities.
“The countries of the Pacific have been identified as among the nation’s most vulnerable to the impacts of global climate change, and LGMA is now including a climate-change element in all our international development and assistance programs,” Mr Bennie said.
“The Pacific Local Government Climate Change Fellowship program is part of this process.
“Participants will benefit from the transfer of skills and capacity to enhance their response to climate change by utilising the expertise of the Australian local government sector,” Mr Bennie continued
“The program will also help build sustained links between local government climate change practitioners in the Pacific region, promoting further information exchange.”
Mr Bennie said the Fellows participating will have been identified as leaders in climate change action in their own communities, local authorities and countries, and have the capacity to disseminate and implement what they learn while participating in the fellowship.
The LGMA Pacific Local Government Climate Change Fellowship program is being run in partnership with the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) Pacific program, which will also be involved in the International Master class at 2012 National Congress in May.
“Other Master class participants will include representatives from other international programs in which the LGMA is involved, including CLGF’s Technical Twinning Partnership Program and Good Practice Scheme, all of which reflect our commitment to sharing Australia’s local government expertise with developing countries, particularly our neighbours in the Pacific,” Mr Bennie said.
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Further information: Lauren Oakey
(03) 9682 9222
0417400744
LaurenOakey@lgma.org.au
