Dr Moncada delivering his ongoing research

Dr Stefano Moncada (Lecturer, Institute for European Studies) and Prof. Lino Briguglio (Director, Islands and small States Institute) co-hosted a special session on ‘Adaptation and Development in Small Island Developing States’, at the 2018 Adaptation Futures conference held in Cape Town (South Africa) from 18 to 21 June 2018.

The session was co-organised with Dr Dinesh Surroop from the University of the Mauritius, Prof. Hilary Bambrick from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), and Prof. Leonard Nurse from the University of West Indies (Cave Hill Campus). During the conference a keynote speech was delivered by Professor Patrick Nunn, from the University of the Sunshine Coast, stressing that barriers to adaptation have two sides, demolishing them requires that we stop privileging western science approaches to the exclusion of others’. A total of five presentations were delivered by Ph.D. students and researchers, all addressing the possible opportunities, and the specific challenges faced by small island developing states when implementing climate change adaptation.

Dr Moncada also presented his ongoing research on climate change impacts and coping strategies in vulnerable coastal communities of Mauritius (photo below), insisting that addressing development deficits, first, is key to then implement effective adaptation measures.

The Adaptation Futures conference is held every two years, with the support of the United Nations, and gathers thousands of scholars, practitioners and policy makers, to focus on solutions and on active dialogues to promote climate change adaptation at all levels.

Further information can be found through the social media of the Climate Change Platform (CCP) of the University of Malta, on Facebook (/um.ccplatform) and Twitter (@umccplatform).

For further details/interviews please contact:

Dr Stefano Moncada and visit www.um.edu.mt/europeanstudies - www.um.edu.mt/islands/climate