The International Climate Change and Health Challenges Forum was held on September 9 and 10 in Medellín, Colombia. Motivated by the motto “We imagine a more informed and resilient world in the face of climate change”, 200 attendees from Costa Rica, Chile, Uruguay, Canada, Spain and Colombia, and others gathered to share experiences and opinions on climate change.

TThe event featured speakers such as Marcelo Korc, a chemical engineer and advisor to WHO and PAHO who spoke about mitigating the effects of climate change and the importance of addressing global agendas. He stated that: “the priority is to adapt global agendas to local conditions to make the proposed goals feasible and reduce the effects of climate change in 2030”.

Laura Marrero, a sociologist and advisor at the Ministry of Environment of Uruguay, analyzed gender inequalities in climate change adaptation and addressed how gender policies should be implemented in environmental programs. In addition, she criticized the position of Latin American territorial entities, highlighting the decision-making barriers imposed on women in negotiations of climate change policy.



Antioquia Presente, presented the progress of ADAPTO, a project financed by the IDRC (International Research Center for Development). Professors Roberto Burdiles and Andrés Olivera, architects from Chile and Cuba, shared how each ADAPTO project community achieved new adaptation strategies and advances.

Professor Olivera from the Central University “Martha Abreu” of Las Villas described this event as a space to prioritize knowledge and develop awareness of problems caused by climate change. He stressed the interdisciplinarity that enabled this forum and the possibility of talking about climate change from both a health and community perspective. He believes that a remaining challenge is to interconnect global and national level policies, adapting the wider scope to the particular needs of local communities.

Professor Burdiles from the University of Bio Bio in Chile described the Forum as an extraordinary experience that allowed participants to address issues at various scales, open interdisciplinary dialogue and tackle climate change with an intersectional lens by incorporating perspectives on gender and inclusion. For Professor Burdiles, this event enhanced the takeaways already gleaned from the ADAPTO project.

The speakers’ participation in this forum allowed the ADAPTO project to showcase its achievements in Latin America and to share new knowledge on a fast-evolving topic.

For Antonella Risso, technical coordinator of projects in Latin America for the NGO Salud Sin Daño, the event successfully gathered leaders across sectors, such as governments, multilateral organizations, gender experts and medical experts: "Together we analyze how to solve this climate crisis,how to mitigate and adapt our regions, and how to transform everything into strategies!"



Finally, the Executive Director of Antioquia Presente, Marcela Ochoa Bernal, expressed that it is important to strengthen the voice of women in climate change mitigation and adaptation actions. She also emphasized the need to strengthen the dialogues that result from community projects. A strong community dialogue allows locals to become more familiar with their territories, to deepen autonomous research on adaptation strategies in mountain areas, to have more and improved information for the public, and to develop concrete actions through community microprojects, such as those being developed with the ADAPTO Project.