IUB hosting a 2-day Conference on the Environment and Changing Climate under the COLOCAL Project
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IUB hosting a 2-day Conference on the Environment and Changing Climate under the COLOCAL Project
The Environment & Changing Climate 2025 conference, hosted by the Independent University Bangladesh (IUB) and the COLOCAL project, will bring together researchers, industry experts, and development practitioners from a diverse range of fields to explore the alignment of global strategies with locally-led climate action. The conference will take place on November 20 and 21, 2025, at the IUB campus in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The conference is initiated under the COLOCAL project, serving as the event’s thematic backdrop as well. Operating under the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation’s NORHED II 2021-2026 program, the COLOCAL project aims to create a greater evidence base on Locally-Led Adaptation (LLA) in the Global South through undertaking research that focuses on vulnerable communities facing diverse climate risks, adopting bottom-up approaches to knowledge co-creation.
In alignment with COLOCAL’s objectives, the conference adopted the theme “Global Strategies and Local Actions,” bringing attention to how urgent environmental challenges should be navigated through the lens of inclusive, community-driven approaches. By bridging research, policy, and practice, the conference will shed light on how instrumental local knowledge and lived experiences can be in ensuring that adaptation efforts remain both equitable and effective.
The two-day program will be packed with close to 80 oral presentations and 40 poster presentations of emerging research in this field. The program will also feature keynote speeches from distinguished guests, a wide range of oral and poster presentations, and environmentally-themed artistic performances, all while creating a platform for interactive discussions and meaningful knowledge-sharing. The conference will also feature a series of workshops and thematic sessions designed to strengthen interdisciplinary learning and amplify community voices.
Dr. A Atiq Rahman will be providing the keynote speech, leveraging his decades of research experience in this sector, and Dr. Faisal Kabir will also be providing a secondary keynote, exploring how the Local Service Providers (LSP) model can directly contribute to a bottom-up approach in sustainable agriculture by providing community-based services to farmers. Complementing this, CIMMYT, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Shushilan, and the Paribartan Project under ICCCAD, will host their workshop on “Tools for Systemic Locally Led Adaptation (LLA),” where participants will be introduced to practical frameworks for assessing climate risks, co-creating solutions, and embedding community priorities into adaptation planning.
The roster of sessions will also bring forth the human dimensions of climate vulnerabilities, as exemplified by “Path to Equity for a Sustainable Future,” hosted by local leaders from the Dalit and Munda communities of Satkhira. This session aims to advocate for people who face vulnerabilities at the intersection of climate disasters and human rights, as addressed by the local leaders from two such communities. To further showcase the importance of LLA-driven adaptation strategies and grassroots capacity-building, the session, “Advances in Research from COLOCAL Fellows Around the World,” will feature COLOCAL fellows from Bangladesh and Uganda who will share their research on climate governance and community resilience. Nirmol Bangladesh will also host a workshop on "Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Building," focusing on knowledge sharing for locally-driven adaptation strategies in the face of disasters.
Youth engagement remains a prominent theme across the sessions as well, with the INFLUENCERS group hosting a workshop to equip young leaders with tools for advocacy, storytelling, and community engagement, drawing from the experiences of displaced communities in Bangladesh. This is also complemented by an educational drama performance by Rupantar, and a climate change-themed music performance by the Muiz Mahfuz Band. Furthermore, the “Academic Writing and Publishing for Early Career Researchers” workshop, offered by the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, will provide early-career researchers with practical guidance on academic writing, structuring research papers, and navigating the publication process to strengthen their research communication skills.
In tandem with offering insights in academia and education, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology will also hold a session, offering participants insights into the university’s public policy division that blends interdisciplinary learning in climate change, sustainability, and governance, preparing students for impactful policy leadership.
Together, the presentations, workshops, and sessions at Environment & Changing Climate 2025 all reflect a shared commitment to advancing inclusive and interdisciplinary approaches to climate action. By creating a shared space for students, researchers, practitioners, and community leaders, the conference hopes to strengthen collective capacity-building and collaboration that will continue beyond the event itself.