An exciting new community radio project is helping communities in Ghana to share valuable experiences of adaptation with other villages and towns, as well as local decision-makers. Researchers can also hear directly from these communities, giving an unprecedented picture of what women, men and children are already doing in their daily lives to adapt to a changing climate.

The project is being pioneered by Ghana Community Radio Network (GCRN), AfricaAdapt and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, with technical support from the Climate Change and Development Group at the Institute of Development Studies. It was set up to address the issue that new climate research often fails to reach those who need it most.

Entitled Climate Airwaves, the project will develop a two-way flow of knowledge and information: community radios will broadcast new climate research information to communities in a way that is accessible and applicable to their circumstances, while at the same time, the communities can share and report their experiences, which will help inform local decision-making and research. This will create vital information flows between local communities, decision-makers and researchers; it will also support local community radios themselves through a programme of training and capacity building for broadcasters.

Climate Airwaves creates a buzz at international gathering of community radio projects

Climate Airwaves made a successful first appearance at the World Association of Community Broadcasters gathering (AMARC 10), in Argentina earlier this month. Researchers, community radio broadcasters and policymakers who attended this international gathering of community radio projects, are eager to follow the project as it moves from its initial stages into implementation, with Climate Airwaves signalling a radical change in the way climate information is shared with communities.

Kofi Arweh, from Ghana Community Radio Network, explained why Climate Airwaves was a hit at AMARC 10: "Climate Airwaves is a new and different way of understanding and sharing knowledge. The radio station is helping local communities in small villages like Ada, which has been hit with terrible flooding, take the latest climate change research, in an easy-to-understand format, and translate what it means for them in terms of how they adapt to new uncertainties and changes."

More information about the project is available on the Climate Airwaves website.

Image credit: Nyani Quarmyne / NQPhotography