By Shobhakar Dhakal, Suprit Singh Basnyat, Arjan de Haan
#CLimateAdaptationREsilience
The CLARE-ASEAN initiative’s four innovative research projects, selected from amongst over seventy proposals aim at strengthening climate adaptation and resilience across Southeast Asian cities. These projects address central theme of CLEARE-ASEAN research that are about efficacies of nature-based solutions to urban climate change adaptation and resilience, managing urban heat stress and the structural elements such as financing, planning and policies. These research projects have strong potential to generate actionable knowledge and are transdisciplinary, solution-oriented, co-created with stakeholders and brings expertise of multinational teams and their expertise.
These projects are supported and coordinated by AIT, which plays a central role in shaping the initiative’s strategic direction. The AIT leads the design and delivery of regional dialogues, thematic webinars, evidence syntheses, and policy briefs that ensure the research is inclusive, co-created, and aligned with ASEAN climate priorities. Through its leadership, the CLARE-ASEAN fosters collaboration across countries, supports gender-responsive and locally led approaches, and ensures that research findings are translated into policy-relevant guidance.
CLARE-ASEAN research projects, short-titled, NbCLARE, CAPE, HAMR, and Be-Housing, together regional research synthesis and evidence tailoring are aimed at contributing to the actionable knowledge in the region, including the regional dialogues on urban climate resilience. Together they cover seven ASEAN Members states with 14 cities and 22 study sites spread across the region, and research members come from 20 institutions in the ASEAN region.
NbCLARE: A Framework to Enhance Design and Implementation of Nature-Based Solutions through Integration of Evidence-Based Practices and Policies.
Led by Dr. Kim N. Irvine of Thammasat University, Thailand, this project explores scalable urban nature-based interventions to climate adaptation and resilience that integrate ecological and social dimensions. Study sites include Benjakitti Forest Park (Bangkok, Thailand), That Luang Marsh (Vientiane, Lao PDR), Thu Thiem New Urban Area Park (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), The Ringlet Lake Catchment (Cameron Highlands, Malaysia), and Bali (Indonesia).
CAPE: Climate Action and Participatory Experiments (CAPE) for Urban Resilience in the Philippines and Vietnam.
Spearheaded by Dr. Kristian Karlo Saguin of the University of the Philippines Diliman, CAPE analyzes diverse place-based urban climate experiments that involve inclusive governance and community-led strategies for urban climate adaptation and resilience to provide insights on what drives them and how that can be made more visible, supported and scaled. Research is being conducted in Quezon City (Philippines) and Can Tho City (Vietnam).
HAMR: Heat Adaptation in the Mekong Region: Bridging Science, Policy and Sustainable Design in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Under the leadership of Dr. Jeeranuch Sakkhamduang from the Thailand Environment Institute, this project focus in assessing the extent and distribution of urban heat risk across target cities, evaluating the effectiveness of structural and non-structural heat mitigation strategies, and examining the intersection of gender and social inclusion in urban heat mitigation strategies. HAMR combines data-driven analysis with urban design innovations. Study locations are Nakhon Ratchasima (Thailand), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), and Hanoi (Vietnam).
Be-Housing: Beyond Housing Types: Comparative Study of Urban Poor Settlements for Urban Heat Adaptation and Inclusive Urban Future in South-East Asian Cities.
Led by Dr. Dian Tri Irawaty of the Rujak Centre for Urban Studies, Indonesia, this project examines climate-resilient housing models for vulnerable urban populations. The research aims to compare the adaptive capacities of ‘kampung kota’ and public rental flats, including ‘kampung susun’, to understand how housing design, governance, and social organization shape residents’ ability to survive, thrive, and adapt to escalating climate risks, particularly extreme urban heat, alongside socio-economic pressures. Research is being carried out in Jakarta, Surabaya, and Semarang (Indonesia) and Selangor (Malaysia).
These four projects will be implemented across seven ASEAN Member States—Thailand, Lao PDR, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, and the Philippines—in collaboration with local governments, ASEAN focal points, and regional stakeholders. Together, they contribute to the broader goals of the CLARE-ASEAN program, supported by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and Canada’s IDRC.
Disclaimer: CLARE is a flagship research programme on climate adaptation and resilience, funded mostly (about 90%) by UK Aid through the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and co-funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada. CLARE is bridging critical gaps between science and action by championing Southern leadership to enable socially inclusive and sustainable action to build resilience to climate change and natural hazards. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the UK government, IDRC or its Board of Governors. Learn more about CLARE: www.clareprogramme.org
