Following the AIT RRC.AP's responsibility in the region to assist climate change capacity building and research, as well as the development of appropriate adaptation plans and strategies, two days of virtual training on the S8 Downscaling tool, was held to help participants understand and manage the development of climate scenarios for their regions, particularly for those officials involved in the National Adaptation Planning process. The training intended to help participants to understand the fundamental concept of downscaling about the S8DS tool. It also walked the participants through understanding and utilising the S8DS tool step by step including the experience sharing from the users of the S8 downscaling tool and how they plan to utilise it in the future.
A total of 25 participants from ten different countries in Asia (Bhutan, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, and the Philippines) and with various affiliations (university professors, lecturers, government officials, representatives from non-governmental organisation and civil society organisations, and independent consultants) participated in the training.
Dr Naoya Tsukamoto, Director of AIT RRC.AP formally opened the training programme by welcoming all the participants and resource persons which was followed by the keynote speech from Mr Gen’ichiro Tsukada, Director, Climate Change Adaptation Office, MoEJ.
The training was delivered in three sessions over two half days (13 – 14 June 2022). During the first session, Professor Hiroyuki Kusaka, Center for Computational Sciences at the University of Tsukuba, Japan, introduced the basic understanding of global and regional climate models along with the climate projection, statistical and dynamic downscaling methods including their advantages and disadvantages. The second session was led by the current user of the S8DS tool, Mr Arun Kanchan, Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Urban Innovation and Sustainability, School of Environment, Resources and Development, AIT. He shared his experience of exploring the S8 downscaling tool for his research work.
The final session provided a hands-on practical session on the functions and operation of the S8DS tool which was led by Mr. Shusaku Nakamura, Pacific Consultants Co. Ltd., Japan. As an additional resource material AIT RRC.AP shared an e-learning video on the Use of the S8DS, a climate downscaling tool to aid climate adaptation planning hosted on the Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Information Platform website.
