Beyond the Boardroom: Why Ground-Level Immersions Matter for Global Climate Funders
- Tampei Philippines
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
While proposals, monitoring logs, and financial reports are necessary tools for accountability, they only tell a fraction of the story. To truly comprehend the lived experiences, vulnerabilities, and inherent adaptive capacities of grassroots communities, funding partners must walk the ground. Throughout mid-2024, representatives from International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and the British and Canadian Embassies did exactly that—engaging in immersive site visits with Project RURBANISE in the Philippines. These visits serve as vital reality checks, bridging the gap between high-level global policy and local, on-the-ground realities.
Ensuring Institutional Excellence
The groundwork for this collaboration began in early 2024 with a series of institutional visits from the IDRC, a Canadian Crown corporation that funds research and innovation in developing regions to reduce poverty, improve health, and promote sustainability. In February, Katrina Millard and Ria Boodram from IDRC’s Grant Administration Division conducted an on-site review of TAMPEI’s core organizational systems. As part of a standard review process, the visitors looked closely at TAMPEI’s internal systems, evaluating how finance, administration, human resources, and project leadership work together to support the initiative.
Building on this operational foundation, TAMPEI and RURBANISE partners welcomed Dr. Kapil Kapoor, IDRC Regional Director for Asia, the following month. During an interactive presentation of the project, Dr. Kapoor provided valuable strategic insight, encouraging the team to widen its scope of collaboration by actively involving the private sector in future climate resilience strategies.
Influencing the Influencers
Recognizing that the best advocacy happens in the field, TAMPEI invited international colleagues from the CLimate Adaptation and REsilience (CLARE) programme—jointly supported by the UK’s FCDO and Canada’s IDRC—for an intensive country visit from June 13 to 25. The goal was simple yet profound: to move beyond project proposals and introduce the funding partners directly to the local teams, local government units (LGUs), and the grassroots communities driving Project RURBANISE.
The CLARE colleagues were immersed in a fast-paced itinerary, including community walkthroughs, LGU courtesy calls, and the official Philippine project launch. These engaging activities provided a realistic view of the lived experiences of residents. Community work is inherently complex and filled with unique local challenges; seeing this firsthand allows funding partners to understand the pace and realities of grassroots transformation, which ultimately shapes how they support the project context moving forward.
This on-the-ground immersion proved to be a genuine, two-way learning experience. While the international partners gained deep insights into the Philippine context, the RURBANISE team benefited tremendously from CLARE’s global expertise. The exchange yielded valuable strategic advice on how the team can continue to optimize its approaches and deliver the best possible results for the communities it serves.
Catalyzing Grassroots Empowerment
On June 21, Project RURBANISE took a significant step in bringing global climate discussions directly to the pathway by hosting a high-level community visit. Held at the United Libis Homeowners Association (ULHOA) in Valenzuela City, the event brought together the Ambassadors of the United Kingdom and Canada, national government representatives, and local officials from Valenzuela City and Barangay Canumay East. ULHOA was intentionally chosen to host this milestone gathering because of its strategic location and, more importantly, the community’s capacity to organize and lead the event.
The visit gave global stakeholders a front-row seat to sustainable, community-led climate adaptation. After a brief overview of the CLARE and RURBANISE initiatives, the focus quickly shifted to the residents themselves. During an interactive site walkthrough, community members—including the energetic youth sector—engaged in live conversations with the diplomats, using station posters to showcase local achievements and climate actions accomplished over the years. The event concluded with an open Q&A session, followed by reflective insights from the Ambassadors and encouraging messages from local government leaders.
While this may have looked like a standard showcase of community challenges and successes, looking at the ground level sparked a powerful chain reaction that continues to yield incredible results:
Deepened diplomatic engagement: Moving beyond a one-time photo opportunity, the British Embassy (BE) requested regular updates and meetings to track the project's progress, expressing a strong desire to extend ongoing support, and directly to ULHOA when needed.
Strengthened local governance partnerships: The event opened a vital channel of communication between the Barangay Council of Canumay East and ULHOA. Following a joint feedback meeting in September, all parties agreed to formalize a collaborative partnership agreement to support future RURBANISE initiatives.
A deep sense of community empowerment: Perhaps the most meaningful impact was internal. Hosting global leaders validated the community's hard work, legitimizing their ideas and boosting confidence and unity. As the residents beautifully put it, the experience "gave them a sense of pride."
These gatherings clearly demonstrate that when international funding partners step out of the boardroom and into the community, they don't just gain a better understanding of local vulnerabilities, they validate and strengthen the community-led initiatives that form the real backbone of climate resilience.
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CLARE is a £110m, UK-Canada framework research programme on Climate Adaptation and Resilience, aiming to enable socially inclusive and sustainable action to build resilience to climate change and natural hazards. CLARE is an initiative jointly designed, funded and run by the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and Canada’s International Development Research Centre. CLARE is primarily funded by UK aid from the UK government, along with the International Development Research Centre, Canada.
Research supported by CLARE is bridging critical gaps between science and action: developing new tools and supporting partner governments, communities, and the private sector to use evidence and innovation to drive effective solutions to the climate challenge, whilst building capacity of both those carrying out the research and those using the resulting evidence.
About the Author
Janina Salubo is a Knowledge Management and Development Communications Volunteer for the RURBANISE project, specializing in translating complex resilience research into accessible insights for funders and grassroots communities.