Climate Research Cohort 2023/24 - Meet the knowledge brokers

Commonwealth Futures Climate Research Cohort 2023/24

Martin is the founder and Managing Director of . Based in Kigali, Rwanda., he heads and manages the PlanAdapt Coordination Hub and leads the continuous co-design and curation process behind the - PlanAdapt’s collaboration and innovation platform. He is a passionate social entrepreneur and knowledge broker. Over the course of 20 years, he's worked for inter-governmental and non-governmental development, environment and climate organisations in over 40 countries. He's provided scientific and technical advice, and capacity development and stakeholder engagement services, in areas such as climate change adaptation and climate risk management to a wide range of actors, in particular, government representatives and NGO (non-governmental organisation) staff. As Oxfam GB’s Project Lead and Co-Principal Investigator for the , he led the research-into-use component of the project. His special interest is in brokering between producers and users of climate-related information by tailoring, filtering and translating them to user needs. Martin will be the lead knowledge broker for the Commonwealth Futures Climate Research Cohort 2023/24.

Alannah is a Research Analyst in climate change adaptation and nature-based solutions. Impact-oriented, she is dedicated to socially just and impactful outcomes in a collaborative environment. At PlanAdapt, her key responsibilities focus on the coordination of the Climate Co-Adaptation Lab. She also conducts research on methodologies for planning urban nature-based solutions in informal settlements, with a focus on linking research to practice. She has worked with the Adaptation Research Alliance (ARA), analysing good practices for adaptation action research. Prior to PlanAdapt, Alannah supported initiative to fostering the implementation of the Paris Agreement. She also spent time at the German Ministry for Food and Agriculture, with an emphasis on the holistic approach of agroecology. For the Commonwealth Futures Climate Research Cohort, Alannah will coordinate PlanAdapt's knowledge brokers to answer flexibly and effectively to the needs of the participating early career researchers.

Camilla has ten years of experience in designing, implementing and monitoring sustainability programmes and projects. These have covered areas such as climate change adaptation, livelihoods, food security and social inclusion. She has worked with NGOs (non-governmental organisations), multi-lateral agencies, and consulting firms, focusing on areas such as research, capacity building, project management and on MEL (Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning) in multi-disciplinary teams in the global south. She has been involved in developing ecosystem-based adaptation projects for governments and multi-lateral agencies, for example and the Antigua and Barbuda Food Security National Adaptation Plan. She has designed and managed corporate sustainability projects, taking in carbon footprint analysis, water crisis response, sustainability strategy and KPI monitoring. She has also been involved in governmental, pilot public policy projects in health, education and environmental programmes. Camilla holds a is a Bachelor of Economics and a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Sustainable Development. Her passion for participatory project methodologies will be put into practice as she supports the Commonwealth Futures Climate Research Cohort as part of the knowledge broker team.

Dorcas is a , based in Nairobi, Kenya. Her professional work focuses on designing and implementing projects and programmes in climate change adaptation, sustainable policies, and investments in agriculture and rural development. She is passionate about collaborative and innovative research, undertaken with diverse expertise and actors, to produce the best science-policy-practice interface and context-specific knowledge for sustainable food systems and climate-resilient futures. She is an advocate for gender and social inclusion for climate change adaptation and food security. She has extensive working experience in implementing projects and research with international organisations and has worked closely with national governments, local non-governmental organisations, and community-based organisations on capacity building and training projects. Dorcas holds a PhD (Doctorate of Philosophy) in Climate Change and Adaptation from the University of Nairobi. Dorcas will be part of the knowledge broker team who advises the Climate Cohort's early career researchers on research co-design and co-creation processes.

Sumetee serves PlanAdapt's Coordination Hub and is a . She is based in Cape Town, South Africa, and has more than a decade’s experience in urban climate change adaptation. Sumetee has led and contributed to numerous capacity-strengthening initiatives and learning experiences on urban adaptation and resilience planning. She is passionate about urban ecosystem-based adaptation and nature-based solutions towards achieving climate justice and transformative climate adaptation in the global south. Sumetee is the former Lead Practice at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements () and took a leadership role in the Indian component of the . She is a member of the , convened and co-ordinated by PlanAdapt and a contributing author for the . Sumetee is part of the knowledge broker team that will respond to the learning needs of the Climate Cohort's early career researchers, in associated knowledge domains, and contribute to the effective design of capacity strengthening methodologies.

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Martin Rokitzki

Alannah Hofemeier

Camilla Buenting

Dorcas Kalele

Sumetee Pahwa Gajjar

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