Kate Lonsdale

I have worked on resilience building and adaptation to a changing climate as a researcher, trainer, facilitator, consultant, mentor, evaluator and in an advisory capacity for over 22 years in both developed and developing country contexts. I have lead and managed projects in a range of settings including civil society, academia and government policy and within organizations that aim to create a bridge between these different sectors. Key areas of interest are how you put vague concepts like ‘resilience’, ‘social learning’ or ‘transformational adaptation’ into practice; how you make climate information usable; how transformation adaptation can be achieved without exacerbating vulnerability; how you identify different perspectives on ‘success’ and bring together ‘unlikely alliances’ rather than the usual subjects.

I enjoy designing and facilitating participatory processes, workshops and events which provide a space for dialogue and learning and am an accredited action learning set facilitator. I was the Learning Team Lead, HMG Climate Change Compass as part of the IMC Worldwide Ltd team. Formerly ICF MEL, Compass was established by DFID, BEIS and Defra to learn from current ICF programmes to inform future climate finance investment decisions and policy in, and beyond, the ICF. I have a PhD on the design of urban drainage systems and a PGDip in facilitating organisational change. I was the 2012 Victorian Centre for Climate Adaptation Research (VCCCAR) International Visiting Fellow in Melbourne focussing on how to build effective state policy-research collaborations for climate change.

Joined 2023

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