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Building resilience to climate change locally: the case of Valenzuela City, Metro Manila

This case study explains the vulnerability and exposure of Valenzuela City to flood risk and elaborates on the impacts caused by the frequent flooding. Following, it presents the Partners for Resilience (PfR) programme implemented in Valenzuela aim to build resilient communities by integrating climate change adaptation and ecosystem management and restoration into disaster risk reduction. Due to the impacts of frequent flooding, Valenzuela City was chosen in 2011 as one of five project areas under the Philippines component of the Partners for Resilience (PfR) programme. Specifically, the programmed aimed to: increase the level of understanding and ownership among people of flood-associated problems; integrate plans and programmes into institutional mechanisms to address these problems; adopt environmental approaches in urban areas, and; empower people through partnerships and volunteerism. Finally, this case study shows how disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and ecosystem management and restoration actually interact on the ground.