Formation of knowledge communities to reduce vulnerability and increase governance and resilience in the Tota Lake basin, Colombia

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  • October 8, 2025
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Knowledge communities in the Tota Lake basin. Credit: AICCA

Summary


This solution was implemented by the Adaptation to the Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources in the Andes (AICCA) Project in Colombia, which seeks to understand the relationship between the agricultural sector and the water cycle in high Andean zones to promote climate change adaptation measures. The objective of AICCA Colombia is to generate and share relevant data, information, and experiences, useful for formulating local and national policies with the productive sector, to include climate variability and change adaptation criteria, and to promote pilot investments in priority areas for the country. In this light, the work was developed in the Lake Tota basin in the department of Boyacá, an important area for food production and commercialization.

This solution focuses on the formation of “knowledge communities” – a concept developed in the consolidation of a community governance strategy for the Tota Lake basin, during the project’s implementation phase. Knowledge communities are groups of people with common interests, ideas, experiences, and tools for knowledge management, fostered through knowledge dialogues and collective work to strengthen capacities in vulnerability reduction, increased governance, and resilience. These are formed in consensual and collectively validated decision-making, as well as in the articulation of social actors around climate change and variability adaptation. This methodology and approach was used to strengthen community governance and reduce information gaps regarding climate change adaptation.

Overview

Location:
Implementation sites:
  • Single country
  • Multiple locations
Mountain region:

  • Andes

Province:
  • Boyacá
Site locations:

  • Municipalities of Aquitania/Cuitiva/Tota/Sogamoso

    Aquitania
    Latitude: 5.519, Longitude: −72.884

    Cuitiva
    Latitude: 5.580, Longitude: −72.966

    Tota
    Latitude: 5.560, Longitude: −72.986

    Sogamoso
    Latitude: 5.716, Longitude: −72.917

Solution scale:
Ecosystem type(s):
Solution type(s):
Sector(s):
Other sector(s) type(s):
  • Ancestry, Environmental Education
Climate impact(s) addressed:
Other climate impact(s) addressed:
  • Changes in rainfall patterns, heat extremes, intense rains, unsustainable use of local resources, productivity loss, crop loss, reduced water availability, reduced food security.
Climate impact time-scale(s):
Main benefit associated with the solution:
Co-benefit(s) associated with the solution implementation:
Sendai targets:
SDGs:

Solution details

Main beneficiaries & outcomes

Credit: AICCA

The beneficiaries of the solution are the different groups of social actors present in the project area. The solution is widely accessible. There are eight leaders of knowledge communities who have been convening the community of the Lake Tota basin to express themselves in the formed groups.

The benefit of promoting and consolidating the knowledge communities in the Lake Tota Basin was that it enabled the empowerment of local communities in generating, accessing, and managing information for decision-making about the territory in the context of adaptation; prioritizing a differential approach to gender and rights. The created spaces enabled effective participation of local communities in the Lake Tota basin.

The knowledge communities themselves also:

  • Contributed to the establishment and strengthening of ties between leaders, existing organizations, and institutional actors, to generate joint management alternatives for the territory. With this, it is expected that commitments will be established to address identified conflicts and challenges in the territory, whilst ensuring communities’ access to complete, timely, understandable, real, and truthful information; in accordance with the principles of communicative action and respect.
  • Advanced progress in recognizing communities’ own local and ancestral knowledge by exploring their ideas for actions to tackle real problems; strengthening questioning and capacities for decision-making; and generating new knowledge. These dialogues and integrated multi-perspective vision will help advance the understanding of the relationships between cultural change and climate change.
  • Strengthened capacities on undertaking and enhancing local adaptation processes, and therefore, reduced vulnerability to the projected effects and impacts of climate change in the Tota Lake basin. The knowledge communities approach provided new insights on the key issues in the basin, methodological tools for approaching community research, and networks as a way to strengthen community governance.

Other benefits include:

  • Contribution to governance processes for climate change and variability management.
  • Strengthening of technical and organizational capacity.
  • Strengthening of strategies for family food security.
  • Support in strengthening leadership and entrepreneurship capacities.
  • Development of communication, expression, and analysis tools in the joint construction of strategies and knowledge for reducing vulnerability and increasing the resilience of communities and the wider territory.
  • Development of strategies and tools for diversifying livelihoods.
  • Innovation in the implementation of alternative energies.
  • Development of strategies for sustainable water management.

Planning and implementation

The planning and implementation process was led by the Project on Adaptation to the Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources in the Andes (AICCA), which is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), implemented by the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), and executed by the Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the Andean Ecoregion (CONDESAN). In Colombia, the project is executed jointly with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MinAmbiente) and the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (Ideam). In the implementation component, coordination was carried out by the Pueblito Antiguo Natural Reserve and its work team.

In general, the methodology for the design and implementation of the “knowledge communities” included:

1. Design of a methodological proposal to implement the knowledge communities, in order to strengthen community governance for the management of climate change and variability in the territory of the Lake Tota basin. This included:

  • Characterization of the beneficiary population in terms of age, gender, location, and cultural tradition.
  • Determination of time scales, spatial distributions and community work methodology.
  • Written agreements established with community representatives.

2. Activation of the knowledge communities in the Lake Tota basin according to the methodological proposal generated, through meeting and exchange spaces (virtually and in person).

3. Support the development of the methodological roadmaps proposed by the eight knowledge communities formed through the initiative.

4. Implementation of the project profile, starting from a research question, general and specific objectives, a rationale, background/context, and a proposal for a methodological roadmap to answer the proposed question.

5. Systematization of lessons learned on the development of each methodological roadmap.

The AICCA project also led the process of including knowledge about climate change and climate vulnerability in local schools and non-formal education initiatives/institutions/processes, helping disseminate information among students.

In the project, the “knowledge communities” were comprised of eight thematic groups that aimed to address concerns around ancestry, gender relations, environmental education, governance conditions in the territory, socio-environmental vulnerability, productive processes developed in the area, sustainable tourism proposals, and the use of alternative energies to guarantee access to water in adaptation processes. Each of these groups formulated a project profile.

Finance

The project was funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Funding was provided as a grant. The total cost of this part of the project was USD $25,000.

Innovation

The “knowledge communities” approach is an innovative strategy that puts community governance at the centre. It advances adaptation strategies to climate variability and change, whilst taking into account the different perspectives of the local groups as well as the cultural traditions of the territory.

Long term project sustainability and maintenance

Long term ownership and costs will be assumed by the male and female leaders who are part of the knowledge communities of the Lake Tota Basin.

Additionally, through the “knowledge communities” approach, the processes initiated in the AICCA project can be continued and led by local actors, making it sustainable long-term. Leaders can serve as spokespersons and replicators of different adaptation actions in the topics addressed in the community research process.

Capacities for design and implementation

Knowledge

With the knowledge communities strategy, it was possible to empower the local population in the generation, access, and management of information for decision-making on the territory in the context of adaptation, from a differential gender and rights approach. The actions were developed through local initiatives, according to the eight identified research lines.

Technology

For the design, the use of office material and equipment was fundamental to achieve community mobilization and generate spaces for dialogue and collective construction.

Institutional

The coordination for the implementation of the knowledge communities was led by the Pueblito Antiguo Natural Reserve, a grassroots organization in the basin. Regional and local entities collaborated insofar as the male and female leaders of each of the eight research lines approached them for social dialogue, expression, and analysis in the joint construction of methodological roadmaps.

Socio-cultural

Within the framework of the project’s governance and sustainability strategy, guidelines were established to engage in co-development spaces with communities and jointly evaluate specific needs related to climate variability and climate change. Knowledge communities are based on creative and proactive collaboration, constituting a powerful strategy for dialogue and debate among different actors. This supports consensus building, strengthening adaptation capacity, and increasing resilience to changing and climate variability conditions.

Outlook & Scalability

Barriers and adverse effects

One of the main challenges encountered concerned the need to identify adaptive reorganization cycles to establish the types and functions of changes occurring in the territory. ‘Adaptive reorganization cycles’ is a model that considers non-linear factors affecting adaptation processes in ecosystems, focusing on processes of destruction and reorganization as opposed to the usual focus on growth and conservation. Additionally, a challenge was to evaluate the critical elements that trigger transformation at different scales and, in this way, understand the origin and trajectory of socio-environmental conflicts and the reasons for the positions of different actors; in turn allowing agreements to be reached between the parties.

Transformation and future outlook

A group of leaders was established in the knowledge communities, comprised of those who have the technical capacity to undertake climate change and variability adaptation processes and contribute to the eight research streams: ancestry, gender relations, environmental education, analysis of governance conditions in the territory, socio-environmental vulnerability, productive processes, sustainable tourism proposals, and the use of alternative energies.

Potential for upscaling and replication

It is desirable to scale up the solution and ensure the continuity of the eight knowledge communities generated in the territory for governance processes. To do this, it is important to continue managing, supporting, and monitoring the achievements generated to date with national and local entities.