Addressing complex issues as sustainable land management and ensuring food security in the context of climate change requires dedicated people with vision and the ability to facilitate change. These people act as leaders, be at formal or informal, who understand how different challenges and potential holistic solutions are interlinked and who have the skills to formulate a vision, motivate others and promote collaboration across sectors.

The ASEAN Climate Leadership Programme (ACLP), a new learning and exchange format, aims to strengthen these leadership skills while contributing to ASEAN policy processes and outcomes related to climate change, food security and land management.

The ACLP is designed as a contribution to the work of the ASEAN Climate Resilience Network (ASEAN-CRN). The ASEAN-CRN is a platform for regional exchange, particularly for sharing information, experiences, and expertise on climate smart agriculture. Network members were involved in the design process of the programme and acted as experts in sessions during its implementation. (https://asean-crn.org/)

The programme aids the implementation of ASEAN strategies such as the Vision and Strategic Plan (SP) for ASEAN Cooperation in Food, Agriculture and Forestry (FAF) (2016-2025) and the ASEAN Strategic Plan on Environment (ASPEN) 2016-2025.

It is based on leadership and innovation lab approaches developed by the GIZ’s Academy for International Cooperation (AIZ) and which have been successfully applied in a number of areas. It emphasises the importance of the learning process which continues outside the modules themselves. The ACLP was facilitated by experienced experts specialised in leadership and change theory