Photo credit: CPRD
Savar, Bangladesh, 17 July 2025 — In a landmark move to bolster climate resilience of the most vulnerable, the Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC) has formally incorporated Locally Led Adaptation (LLA) into the core curriculum of its 78th Foundation Training Course (FTC) for entry-level civil servants. This marks the first time LLA has been embedded within Bangladesh’s national civil service training framework.
As the country’s apex training institution for public officials, BPATC plays a vital role in shaping governance practices across all tiers of government. The Foundation Training Course, mandatory for all new civil servants, is instrumental in shaping their early perspectives on governance, sustainable development, and public service values.
By integrating LLA into the Sustainable Development and Environmental Governance module, BPATC ensures that Bangladesh’s future policymakers and administrators are equipped to respond to climate challenges through inclusive, community-driven approaches. This development is particularly significant for a climate-vulnerable country like Bangladesh, where empowering local actors is key to building effective, context-specific adaptation strategies.
The integration of LLA is the result of a strategic partnership between the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and BPATC. In May 2025, GCA conducted a Training-of-Trainers (ToT) workshop for selected BPATC faculty members, enhancing their capacity to deliver LLA content. The workshop emphasized participatory planning, the eight LLA Principles, and mainstreaming LLA into governance frameworks.
The ToT was organized in collaboration with the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS), the Centre for Participatory Research and Development (CPRD), and supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom.
BPATC is also planning to roll out a series of one-day workshops on LLA through its regional training centers, targeting officials from local government agencies, with support from GCA on the design of these workshops.
This initiative directly supports the Government of Bangladesh’s 2023-2050 National Adaptation Plan, which prioritizes the integration of LLA across key sectors to strengthen national resilience against climate change.
“Embedding LLA into our core training reflects BPATC’s commitment to equipping civil servants with the skills needed to address climate change in a responsive and inclusive way,” said Sayeed Mahbub Khan, Rector of BPATC. “This initiative aligns closely with Bangladesh’s National Adaptation Plan and we hope that this will help contribute towards effectively translating national priorities into locally relevant action.”
Looking ahead, GCA has completed a comprehensive review of BPATC’s broader training curricula and identified additional opportunities to embed LLA across various modules. A second phase of ToT is planned to co-develop customized LLA content for broader civil service training.
These continued efforts aim to institutionalize LLA within Bangladesh’s public administration system and foster long-term capacity for inclusive, climate-resilient governance.
