Research and Advocacy for Climate Policy and Action (RACPA) is a five-year initiative exploring the climate change and human (im)mobility nexus, aiming to shape inclusive policies that strengthen climate resilience. The project, supported by the Australian Government through Caritas Australia, takes as its starting point three communities in Indonesia and the Philippines, two archipelagic countries in Southeast Asia that are deemed among the most vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change. A consortium comprised of Jesuit Refugee Service Asia Pacific (JRSAP), Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC), and the Institute for Social Research, Democracy and Social Justice (Percik Institute) accompanied the community research teams throughout the research process, from preparatory training to data gathering, to results analysis, all the way to the presentation of findings to key stakeholders.

The Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) is a unique grant program which provides funding to accredited Australian-based international development NGOs to support their work in developing countries. For over 45 years, this partnership has supported the most disadvantaged in communities around the world. The ANCP is the Australian Government’s longest running and largest NGO program.

As the Catholic Church’s international aid and development agency, Caritas Australia works hand in hand with the most marginalised communities in Australia and overseas, to confront the challenges of poverty. Through locally-led programs, we work with all people, with shared hope and compassion, towards a world where all can thrive and reach their full potential.  

Through partnerships with local organisations and Church networks, and as a member of Caritas Internationalis, one of the largest humanitarian networks in the world, we are able to reach where the need is greatest and work together for a just future.  

Caritas Australia is the funder of RACPA. 

Jesuit Refugee Service Asia Pacific (JRS Asia Pacific) is the lead implementer of RACPA. 

Inspired by the generous love and example of Jesus Christ, the JRS is an international Catholic organization with a mission to accompany, serve, and advocate on behalf of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons, that they may heal, learn, and determine their own future. Its work expresses the commitment of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) to stand with refugees around the world. 

JRS programmes are currently found in 56 countries, serving refugees and other forcibly displaced persons in conflict zones and detention centers, on remote borders and in busy cities, including in the Asia Pacific. It runs pastoral care and psychosocial support programmes in detention centres and refugee camps, and provide humanitarian relief in emergency displacement situations. Education and livelihoods programmes provide skill development and opportunities for integration into host communities. 

Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC) is part of the RACPA consortium and will implement the research and advocacy components of the project in the Philippines. 

ESSC is a Jesuit research and training institute based in the Philippines, that promotes environmental sustainability and social justice by integrating scientific methodologies and social processes.  ESSC networks across the Asia Pacific region in moving an agenda of science for sustainability. ESSC also contributes to building scientific capacity that engenders people’s commitment and integrity to see the changes emerge and develop and enables discernment of our life in the world with a deeper human spirit.   

This proposed Research and Advocacy for Climate Policy and Action project builds on risk and vulnerability assessment methods that the ESSC developed and implemented through prior projects under its Disaster Risk Reduction Program. It also synergizes well with Rurbanise, a new ESSC action research project that will explore with nine informal settler communities how changing patterns of urbanization shape differential vulnerabilities in the Philippines.  

Institute for Social Research, Democracy and Social Justice (Percik Institute) is part of the RACPA consortium and will implement the research and advocacy components of the project in Indonesia. 

Percik Institute is an independent institution devoted to social research, democracy, and social justice. It was established in Salatiga in 1997 by Indonesian anthropologists and social activists in Central Java. Percik Institute’s projects and programs are guided by its three pillars of research, advocacy, and reflection in promoting social change and local democracy.  

Some of its implemented projects include a longitudinal study of the implementation of Social Safety Net (Jaring Pengaman Sosial) in Central Java in 1999. In collaboration with FKM – Undip, Semarang, the study conducted evaluation and monitoring programs in two districts using the “process documentation” research approach. In 2017, Percik, along with Perkumpulan Prakarsa and BfW (Bread for the World), conducted qualitative research on strengthening the implementation of SDGs in the Health Sector in the Semarang Regency.   

Percik also completed (2022-2023) a research project on Water Management and Ecoreligious Awareness in collaboration with the Netherland Indonesia Consortium on Religious and Interfaith Relation on ecological awareness.   

 Percik is also involved in the Community Engagement and Involvement Program for the Smarthealth Program in Malang Regency Eastern Java, Indonesia. This is in collaboration with Brawijaya University Malang and the NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research).