Abstract ID: 3.13196 | Accepted as Talk | Talk | TBA | TBA

Climate change is a highly complex global issue with unique challenges at local levels. The Andean mountains face severe effects, including glacier melting, unpredictable weather patterns, water crises, and declining crop productivity. Indigenous and rural communities at high altitudes face particularly challenging circumstances as their subsistence agriculture and pastoral practices confront an uncertain future. Creating collaborative spaces for climate change adaptation and informed decision-making is crucial for these communities to navigate current and future challenges. Research has shown that combining local traditional knowledge (LTK) with Western scientific knowledge enhances the effectiveness of place-based solutions. Success in implementing climate change adaptation relies heavily on understanding and integrating local community worldviews. Andean communities have developed their civilizations over millennia through close environmental interactions, passing down unique knowledge through generations. When combined with climate change research, this LTK creates a powerful ‘two-eyes-seen’ approach for developing locally effective adaptation solutions, emphasizing mutual learning, respect, and ownership by the community members, securing sustainability. Addressing climate change effects requires transdisciplinary approaches with strong community engagement and stakeholder participation. This research focuses on the challenges faced by rural and Indigenous communities in the Cusco region of south Peru’s Andes, a population often overlooked due to language and accessibility barriers. The study examines these communities’ perceptions and experiences of climate change, their current adaptation strategies, and how a transdisciplinary community-based approach can enhance adaptation measures based on their knowledge, values, and beliefs. Additionally, it identifies all stakeholders involved in climate change adaptation and their potential contributions to co-creating concrete, locally-based solutions. A mixed-methods research approach with explanatory sequential design (surveys and interviews) was employed, illuminated by Transformative and Indigenous paradigm worldviews. These bottom-up transdisciplinary interactions and iterative processes of knowledge construction have proven to establish a strong foundation for collaborative and sustainable climate change community adaptation actions and a model for other communities.