CAPA Project Launches with Official Kick-off Meeting in Brussels on 19 May

The “Climate Action within the AU–EU Partnership in Africa” or CAPA project will officially launch its activities with its Kick-off Meeting, to be held on 19 May 2026 in Brussels as part of the CCSE stakeholder forum scheduled from 18 to 20 May 2026. The meeting will be held in a hybrid format to ensure participation from consortium partners across all regions.

The Kick-off Meeting marks the formal start of the CAPA implementation phase, bringing together Work Package leaders, consortium partners, and selected task leaders. Participants will discuss the project governance structure, coordination arrangements, and initial implementation steps, ensuring alignment across the consortium.

CAPA is a Coordination & Support Action (CSA) established under the Partnership on Climate Change and Sustainable Energy (CCSE) of the AU–EU High-Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) on Science, Technology and Innovation. The initiative responds to the need to strengthen climate change research and services that are better aligned with African priorities and societal needs, across both urban and rural contexts and multiple sectors, including water, food security, energy, transport, health, and civil security.

CAPA aims to contribute to a long-term European–African partnership on climate risk reduction and resilience, in line with the CCSE LEAP-Clim vision. The project seeks to “network the networks” by bringing together key actors from Africa and Europe, including research institutions, funders, service providers, practitioners, policymakers, NGOs, and holders of local and Indigenous knowledge systems. The objective is to consolidate knowledge, practices, and locally relevant needs across diverse African regional contexts. The consortium brings together strong African participation involving 20 organisations across 12 countries, alongside 9 European partners from 7 countries.

The Kick-off Meeting in Brussels represents a key milestone in the launch of CAPA and the beginning of its implementation phase, paving the way for strengthened cooperation between African and European partners on climate risk reduction and resilience.