The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in its Momentum of Change Project, has acknowledged COMET-LA and its efforts to stimulate women-led natural resource management in its 2013 call. UNFCCC highlights the efforts of COMET-LA's specialists working with local communities integrating science and local knowledge. The UNFCCC gives special attention to COMET-LA's approach which involves local women in identifying key variables of environmental problems and developing sustainable solutions. With a special focus on her needs and their role in communities, the project aims to create an arena for exchange, with the ultimate goal of women-led, sustainable, community-based governance in natural resource management. COMET-LA's experiences have shown that women are guardians of their environment among several activities, their local cuisine, their small home-gardens or their inherited knowledge on medicine plants.

COMET-LA also supports the knowledge of local women to make progress in climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as sustainable management of natural resources. The building of the learning arena opens-up opportunities at the local level for women to take a role in community leadership and gives a space for women voices.

The confidence of the local women is boosted by the active and leading role that the women researchers play in the international scientific arena. An example lays on the fact that most of COMET-LA's project leaders are women, both at the scientific and local levels. In each local community a civil society organization (CSO) –COMET-LA's partner- works with scientists and local people, encouraging women participation. So as so, they are fully involved in the project and looking forward to improve the knowledge about the situation and the dissemination of ideas, good practices, etc.

Knowledge sharing and communication tools are essential for the learning arena functioning. Participatory techniques and tools are basic in COMET-LA's development (workshops, focus groups, interviews, informal conversations, field trips and transects, etc.) to perceive and learn about different issues and problems affecting the dynamics of natural resources management at local level. This fact, is taken into account by the UNFCCC as the main innovation in the learning arena: the way knowledge is shared, applied and communicated to the local women.
That is the reason why the project's learning arena, can be developed at other locations with communities and problems similar to those in the analyzed case studies in Argentina, Colombia or Mexico. UNFCCC recognizes COMET-LA's belief that local knowledge can be combined with scientific research to develop women-oriented policies in many fields around the world.

Visit the special site that UNFCCC has prepared on COMET-LA:
http://unfccc.int/secretariat/momentum_for_change/items/8289.php