The recent literature review of information and communications technologies(ICTs), climate change and development by Angelica Ospina and Richard Heeks points to a clear role for civil society organisations at many levels of climate change response, including advocacy, information dissemination, helping local communities adapt, and providing a voice for affected people. Something of the ‘communications response’ by organisations that use ICT for development (ICT4D) specifically in the context of climate change has been documented in publications like Planting the Knowledge Seed.
This includes case stories that share the potential for interactive community radio to bridge the divide between scientific knowledge and local communities; using Web 2.0 tools to create ‘knowledge systems’ aimed to “increase community resilience through increased awareness”;using telecentres as information key points in the struggle for food security in Peru; online campaigns to raise awareness amongst media practitioners about climate change issues; and introducing ICTs to small-scale farmers. As Kalas points out,many of the best practices learned in ICT4D interventions over the years can be applied to climate change, and this experience is seen as the main contribution of ICT4D practitioners to the complex and myriad responses to climate change currently being felt at most levels and across institutions and sectors.