The overall objective of the project is to contribute to increasing the resilience and adaptability of the local coastal population in four South Asian countries (India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives) and to promote partnership for this purpose (SDG 13 and 17). To contribute to this goal, the CLI together with the GNF will support capacity building for dialogue and cooperation with multiple stakeholders in an integrated capacity building process for the partners and stakeholders involved and will initiate Collective Action Teams (CATs) in each country responsible for the establishment of policy-relevant Community Dialogue Platforms (CDPs).

Over the course of the nearly three-and-a-half year project, a series of regional online and face-to-face events and capacity building workshops are planned to bring together partners from across Bangladesh, India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. The trained partners, usually leaders of local civil society organisations and communities on the ground, a total of 48-60 people, will be empowered by the project to initiate and continue dialogue forums at regional and cross-border level on sustainable development issues in coastal communities.