The Bangladesh government formulated the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategies and Action Plans (BCCSAP) in 2008 through a participatory process involving several CSOs/NGOs and others. This article discusses the participation of CSOs/NGOs in climate change policy-making, focusing on mapping their level of participation in policy-making. It demonstrates that state laws allow CSOs/NGOs to implement several projects voluntarily, but largely prohibit their participation in political decision-making processes. The state invites a few CSOs/NGOs as a condition to receive aid, but displays arbitrary and co-opting attitudes towards CSOs/NGOs that rarely ensure joint decisions in creating policy.

Coastal settlements in Bangladesh are geographically flood-prone areas. This physical nature erodes the size and shape of those settlement boundaries over time. Such changes leave communities vulnerable in terms of securing a living place and livelihoods. However, the research arena rarely addresses the long-term changing aspects of settlement and the local governance responses to vulnerability. To examine this situation, this study explored settlement transformation patterns and governance challenges, using the case study of Chattogram Division in Bangladesh from 2005 to 2025. It applied a mixed-methods approach. The analysis, using the technique of Multi-temporal Landsat imagery with Random Forest classification, revealed complex settlement trajectories. It showed built-up areas expanded significantly between 2005 and 2015 but shrank by 2025, reflecting both hazard exposure and displacement pressures. Union-level analysis identified 62 coastal unions with high to very high settlement change. Conducting field surveys in selected Juidandi and Kalamarchhara unions through focus group discussions with communities and interviews with local officials highlighted recurring inundation, permanent land loss affecting thousands of households, and persistent disruptions to livelihoods. This study also found moderate emergency responses in selected unions; however, strategic planning for relocation, health, and well-being of communities is insufficient. Continuous resource constraints and poor coordination with communities and line organizations made local implementation less effective, which blurs the effectiveness of disaster risk reduction policies. These findings underscore the necessity of union-level governance capacity building, integrating community-based adaptation with formal interventions, and developing spatially differentiated relocation strategies to enhance the resilience of climate-vulnerable coastal settlements.

Bangladeshi NGOs collaborate with international donors to address flood vulnerability; however, donor-led projects often lack a strong local grounding. This review explores challenges in NGO–donor collaborations for community-based flood adaptation. Using PRISMA-ScR and PCC frameworks, it searched Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and relevant grey literature from 1987 to 2026. The systematic search yielded 128 records. After deduplication and screening, 82 flood-relevant records were retained (73 database, 9 grey). Of these, 18 information-rich studies that met thick-description criteria formed the core analytical corpus for bibliometric and thematic analyses (1987–2021, historically stratified), while the remaining 64 provided contextual background. Nine additional methodological references from a separate purposive search conducted outside the systematic flow supported the review design, bringing the total number of cited references to 91. Two reviewers charted data, with synthesis combining bibliometric analysis and Tracy-guided phronetic thematic analysis. The five key challenges identified were donors’ and INGOs’ dominance, financial constraints and proposal burdens, misaligned priorities, weak community organizations, and participation gaps. The findings trace how these themes have evolved and argue for institutionalizing participatory frameworks within donor funding to rebalance power, promote local ownership, and improve flood governance.

Community management requires ongoing support from an overseeing institution for sustainable development. In case of rural community management in Bangladesh, it is found that implementation agencies shift responsibilities to beneficiaries achieving the convenient concept of community management model without establishing appropriate local management committee. On the other hand, beneficiaries cannot develop the sense of responsibility because of legal, ownership, or community constraints. On this position, this paper will see practices of Bangladesh government projects for rural community development. Following practicing in the community development field, this paper will assess the community management pointing out the problems related to implementation agencies and beneficiaries. Finally, it will focus on solution for radical change needed if community management systems are to be sustainable. Secondary sources are used to develop this paper where data are analyzed through article review. Vol. 6, December 2013, pp. 87-92

The transboundary partnership encourages multi-stakeholder efforts to mobilize adaptation funding and services for adaptation governance. However, challenges exist in scope, equality, and transparency when engaging these stakeholders. Few studies have examined the detailed coordination among multi-stakeholders and the performance of their partnerships, creating an opportunity to understand how multi-stakeholders contribute to and manage efforts for future adaptation projects. This study focused on a transboundary action research project on climate adaptation, analyzing the partnership structure, stakeholder arrangements, coordination scenarios, and the role of the partnership within it. It included interviews with project personnel and focus group discussions with community members at the project sites. The results showed that the project emphasized collaboration while maintaining both vertical and horizontal coordination. The donor maintained vertical coordination for monitoring but collaborated on budget adjustments, funding, identifying challenges, and developing strategies to improve the partnership. Partners continued horizontal coordination by sharing responsibilities and taking leadership roles in synthesizing research reports. Additionally, this project facilitated community participation in piloting the adaptation intervention. Although this partnership aimed to establish collaboration, it remains far from effectively liaising with national-level governments to maximize the benefits of adaptation technology. Future research should expand this scope to promote sustainable development.