Abstract
This publication presents a framework for community-led disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation that was developed in Brazil and is now offered as a resource for policymakers, practitioners and communities worldwide.
Known by its Portuguese acronym PCRA, for Planos Comunitários de Redução de Riscos e Adaptação Climática (Community Plans for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation), the framework was developed by the National Secretariat for Peripheries (SNP) of Brazil under the Ministry of Cities, together with a range of partners, and piloted across 12 territories in 2024. It places community leadership, participatory risk analysis and territorially grounded climate action at the centre of urban resilience. Since 2025, the SNP has been rolling out new PCRA across all five regions of the country, with a federal government target of reaching 100 territories and training 1,000 territorial agents.
Prepared by the Government of Brazil in partnership with the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), this publication builds on a collaboration that already contributed to Brazil’s official PCRA guidebook in 2025. It takes the next step by presenting the conceptual foundations, methodological architecture and strategic lessons of PCRA in a form intended for adaptation in other national and local contexts. Through this collaboration, approaches, tools and lessons from the Transformative Urban Coalitions (TUC) project have informed the PCRA methodology and into this publication, which TUC also supported.
The publication is written for national and local policymakers, civil society organizations, technical advisory teams and international agencies working on disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and urban development. It may also serve networks of low-income and informal settlements, community leaders and territorial agents.
As climate risks intensify, exchanging experiences across cities and countries becomes increasingly important. Dialogue between local experimentation and global learning can help the PCRA framework continue to evolve and strengthen collective capacities for prevention, preparedness and adaptation in vulnerable urban areas.
