Rural roads are essential to daily life in Bangladesh, connecting communities to markets, schools, and health services. However, when these roads are not thoughtfully designed, they can disrupt natural water flows, contribute to flooding and erosion, and ultimately put local livelihoods at risk.
To address these challenges, the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), in partnership with GOPA MetaMeta, Socioconsult Ltd., and the WAVE Foundation –and with support from the Government of Canada—launched an innovative project in the Rajshahi district. This initiative piloted two groundbreaking approaches: Green Roads for Water (GR4W) and Locally Led Adaptation (LLA).
By integrating the GR4W approach, the project reimagined rural roads as climate-smart infrastructure, incorporating water management, slope stabilization, and tree planting to transform road-related risks into opportunities. At the same time, the LLA approach placed women’s groups from communities along two rural roads in Mohanpur and Godagari at the heart of the planning process, ensuring that adaptation strategies were shaped by local knowledge and priorities. This approach follows an 8-step process for developing women-led adaptation plans for Green Roads for Water, designed to inform and guide future road projects in the area.
Through this collaborative effort, detailed adaptation plans were developed, outlining practical and costed interventions to strengthen climate resilience, improve rural connectivity, and create opportunities for women to engage in road development. The experiences and insights from this pilot have been compiled into a comprehensive manual, offering a roadmap for scaling up these approaches across Bangladesh and beyond.
This project stands as a testament to the power of combining innovative infrastructure solutions with genuine community leadership, paving the way for a more resilient and sustainable future.
You can access the Women’s Adaptation Plans for GR4W in Monhapur and Godagari roads—developed by local women’s groups and presented to their local governments to inform future road projects in the area. Also available is the Manual for Upscaling Women’s Adaptation Labs for Green Roads for Water, created from the lessons learned during this successful pilot.
Last modified: March 4, 2026