As part of The Arkleton Trust’s Climate Change International Mapping project, I was awarded with a grant to undertake a mapping exercise in North, Central and South-America. The exercise aimed at identifying local initiatives that allow rural communities to become more adaptive and resilient to the impacts of climate change. During the time I undertook this project I was in the early stages of my PhD programme in Sustainability Studies at the UHI Centre for Remote and Rural Studies. Each of the initiatives identified through this exercise contributed to my understanding of climate change adaptation processes. They illustrated how climate change amplifies complex and context specific issues of rural places, but more importantly they showed communities’ great capacity to innovate. As a result of the project I have made contact with other researchers and community activist with similar interests who have challenged and enriched my approach to research. Finally, sharing some of these initiatives has proven to be very inspiring for other researchers and communities; for instance the Gairloch community at a workshop organised by the Highland Council in the light of a pilot climate change adaptation plan.I have recently submitted my PhD thesis which aims at understanding how people living in an “informal settlement” in Caracas construct, experience and respond to the impacts of intense rainfall. I live in France where I work as a freelance researcher.