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The purpose of this study is to discuss how enhancing the role of local institutions (LI) and incorporating indigenous knowledge (IK) in climate change adaptation planning can improve adoption and scaling success of climate-smart agriculture innovations.

A review of relevant literature from sub-Saharan Africa was used to answer the study research questions.

Embracing IK and LI in climate change adaptation projects can enhance adoption and scaling success of climate-smart agriculture innovations in smallholder farming. Such efforts will improve: information gathering and dissemination, mobilization of resources, establishment of useful networks with relevant stakeholders, capacity building farmers on various fronts and provision of leadership in climate adaptation programs.

Fully embracing IK and LI can improve the scaling of climate-smart innovations only if development partners recognize IK systems that are to be transformed and build on them instead of trying to replace them. Also, participatory approaches in scaling innovations will enhance input from rural people in climate change adaptation programs.

Development interventions aimed at taking proven effective climate-smart innovations to scale must, therefore, engage local communities and their indigenous institutions as active stakeholders in designing, planning and implementation of their climate adaptation programs.

The importance of food education in primary schools has been globally recognised. However, more detailed definitions of its learning objectives are rarely found. The study aimed to define multisectoral themes and learning objectives for food education in primary education in Finland.

A descriptive three-round Delphi study was conducted with experts in food education in various organisations. In the first questionnaire, the participants were asked to define possible objectives for food education related to general objectives for basic education. Respondents of the first questionnaire formed a research panel (n = 22). These panellists were then invited to complete the second (n = 16) and third questionnaires (n = 12), where the objectives were further modified. Qualitative content analysis and Bloom's taxonomy were applied in the process of creating the learning objectives.

In the iterative process, 42 learning objectives for food education in primary schools were defined. Further, “Sustainability and ethics of food systems” was defined as the cross-cutting theme of food education. In addition, 13 subthemes were defined, which fell into three thematic categories: personal (e.g. feelings), practical (e.g. eating) and intangible (e.g. culture) issues.

The defined learning objectives for a holistic food education may be used in advancing primary school curriculum in Finland and perhaps other countries.

Although technology is a defining characteristic of distance education, assessment of the applicability of such resources in knowledge dissemination is greatly warranted to ensure effectivity. Hence, the purpose of this study was to assess the viability of a novel tool in teaching practical chemistry online.

Here, a resource named “virtual chemistry lab space” (VCLS), which allowed the learners to virtually engage in practical activities, was administered among learners enrolled in a practical chemistry course at the Open University of Sri Lanka and feedback was collected to ascertain the learner perception on the resource.

In total, 76% of respondents indicated familiarity with the VCLS, while 59% indicated that they were interested in engaging in activities provided through this resource during the pandemic lockdown. Also, 70% indicated that the VCLS was helpful to understand the course content during the pandemic period, while 82% indicated that they are likely to use it in the future.

The prevalent problems related to using the VCLS were lack of Internet access, physical interactions and time. However, the overall opinion on the VCLS was notably positive, while a majority indicated that flexibility to the learners, access to learning resources and use of technology in education will improve due to the use of this novel tool.

Online course delivery has been greatly restricted to areas of education where distant delivery could be easily adopted while it is seldom found in areas such as practical chemistry. Hence, the study indicates novelty and notable originality within the ODL system.