Listen, Learn & Leap: Co-producing Equitable and Sustainable Nature-based Solutions for Climate Resilience in East African Cities
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Department Name: Bartlett Sch of Planning
Abstract
Cities in East Africa face various challenges that exacerbate climate-related risks and complicate resilience-building. In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, the potential to realise a more resilient future is also intimately tied to water and nature. This is especially the case for those living in informal settlements (who constitute the majority in both cities), many of which are located within waterways and floodplains that are highly exposed to hydrometeorological hazards and lack adequate drainage, sanitation or drinking water to meet the needs of residents. In these cities as elsewhere, social norms and power relations that designate responsibility for water collection, cooking, cleaning and other care work to women and girls and restrict their mobility outside the home, mean that they are more affected than men and boys by water deprivation and the socio-spatial risks associated with flooding, inadequate water supply and sanitation, and are the first responders to severe flooding and other hazards. These riparian areas are also locations where urban natural assets and buffers are being rapidly lost due to continued urbanisation.
Interest in, and awareness of, the potential for Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to support climate adaptation and mitigate environmental risks while also realising various social benefits has been growing. However, there is a lack of evidence and understanding of local experiences of NbS, particularly in low-income informal settlements. Furthermore, a preference for large-scale grey infrastructure projects and related hesitance in policy and planning circles to recognise and invest in localised NbS continues to hinder municipal resilience-building efforts. Yet top-down engineered solutions often fail to reach those most in need, and rarely include community perspectives; young people who make up 70 percent of the population in Kenya and Tanzania remain excluded from urban planning and decision-making.
Our project responds to these challenges and aims to fill existing knowledge gaps by exploring the socio-political factors that support the uptake, sustainability and institutionalisation of NbS in African cities. Our objectives are to: 1) Listen: documenting existing knowledge, experiences of, and experiments in managing water risks through NbS to enhance our understanding of the context-specific and communal factors that shape the equity, efficiency and sustainability of NbS, and the barriers and entry points for scaling-up or mainstreaming community-driven interventions into urban planning processes; 2) Learn: by facilitating the co-production of community-driven NbS in informal settlements and developing methodologies that produce actionable knowledge of the environmental, socio-cultural, financial and institutional considerations that drive or derail equitable, sustainable and resilient NbS to urban water issues; 3) Leap: fostering cross-sectoral municipal and regional dialogue and knowledge exchange between community-based organisations, civil society and institutional actors to identify common goals and practical guidance around institutionalising and scaling-up inclusive community-led NbS to advance equitable urban climate resilience in East Africa and beyond. Co-production is central to this action-research to ensure that our inquiry into the possibilities and dilemmas of NbS is grounded in the human experience. We argue that engaging young people, and especially adolescent women and girls, is critical to ensuring that urban resilience-building policies and interventions are both equitable and sustainable in the longer term. The strengths and capacities of our team to deliver this research stems from our diverse disciplinary backgrounds, strong relationships with key city actors, and our track-record in delivering co-produced, community-driven interventions in informal settlements, and leveraging those voices and experiences into policy and planning forums in Nairobi and Dar.
Interest in, and awareness of, the potential for Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to support climate adaptation and mitigate environmental risks while also realising various social benefits has been growing. However, there is a lack of evidence and understanding of local experiences of NbS, particularly in low-income informal settlements. Furthermore, a preference for large-scale grey infrastructure projects and related hesitance in policy and planning circles to recognise and invest in localised NbS continues to hinder municipal resilience-building efforts. Yet top-down engineered solutions often fail to reach those most in need, and rarely include community perspectives; young people who make up 70 percent of the population in Kenya and Tanzania remain excluded from urban planning and decision-making.
Our project responds to these challenges and aims to fill existing knowledge gaps by exploring the socio-political factors that support the uptake, sustainability and institutionalisation of NbS in African cities. Our objectives are to: 1) Listen: documenting existing knowledge, experiences of, and experiments in managing water risks through NbS to enhance our understanding of the context-specific and communal factors that shape the equity, efficiency and sustainability of NbS, and the barriers and entry points for scaling-up or mainstreaming community-driven interventions into urban planning processes; 2) Learn: by facilitating the co-production of community-driven NbS in informal settlements and developing methodologies that produce actionable knowledge of the environmental, socio-cultural, financial and institutional considerations that drive or derail equitable, sustainable and resilient NbS to urban water issues; 3) Leap: fostering cross-sectoral municipal and regional dialogue and knowledge exchange between community-based organisations, civil society and institutional actors to identify common goals and practical guidance around institutionalising and scaling-up inclusive community-led NbS to advance equitable urban climate resilience in East Africa and beyond. Co-production is central to this action-research to ensure that our inquiry into the possibilities and dilemmas of NbS is grounded in the human experience. We argue that engaging young people, and especially adolescent women and girls, is critical to ensuring that urban resilience-building policies and interventions are both equitable and sustainable in the longer term. The strengths and capacities of our team to deliver this research stems from our diverse disciplinary backgrounds, strong relationships with key city actors, and our track-record in delivering co-produced, community-driven interventions in informal settlements, and leveraging those voices and experiences into policy and planning forums in Nairobi and Dar.
Organisations
- UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON (Lead Research Organisation, Project Partner)
- University of Copenhagen (Collaboration)
- ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability - Africa (Collaboration)
- Kounkuey Design Initiative (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- ARDHI UNIVERSITY (Collaboration)
- Centre for Community Initiatives (CCI) (Project Partner)
- ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainabili (Project Partner)
- Urban Systems Lab (Project Partner)
- Ardhi University (Project Partner)
Description | Presentation at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 29) in a session co-hosted by the International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure and Conservation International |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Description | UCL MSc in Environment and Sustainable Development - students on Working with nature and people in cities: The concept of Nature-based solutions and beyond |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | Students were actively engaged in both sessions, and feedback to tutors that they gained knowledge the facilitators. |
Description | World Resources Institute (WRI) Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) Strategic Framework Workshop, Addis Ababa |
Geographic Reach | Africa |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
URL | https://www.afd.fr/en/carte-des-projets/developing-strategic-framework-nature-based-solutions-urban-... |
Description | Equitable Nature-based Climate Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa Programme Coordination, Integration and Knowledge Exchange Function |
Amount | £199,306 (GBP) |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2025 |
End | 02/2027 |
Title | Co-production of social science research tools and methodologies |
Description | Listen, Learn & Leap has co-developed and piloted new research tools and methodologies (data gathering and information capture approaches) in the first phase of the project. These tools aim to collect data on existing Nature Based Solutions (NbS) and to comprehensively assess both the opportunities and barriers to NbS implementation in informal settlements, and institutionalisation/mainstreaming in East African cities. A core principle of the project is co-production, ensuring the active participation of local stakeholders throughout the research and development process. This approach has shaped the design and application of the research tools, which so far include: 1. Collaborative identification of interventions by engaging key local stakeholders in workshops and discussions about Nature Based Solutions (NbS) in their city. 2. Rapid Site Assessments conducted in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam to capture base-line information about existing NbS in riparian and coastal areas, combining land-use mapping, personal observations and informal discussions, to develop a comprehensive overview of formal and informal nature-based interventions in these areas. 3. Participatory reflection and data analysis sessions among data collection teams in both cities to discuss experiences, emerging insights, and challenges encountered during the rapid site assessments. 4. A co-designed Key Informant Interview Guide, developed in collaboration with stakeholders and translated into Swahili, to facilitate culturally sensitive and in-depth interviews. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2025 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The co-produced approaches to Rapid Site Assessments and Key Informant Interviews has enhanced the quality and triangulation of data gathering and mapping of NbS in both cities, which will feature on interactive online city profiles currently being developed. |
Description | Ardhi University, Tanzania |
Organisation | Ardhi University |
Country | Tanzania, United Republic of |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We at UCL, as the UKRI grant recipient and project lead institution support this collaboration with Ardhi University with financial contributions (from UKRI) towards their staffing, research and travel/subsistence costs linked to this project. UCL research team includes two full-time post-doctoral research fellows, one of whom works especially closely with the team in Dar es Salaam to support them in the research design, methodological approach, analysis and production of outputs, and to ensure continuity and complementarity of approaches in each city. We contribute to this collaboration by providing capacity building, for example on Gender Analysis, on Participatory Methodologies, NVivo training, etc, and supporting Ardhi colleagues in the research design and analysis, and working together to develop and deliver outputs. Our contributions noted above are based on the expertise and approaches developed at The Bartlett Development Planning Unit and the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction. |
Collaborator Contribution | Ardhi University has extensive experience in researching climate risk and resilience, water systems, land management and governance of informal urbanisation, and Nature based Solutions (NbS) in Dar es Salaam. They contribute to this interdisciplinary team by overseeing the research design, data collection, analysis, and production of academic outputs in Tanzania, working alongside and supporting our community-based partner organisation, the Centre for Community Initiatives (CCI) to conduct this research and deliver impact. The in-kind contributions noted above relate to in-country costs of processing research permissions and provision of meeting venues and facilities for stakeholder engagement activities and workshops, across the three year duration of the project. |
Impact | As the project is in its early stages and data collection is ongoing, the only output delivered to date relates to the stakeholder engagement event held in November 2024, to introduce the research aims and objectives to municipal government bodies and other relevant institutional actors operating in the city (eg. World Bank) and start to develop a stakeholder matrix to inform data collection and future engagement activities. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Partnership with Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen |
Organisation | University of Copenhagen |
Department | Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management |
Country | Denmark |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | A colleague at the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen is part of the project's Impact and Advisory Committee. UCL support this collaboration through building their networks and knowledge of Nature Based Solutions in informal settlements in East Africa. |
Collaborator Contribution | A colleague at the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen contributes to this partnership by through part of our Impact and Advisory Committee, providing providing intellectual, technical and practical advice and guidance to support our methodologies, outputs and the reach of our impact. They bring particular expertise on sustainability transitions and wider applications of NbS in West and South African contexts. The in-kind contributions noted above relate to the salaried time contributions of this colleague, the value of which is unknown. |
Impact | The advisory committee meets on a quarterly basis - however given the early stages of this research there are no outputs/outcomes to report. |
Start Year | 2025 |
Description | Partnership with ICLEI Africa |
Organisation | ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability - Africa |
Country | South Africa |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | We at UCL, as the UKRI grant recipient and project lead institution support this collaboration with ICLEI with financial contributions (from UKRI) towards their staffing, delivery of outputs, and travel/subsistence costs linked to this project. UCL's research team is working closely with ICLEI to support them in the design of stakeholder engagement activities, and in the production of outputs, ensuring the continuity and complementarity of approaches adopted in each city and expanding the topics, methodologies and networks championed by ICLEI as relevant to NbS in informal settlements in East Africa. We also contribute to this collaboration by providing capacity building, for example on Gender Analysis and Participatory Methodologies. Our contributions noted above are based on the expertise and approaches developed at The Bartlett Development Planning Unit and the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction. |
Collaborator Contribution | ICLEI is a global network working with local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development to advance and inform policy and practice. It contributes to this partnership bringing extensive expertise in global advocacy for sustainable development and NbS in cities, and coordinating and facilitating municipal and regional institutional stakeholder engagement events. ICLEI leads on and oversees the institutionalisation and scaling up of Nature Based Solutions (NbS) (LEAP) and on the coordination and facilitation of knowledge exchange workshops, policy briefs and other policy-oriented outputs for impact. Through its networks, ICLEI will support the dissemination of the project's findings to relevant global networks. The in-kind contributions noted above reflect the use of materials and networks developed in previous work. |
Impact | As we are at an early stage in the research, there are no outputs/outcomes to report. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Partnership with Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) |
Organisation | Kounkuey Design Initiative |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | We at UCL, as the UKRI grant recipient and project lead institution support this collaboration with Konkuey Design Initiative (KDI) with financial contributions (from UKRI) towards their staffing and overheads, research and travel/subsistence costs linked to this project. UCL's research team includes two full-time post-doctoral research fellows (PDRF), one of whom works especially closely with the team in Nairobi to support them in the research design, methodological approach, analysis and production of outputs, and to ensure continuity and complementarity of approaches in each city. We contribute to this collaboration by providing capacity building, for example on Gender Analysis, on Participatory Methodologies, NVivo training, etc, and supporting KDI colleagues in the research design and analysis, working together to develop and deliver outputs. Our contributions noted above are based on the expertise and approaches developed at The Bartlett Development Planning Unit and the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction. |
Collaborator Contribution | KDI bring expertise in designing and implementing Nature based Solutions (NbS) to address water risk and other climate-related hazards in informal settlements, and in methodologies for co-producing and co-designing NbS, infrastructure and site upgrading with community-based organisations. They also have extensive networks and longstanding relationships with individuals and community organisations in informal settlements in Nairobi, and with wider municipal stakeholders from past projects. They contribute to this interdisciplinary team by overseeing the research design, data collection and analysis, co-design and implementation of NbS, and production of outputs in Nairobi. The in-kind contributions noted above span the three-year duration of the project and relate to the provision of meeting room facilities and leveraging of past networks, community inputs, data and methodologies. |
Impact | As the project is in its early stages and data collection is ongoing there are no outputs or outcomes to report at this stage. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Africa Regional Practitioner Workshop on Nature-based Solutions: Scoping needs and gaps in implementation and upscaling, Nairobi, Kenya |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | This event was convened by the UN Environmental Programme as part of a series of Intergovernmental Consultations on NbS, bringing together governments and stakeholders with the aim of achieving consensus around NbS implementation. This regional workshop engaged with NbS practitioners and other stakeholders to understand the barriers and opportunities of implementation of NbS. Our project was represented here by ICLEI, and their participation provided the opportunity to share our research aims and objectives and contribute to shaping regional discussions about NbS in East African cities. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
Description | Development of project website and social media channels |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | In January 2025, we launched our project website and social media profiles/channels on LinkedIn and Instagram. These platforms are already attracting international attention, increasing the project's visibility and reach. Through this engagement activity, our project is plugging into and helping to expand existing Communities of Practice interested in the implementation of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) to advance climate resilience in Africa and globally. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
URL | https://www.instagram.com/listenlearnleap4nbs/ |
Description | Interview with BBC World Service's The Climate Question- episode titled "Can Bringing Back Nature Save Our Cities from Floods?" |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Dr. Priti Parikh, UCL based Co-Lead from the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, participated in an interview on BBC World Service's The Climate Question in the episode titled "Can Bringing Back Nature Save Our Cities from Floods?" The discussion focused on the concept of sponge cities, highlighting the benefits of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) in managing urban flooding and enhancing climate resilience, with reference to this project. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5ws2 |
Description | Project launch and stakeholder engagement workshop in Dar es Salaam |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | This project launch and stakeholder engagement workshop in Dar es Salaam was organised by the Centre for Community Initiatives (CCI) with support from the Tanzania Federation for the Urban Poor (TFUP). It brought together 30 key stakeholders, including engineers, policymakers, and representatives from third-sector and international organizations working on or with an interest in Nature Based Solutions (NbS) in informal settlements in Dar es Salaam. The event aimed to identify relevant stakeholders and initiatives relating to NbS to address climate-related issues the coastal and riverine neighbourhoods of Dar es Salaam, and to establish/strengthen possibilities for collaboration between communities, municipal offices, and organisations linked to this project. A key focus was to begin a process of knowledge co-production, and to identify relevant individuals/organisations to invite for key informant interviews and/or focus group discussions. The event also helped to inform our rapid assessment and mapping of NbS initiatives in the city, and the production of our forthcoming NbS city profiles. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |