Connect4 water resilience: connecting water resources, communities, drought and flood hazards, and governance across 4 countries in the Limpopo basin
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Aberdeen
Department Name: Sch of Geosciences
Abstract
The 'CONNECT4 water resilience' project brings together a multidisciplinary team of hydrologists and sociologists from academia, policy and practice in the UK, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique to investigate the physical and societal factors affecting vulnerability and resilience to drought and floods in 4 countries of the Limpopo River Basin (LRB). The research will provide a better understanding of the connectivity within and between physical and social aspects of vulnerability to improve societal preparedness and resilience to flood and drought hazards in arid Sub-Saharan regions.
The LRB is an arid, water-stressed basin, yet with high susceptibility to floods. It encompasses a large diversity of physical and socio-economical characteristics spread across four countries (Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique). Floods and droughts have been shown to exacerbate water availability and quality problems and are predicted to increase in frequency and magnitude.
We will focus on the challenges and opportunities during floods following droughts in the LRB, when aquifers and communities are already under stress, and when appropriate flood management could improve short term coping mechanisms and long-term resilience for future dry seasons. We will explore to what extent geographical differences between sub-regions influence how water resources respond to, and how people cope with floods and droughts in order to inform appropriate water management strategies at various scales (local to transnational).
The research will articulate around three integrated workpackages (WP).
WP1 will assess basin-scale hydrological connectivity, i.e. how droughts and floods propagate in space and time under varying physical conditions (hydrometeorology, physiography, geology, groundwater-surface water interactions), with a focus on how the hydrological response of a specific sub-region influences or is influenced by other regions. This will be achieved though implementation of a basin-scale groundwater-surface water modelling approach and based on existing datasets, in part collected by the project team. Outputs will aid to improve transnational flood and drought monitoring networks and update susceptibility mapping.
WP2 will assess the basin-scale social connectivity, i.e. how drought-flood cycles are understood, anticipated and worked with by local communities and how these communities interact with governance institutions. This will be achieved by carrying out interviews with diverse community groups and with key community-government intermediaries such as extension officers and catchment management fora. Outputs will contribute to understanding how drought/flood risk is perceived by communities and to develop better communication.
WP3 will integrate WP1 and WP2 and will work on the connectivity between social and hydrological systems. It will connect our understanding of multiscale hydrological processes underlying alternating droughts and floods with water resource and risk management, and societal preparedness pathways. This aims to co-create management solutions to reduce impacts and increase benefits of drought-flood cycles throughout the LRB. It will use an iterative, co-production process to strengthen crucial bridges between scientists and water management stakeholders on the appropriate scale(s).
Research outputs will impact (1) people in the LRB and arid regions through enhanced awareness and preparedness to flood and droughts, leading to increased resilience; (2) local and regional authorities via improved hydrological monitoring networks and a strengthened connection from local to transnational levels of governance; (3) general public through public engagement activities; (4) international academics via publications and socio-hydrological datasets on public databases, training of African under- and postgraduate students and development of early career researchers.
The LRB is an arid, water-stressed basin, yet with high susceptibility to floods. It encompasses a large diversity of physical and socio-economical characteristics spread across four countries (Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique). Floods and droughts have been shown to exacerbate water availability and quality problems and are predicted to increase in frequency and magnitude.
We will focus on the challenges and opportunities during floods following droughts in the LRB, when aquifers and communities are already under stress, and when appropriate flood management could improve short term coping mechanisms and long-term resilience for future dry seasons. We will explore to what extent geographical differences between sub-regions influence how water resources respond to, and how people cope with floods and droughts in order to inform appropriate water management strategies at various scales (local to transnational).
The research will articulate around three integrated workpackages (WP).
WP1 will assess basin-scale hydrological connectivity, i.e. how droughts and floods propagate in space and time under varying physical conditions (hydrometeorology, physiography, geology, groundwater-surface water interactions), with a focus on how the hydrological response of a specific sub-region influences or is influenced by other regions. This will be achieved though implementation of a basin-scale groundwater-surface water modelling approach and based on existing datasets, in part collected by the project team. Outputs will aid to improve transnational flood and drought monitoring networks and update susceptibility mapping.
WP2 will assess the basin-scale social connectivity, i.e. how drought-flood cycles are understood, anticipated and worked with by local communities and how these communities interact with governance institutions. This will be achieved by carrying out interviews with diverse community groups and with key community-government intermediaries such as extension officers and catchment management fora. Outputs will contribute to understanding how drought/flood risk is perceived by communities and to develop better communication.
WP3 will integrate WP1 and WP2 and will work on the connectivity between social and hydrological systems. It will connect our understanding of multiscale hydrological processes underlying alternating droughts and floods with water resource and risk management, and societal preparedness pathways. This aims to co-create management solutions to reduce impacts and increase benefits of drought-flood cycles throughout the LRB. It will use an iterative, co-production process to strengthen crucial bridges between scientists and water management stakeholders on the appropriate scale(s).
Research outputs will impact (1) people in the LRB and arid regions through enhanced awareness and preparedness to flood and droughts, leading to increased resilience; (2) local and regional authorities via improved hydrological monitoring networks and a strengthened connection from local to transnational levels of governance; (3) general public through public engagement activities; (4) international academics via publications and socio-hydrological datasets on public databases, training of African under- and postgraduate students and development of early career researchers.
Planned Impact
This project will have various socio-economic impacts on several groups of beneficiaries:
1-Inhabitants of Southern Africa arid regions: On the short term, local people will enhance their awareness of the issues surrounding water resources and disasters and improve their preparedness to the impacts of floods and droughts. This will be achieved through various interactions with people during the community surveys and the fieldwork activities. On the mid to long-term, wider impact on people from arid regions will be achieved by contributing to increased knowledge of and preparedness to extreme drought/flood events, increased resilience and more sustainable provision of safe water, hence an overall improvement of well-being.
2-Local and regional authorities (governance) in the Limpopo basin: The project will provide capacity building and contribute to improved governance and policy through an evidence-base from both local knowledge and model scenarios. This will inform improved hydrological monitoring networks through the identification of intra-basin areas most vulnerable to floods and droughts, which will contribute to increased preparedness. Impact on the LRB water governance sector will be achieved through their extensive engagement in 1/the local governance interviews (WP2), 2/the community and governance workshops with management scenario simulation (WP3) and 3/the final trans-boundary workshop (WP3).
3-NGOs and Humanitarian response agencies: The improved understanding of extreme events and their impacts across different, connected physical and social geographical regions will also directly feed into ongoing forecasting and emergency response planning. This will be achieved through collaboration with NGO Dabane and Red Cross.
4-UK and African development and cooperation agencies: Agencies such as the UK Department For International Development DFID/UKAid, the Southern African Development Community SADC and LIMCOM will be impacted by gaining new insights on challenges in flood and drought preparedness and water sustainability in arid vulnerable regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Impact will be facilitated with the collaboration and research synergies with our partner WRC that has close collaboration with these agencies.
5-Undergraduate and postgraduate students in Botswana and the UK: The research will contribute to directly inspiring and training BSc and MSc students from the African Co-Is. through involvement in field research activities which will benefit their career progression. The student community in the UK and African institutions will also be impacted by integration of the key findings into lectures and dissertation projects.
6-Early career researchers in Southern Africa and the UK: The early career researchers from the project CoI team, through work package coordination, contribution to design and delivery of the research, supervision of MSc and BSc students will develop their leadership skills and portfolio.
7-The general public: We will raise public awareness on how water resources and societal resilience are connected and related to climate variability and extremes, through the project website, regional/local media, non-academic publications and contribution to University public engagement events in Aberdeen.
1-Inhabitants of Southern Africa arid regions: On the short term, local people will enhance their awareness of the issues surrounding water resources and disasters and improve their preparedness to the impacts of floods and droughts. This will be achieved through various interactions with people during the community surveys and the fieldwork activities. On the mid to long-term, wider impact on people from arid regions will be achieved by contributing to increased knowledge of and preparedness to extreme drought/flood events, increased resilience and more sustainable provision of safe water, hence an overall improvement of well-being.
2-Local and regional authorities (governance) in the Limpopo basin: The project will provide capacity building and contribute to improved governance and policy through an evidence-base from both local knowledge and model scenarios. This will inform improved hydrological monitoring networks through the identification of intra-basin areas most vulnerable to floods and droughts, which will contribute to increased preparedness. Impact on the LRB water governance sector will be achieved through their extensive engagement in 1/the local governance interviews (WP2), 2/the community and governance workshops with management scenario simulation (WP3) and 3/the final trans-boundary workshop (WP3).
3-NGOs and Humanitarian response agencies: The improved understanding of extreme events and their impacts across different, connected physical and social geographical regions will also directly feed into ongoing forecasting and emergency response planning. This will be achieved through collaboration with NGO Dabane and Red Cross.
4-UK and African development and cooperation agencies: Agencies such as the UK Department For International Development DFID/UKAid, the Southern African Development Community SADC and LIMCOM will be impacted by gaining new insights on challenges in flood and drought preparedness and water sustainability in arid vulnerable regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Impact will be facilitated with the collaboration and research synergies with our partner WRC that has close collaboration with these agencies.
5-Undergraduate and postgraduate students in Botswana and the UK: The research will contribute to directly inspiring and training BSc and MSc students from the African Co-Is. through involvement in field research activities which will benefit their career progression. The student community in the UK and African institutions will also be impacted by integration of the key findings into lectures and dissertation projects.
6-Early career researchers in Southern Africa and the UK: The early career researchers from the project CoI team, through work package coordination, contribution to design and delivery of the research, supervision of MSc and BSc students will develop their leadership skills and portfolio.
7-The general public: We will raise public awareness on how water resources and societal resilience are connected and related to climate variability and extremes, through the project website, regional/local media, non-academic publications and contribution to University public engagement events in Aberdeen.
Organisations
- University of Aberdeen (Lead Research Organisation)
- Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Collaboration)
- National University of Science and Technology (Collaboration)
- International Water Management Institute (IWMI) (Collaboration)
- Government of Zimbabwe (Collaboration)
- Southern African Development Community (Collaboration)
- Beitbridge Rural District Council (Collaboration)
- University of Insubria (Collaboration)
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Collaboration)
Publications
Barbara Van Koppen
(2020)
Integrated management of multiple water sources for multiple uses: rural communities in Limpopo Province, South Africa
in Water SA
Franchi F
(2024)
Prolonged drought periods over the last four decades increase flood intensity in Southern Africa
in Science of the Total Environment
Franchi F
(2019)
Modern sediment records of hydroclimatic extremes and associated potential contaminant mobilization in semi-arid environments: lessons learnt from recent flood-drought cycles in southern Botswana
in Journal of Soils and Sediments
Höllermann B
(2022)
Go together, to go further! Reply to "Human-water research: discussion of 'Guiding principles for hydrologists conducting interdisciplinary research and fieldwork with participants'"
in Hydrological Sciences Journal
Khudzadzo N
(2021)
Integration of Agro-Ecological and Groundwater Resources for the Assessment of Crop Suitability Potential Modeling: The Case of Limpopo Province, South Africa
in Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development
Meshram S
(2022)
Assessing vulnerability to soil erosion based on fuzzy best worse multi-criteria decision-making method
in Applied Water Science
| Description | Below are key preliminary findings relating to well-advanced or completed project workpackages by March 2021. From dam sediment surveys (WP1), we found that: -Dam sediments preserve floods/droughts records that reflect spatial distribution of events (and magnitude) across the Limpopo River basin. This further confirmed what was previously found locally in Botswana (project PULA). -The shallow permeability of dam sediments, which dictates the capacity of dams to recharge underlying aquifers, is variable across the LRB and reflect local geological conditions. -The statistical analysis of sedimentary flood records enabled to assess the magnitude of flood events, revealing a dramatic increase in the severity of hydrological events. Extreme flood events were identified across the basin in 1988-89, 1995-96, 1999-2000, 2003-04, 2010-11, 2013-14 and 2016-17. From hydrological data analysis (WP1), we found that: -The frequency and intensity of both extreme drought and flood events is increasing in the LRB. -Groundwater recharge is correlated with the rainfall distribution and there is no clear long term trend in groundwater recharge. -Groundwater storage is decreasing on the long term. From integration of sediment results and hydrological records (WP1+2), we found that: -Rainfall and river discharge (hydrological records) are not systematically correlated with magnitude and impacts of flood events (as evidenced from sediment transport/deposition). -There is a good correlation between floods and the severity of previous drought events and an overall deterioration of soil conditions. -Since 1980, the likely decoupling of extreme floods from the magnitude of La Niña events, suggesting that the natural interannual variability driven by El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has been disrupted by climate changes and human activities. -Drought increasing intensity is further correlated with long-term abstraction-driven groundwater decline, which suggest that groundwater status could be considered a proxy for vulnerability. From community interviews (WP2), we found that: -At community level, forecasting droughts and floods largely relies on traditional knowledge and to a lesser extent on information via radio -Methods of preparation to droughts vary across communities and across the LRB, but most commonly include: storing harvest; storing animal food; use drought tolerant crop; use groundwater borehole. -Preparation to floods at community level is also very variable most commonly including: building stronger house, on higher grounds; government assistance is patchy. From stakeholder mapping (WP2), we found that: -The institutional context relating to preparation/management of floods and droughts is extremely dynamic, with formal entities being merged, disbanded or having mandates changed. Information about this is difficult to access. -Linkages between institutions - especially across scales - tend to follow a 'chain of command' model; i.e. reporting to notify of floods and droughts, make claims, seek formal assistance. From co-created hydrological modelling and management scenarios (WP1+3), we found that: -The connectivity between surface water and groundwater greatly vary across the basin, mainly owing to topographic and geological variability, with generally (a) good groundwater-surface water connectivity in the low-lying part of the Limpopo basin characterised by mostly unconsolidated floodplain sediments, near perennial surface water and shallow water table (there surface water recharge aquifers during floods and aquifers support surface water during drought (b) highly spatially variable connectivity in upland areas including (b1) good connectivity in deep valleys and narrow floodplains similar to the low Limpopo conditions and (b1) poor connectivity in highlands areas where water tables are deep and only large floods recharge groundwater, with limited groundwater contribution to river flow. -Stakeholder preferred floods & drought mitigation measures (including temporary flood water capture and storage) greatly vary across the Limpopo River basin, with generally more interest and potential expressed for local scale strategies such as local/household rainwater harvesting and managed aquifer recharge in the upper Limpopo basin where surface water is ephemeral and aquifer are poorly/moderately productive, versus larger scale strategies such as large dams (and associated managed aquifer recharge) in the lower Limpopo basin, particularly the Mozambique part, where surface water is more perennial and aquifers are more productive. -Though evaluating different identified management scenarios and stakeholder feedback, the most effective strategy for temporary flood water storage and subsequent use during drought is through local rainwater harvesting and storage through small-scale (household to village) water reservoirs/ponds or well recharge. If upscaled over the entire LRB, it can significantly increase the groundwater storage across the basin. -The multisector collaborative modelling approach is effective to co-create management strategies and identify the appropriate and inclusive strategy to improve resilience to hydrological extremes, even in data-limiting conditions, provided that the effective stakeholder's involvement is ensured throughout the modelling study. Some additional project datasets jointly produced by WP1 (model simulations and outputs) and WP3 (stakeholder workshop) are still being analysed, and written down as journal articles and policy brief. More findings will come when all project results analysis will be completed and analysed. |
| Exploitation Route | First scientific publication of findings was in March 2024, therefore there is limited academic impact so far. The published article reported on the sedimentary-hydrological analysis of the role of prolonged drought periods on flood intensity in Southern Africa. Two further manuscripts are in preparation, on the model development and scenario results, and on the socio-hydrological analysis. Dissemination of the results will be of interest to scientists in both physical and social sciences studying resilience to floods and droughts in arid regions. Non academic impact is too early to say. We expect our results to be taken forward by policy-makers both (i) regionally, to enhance transboundary water resources management, as well as preparedness and response to floods and droughts and (ii) locally to improve techniques of water storage during wet periods (incl floods) for subsequent dry periods (incl droughts). |
| Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Communities and Social Services/Policy Environment Government Democracy and Justice |
| URL | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171489 |
| Description | Dr JC Comte participated to the LIMCOM Groundwater Committee, June 2021 |
| Geographic Reach | Africa |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | LIMCOM recently launched (2023) an UNDP-GEF 6m USD project on 'Integrated Transboundary River Basin Management for the Sustainable Development of the Limpopo River Basin' https://limpopocommission.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Integrated-Transboundary-River-Basin-Management-for-the-Sustainable-Development-of-the-Limpopo-River-Basin.pdf https://www.herald.co.zw/botswana-moza-sa-and-zim-commit-to-implementation-of-limpopo-basin-project/ https://limpopocommission.org/article/project/implementation-of-the-initiation-plan-for-gef-project-preparation-grant-ppg-for-the-integrated-transboundary-river-basin-management-for-the-sustainable-development-of-the-limpopo-river-basi/ |
| Description | Inputs to Red Cross Drought forecast-based financing and early action Guidance Notes for the RCRC Movement |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Impact | The guidance notes (draft document 2020) in which project member have provided inputs aim at providing preliminary documentation on which to ground discussions and development of FbA for drought within the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. This will contribute to improve humanitarian response to droughts which will have global impact on increased resilience to droughts. |
| URL | https://www.forecast-based-financing.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/1.-Guidance-Notes-A-Report-on-Fb... |
| Description | BIUST Department of Earth and Environmental Science: Internal Grant for purchase of sediment coring equipment for Connect4WR by Dr F Franchi |
| Amount | $5,000 (USD) |
| Organisation | The Botswana International University of Science & Technology |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | Botswana |
| Start | 07/2019 |
| End | 08/2019 |
| Description | European Research Council Starting Grant project PerfectSTORM - STOrylines of futuRe extreMes (by project CoI Dr AVL) |
| Amount | € 1,489,442 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | ERC-2020-StG 948601 |
| Organisation | European Research Council (ERC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Belgium |
| Start | 03/2021 |
| End | 02/2026 |
| Description | GCRF-SFC research grant awarded to PDRA Dr SM and PI Dr Comte on Project 'REWARD - COVID-19 and water security in the world's largest refugee camp: can groundwater development safely meet the increased water demand to fight COVID-19 in Cox's Bazar? |
| Amount | £23,403 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Government of Scotland |
| Department | Scottish Funding Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2020 |
| End | 05/2021 |
| Description | Hydro Nation PhD Scholar, Scottish Funding Council: The role of groundwater in adapting to climate change and increasing resilience to drought in Eastern Scotland |
| Amount | £170,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Government of Scotland |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2023 |
| End | 09/2027 |
| Description | Hydro Nation PhD Scholars (Project: The role of groundwater in adapting to climate change and increasing resilience to drought in Eastern Scotland) |
| Amount | £163,969 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Government of Scotland |
| Department | Scottish Funding Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2023 |
| End | 09/2027 |
| Description | IAS Institutional Grant: purchase of coring equipment to Dr. E. Massuanganhe (Eduardo Mondlane University) in collaboration with Dr. F. Franchi (BIUST). |
| Amount | € 10,000 (EUR) |
| Organisation | International Association of Sedimentologists |
| Sector | Learned Society |
| Country | Belgium |
| Start | 01/2020 |
| End | 01/2020 |
| Description | PhD scholarship in Hydrogeology Mr Oluwaseun Olabode |
| Amount | £63,666,625 (NGN) |
| Organisation | TETFund |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Start | 01/2020 |
| End | 01/2023 |
| Description | WUR Interdisciplinary Research and Education Fund (INREF) awarded to former PDRA Dr SM in collaboration with CoI BIUST on 'River sand mining in Southern Africa: impacts and research priorities' |
| Amount | € 50,000 (EUR) |
| Organisation | Wageningen University & Research |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Start | 08/2022 |
| End | 09/2023 |
| Title | Focus groups schedules standardised for application across the Limpopo River Basin |
| Description | We developed focus groups schedules unique to the project to enable discussion with different groups of water users (e.g. arable farmers, domestic water users) across the Limpopo basin's four countries to cover topics of historical droughts and floods, and responses to those; water management practices; sources, availability and uptake of forecasting information; and relationships with upstream and downstream communities. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | None yet. |
| Title | multisector multiscale collaborative hydrological modelling approach |
| Description | Connect4WR is developing a novel multisector and multiscale collaborative water resources modelling approach to co-create management solutions to reduce impacts and increase benefits of drought-flood cycles throughout the LRB. |
| Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - non-mammalian in vivo |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Development in progress - no impact yet. |
| Title | Conceptual hydrogeological cross-section across the Gaborone catchment from Kanye area to Gaborone city, Botswana |
| Description | The dataset contains a scaled, semi-quantitative conceptual hydrogeological model of the Gaborone catchment along a general WSW-ENE direction including; (1) the geographic coordinates of the extremities of each segment of the polyline transect; (2) the raster, scaled image of the conceptual hydrogeological cross-section. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | None yet. |
| URL | https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/4731c4da-91fc-4762-9c17-74c8749d4227 |
| Title | EIDC open-acccess dataset on groundwater monitoring data |
| Description | The dataset contains borehole groundwater levels and physico-chemical parameters for the period May 2017 to June 2018 including; (1) near-monthly measurements of water table depth, groundwater temperature, pH, electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids obtained from manual sampling of 22 boreholes; and (2) higher temporal resolution (5-min time-step) timeseries of water table depth, groundwater temperature and electrical conductivity obtained from automatic dataloggers in 3 of the abovementioned boreholes. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | No impact yet |
| URL | https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/documents/40a80d95-5a8a-4586-aa24-d6c87f9968b6 |
| Title | EIDC open-access dataset on flood sediment records |
| Description | Data resource title: Sediment records of the 2016-2017 flood from Notwane dam, Upper Limpopo basin, Botswana. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | No known impact yet as dataset was only published on 2019-11-18. |
| URL | https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/documents/022b3fff-55d7-46f5-b11f-2f7366e508b0 |
| Title | EIDC open-access dataset on water quality |
| Description | Data resource title: Water resources quality data following extreme rainfall and floods in the Gaborone catchment, Upper Limpopo basin, Botswana. Deposit reference: EIDCHELP-27509. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | No impact yet as dataset will be open-access from EIDC on 1/6/19 following a 3 month embargo. |
| URL | https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/documents/c7793128-1961-45d5-aa18-5f023116784b |
| Title | Sedimentological data from the Limpopo River Basin dams, southern Africa, 2018-2021 |
| Description | The data set contains grain size distributions, organic matter (OM) content and trace metal distribution (including Fe, Zn, Cu, Cr and Pb) of 37 shallow cores of sediments sampled from dams across the Limpopo River Basin. The dams include: Gaborone, Lotsane and Shashe dams in Botswana; Houtrivier, Nwanedi and Mutshedzi dams in South Africa; Ripple Creek and Zhovhe dams in Zimbabwe; and Massingir Dam in Mozambique. Data from 2 cores sampled from an oxbow lake in Mozambique are also included. The cores were collected with a gravity corer using PVC pipes of 5 cm diameter by a team from Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) led by Dr. Franchi between July 2018 and April 2021. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/b8db8239-3bde-454a-aa75-d1cec24c8763 |
| Title | Water and disaster management stakeholder map of the Limpo River basin |
| Description | A non-exhaustive draft database of key stakeholders for water governance, drought and flood management for Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa has been produced with an summary of specific responsibilities for each. In Botswana, 9 stakeholders have been mapped; 16 in Zimbabwe; 7 in Mozambique; and 10 in South Africa. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | None yet. Work in progress. |
| Description | Collaboration with SADC-GMI relating to hydrological sharing/access to SADC national databases and joint organisation of transboundary stakeholder workshop. |
| Organisation | Southern African Development Community |
| Department | Southern African Development Community Groundwater Management Institute |
| Country | South Africa |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Participation to workshop/seminar hosted by SADC-GMI. Sharing groundwater data. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Facilitation to access to national groundwater databases across the SADC countries. Support to organisation of transboundary stakeholder workshop (organisation in progress) including reach and invitation of relevant stakeholders. |
| Impact | No output yet. Expected scientific publications (2021) and delivery of major transboundary stakeholder workshop (June/July 2021). |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Collaboration with University of Insubria (Italy): Characterization of dam sediments records of drought and flood cycles in South Africa |
| Organisation | University of Insubria |
| Country | Italy |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Field training of MSc student from University of Insubria, Mr. Florian Pasqualotto, to dam sediment coring/sampling. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of field assistance by MSc student from University of Insubria, Mr. Florian Pasqualotto, for dam sediment coring/sampling. |
| Impact | Samples cores and of sediments from two dams in South Africa. Sample analysis in progress. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Collaboration with Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium): Integrated groundwater-surface water numerical modelling |
| Organisation | Vrije Universiteit Brussel |
| Country | Belgium |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Ongoing collaboration with Department of Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium on the coupling of large-scale groundwater models with flood-inundation/return-flow surface water models. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Ongoing collaboration with Department of Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium on the coupling of large-scale groundwater models with flood-inundation/return-flow surface water models. |
| Impact | Research in progress and at early stage - no output yet. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Collaboration with the Beitbridge Rural District Council - community surveys |
| Organisation | Beitbridge Rural District Council |
| Country | Zimbabwe |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Project partner Dabane Trust collaborated closely with the Rural District Councilduring community surveys. The Rural District Council formed part of the Key Informant Interviews respondents as they had expertise knowledge on climate change, floods and drought. They authorised the team to undertake the research on drought and floods at both district and ward level. The Councillors in the target area also played an instrumental role in community mobilisation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Project partner Dabane Trust collaborated closely with the Rural District Councilduring community surveys. The Rural District Council formed part of the Key Informant Interviews respondents as they had expertise knowledge on climate change, floods and drought. They authorised the team to undertake the research on drought and floods at both district and ward level. The Councillors in the target area also played an instrumental role in community mobilisation. |
| Impact | Focus group discussion transcripts. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Collaboration with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) - research synergies and joint organisation of transboundary workshops |
| Organisation | International Water Management Institute (IWMI) |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We are currently joint organising with IWMI a transboundary stakeholder workshop which enable to bring together our respective partners from across the Limpopo River basin and maximise the workshop impact on national to transnational policies. Workshop organisation is in project - due May 2020. The workshop costs will be shared between Connect4WR (~30%) and IWMI (~60%). |
| Collaborator Contribution | We are currently joint organising with IWMI a transboundary stakeholder workshop which enable to bring together our respective partners from across the Limpopo River basin and maximise the workshop impact on national to transnational policies. Workshop organisation is in project - due May 2020. The workshop costs will be shared between Connect4WR (~30%) and IWMI (~60%). |
| Impact | None yet. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Collaboration with the National University of Science and Technology of Zimbabwe: Characterization of dam sediments records of drought and flood cycles in Zimbabwe |
| Organisation | National University of Science and Technology |
| Country | Zimbabwe |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have established links with NUST as part of Connect4WR project as we were searching for local academic experts in hydrology and water resources to engage in the research. Through their involvement in some of the fieldwork activities (MSc student Mr. Pardington Job Mukombwe) and stakeholder workshops NUST research are gaining training in interdisciplinary research and stakeholder engagement. |
| Collaborator Contribution | NUST partners strongly facilitated fieldwork planning and completion (dam sediment surveys, including assistance from NUST MSc student Mr. Pardington Job Mukombwe) and Zimbabwe stakholder engagement (water governance and communities). |
| Impact | Completion of dam sediment coring and sediment infiltration tests for 2 dams (Zhovhe and Ripple Creek) - data currently being analysed (Feb 2020) |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Collaboration with the National Water Authority of Zimbabwe ZINWA - community surveys |
| Organisation | Zimbabwe National Water Authority |
| Country | Zimbabwe |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Project partner Dabane Trust collaborated closely with ZINWA during community surveys. Help and assistance in community mobilisation for WP2 community surveys and translation during Focus Group Discussion. They formed part of the Key Informant Interviews respondents as they had expertise knowledge on climate change, floods and drought. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Project partner Dabane Trust collaborated closely with ZINWA during community surveys. Help and assistance in community mobilisation for WP2 community surveys and translation during Focus Group Discussion. They formed part of the Key Informant Interviews respondents as they had expertise knowledge on climate change, floods and drought. |
| Impact | Focus group discussion transcripts. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Collaboration with the Southern African Development Community-Groundwater Management Institute - sharing of groundwater data |
| Organisation | Southern African Development Community |
| Country | Botswana |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | An agreement of data sharing/exchange has been set up between the University of Aberdeen and SADC-GMI in Jan 2020 with respect to access and input groundwater data from/in the SADC-GMI groundwater portal. |
| Collaborator Contribution | An agreement of data sharing/exchange has been set up between the University of Aberdeen and SADC-GMI in Jan 2020 with respect to access and input groundwater data from/in the SADC-GMI groundwater portal. |
| Impact | No outputs yet. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Collaboration with the Zimbabwe Department of Agricultural, Technical and Extension Services (Agritex) - community surveys |
| Organisation | Government of Zimbabwe |
| Department | Zimbabwe Department of Agricultural, Technical and Extension Services |
| Country | Zimbabwe |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Project partner Dabane Trust collaborated closely with Agritex during community surveys. Agritex dedicated their time in community mobilisation and tranaltion during Focus Group Discussions. They formed part of the Key Informant Interviews respondents as they had expertise knowledge on climate change, floods and drought. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Project partner Dabane Trust collaborated closely with Agritex during community surveys. Agritex dedicated their time in community mobilisation and tranaltion during Focus Group Discussions. They formed part of the Key Informant Interviews respondents as they had expertise knowledge on climate change, floods and drought. |
| Impact | Focus group discussion transcripts. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Blog post and Tweet: Collecting sediment cores in the Limpopo by F Franchi 29/7/19 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Tweet of blog post was liked and retweeted by primarily academic researchers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://connect4wr.wordpress.com/2019/07/29/collecting-sediment-cores-in-the-limpopo/ |
| Description | Blog post and Tweet: Connect4WR Kick-off meeting, Feb 2019, Maputo, Mozambique by JC Comte 7/3/19 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Tweet of blog post was liked and retweeted by primarily academic researchers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020 |
| URL | https://connect4wr.wordpress.com/2019/03/07/kick-off-meeting-2019/ |
| Description | Blog post and Tweet: Connect4wr researchers are surveying a drought-impacted community in Massingir, Mozambique by L Artur 14/1/20 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Tweet of blog post was liked and retweeted by primarily academic researchers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://connect4wr.wordpress.com/2020/01/14/connect4wr-researchers-are-surveying-a-drought-impacted-... |
| Description | Blog post and Tweet: Part 2 the dams of Zimbabwe, by F Franchi 21/11/19 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Tweet of blog post was liked and retweeted by primarily academic researchers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://connect4wr.wordpress.com/2019/11/21/part-2-the-dams-of-zimbabwe/ |
| Description | Blog reporting on how drought impacts communities in the Massingir district, Mozambique |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Visit the Regional Water Administration (ARA Sul) which is responsible for managing the Massingir water dam as well as all others surface and ground water resources along the Olifants River, a direct tributary of the Limpopo river, and in the whole district in general. ARA Sul raised concerns about the heavy metal content of the water which comes from South Africa through Olifants River. They acquired a field kit able to instantly measure heavy metals content in the water dam and upstream river, but cannot financially afford to renew the reagents required. Visit of the EGENG PESQUISAS, an enterprise contracted to manage the local water supply system which supplies the municipal village since 2017 with water from the lower side of the dam which is said to be the best available for human consumption. Representative of the local water supply enterprise and the Regional Water Administration share the challenge of the need to invest to expand and improve the quality of services that their companies provide, however they hardly could do so due to the financial prejudice of the government debt. Focal group discussion with three technics from the Distrital Services of Infrastructure and Planning, each one of them responsible for: water supply, district planning, and environment conservation. They spoke about the available manual pumps and water supply system, including some cases of water desalinization due to the problem of high conductivity of the groundwater; the need of replacing some population within the park area in order to stop the conflict between humans and wildlife; and the problem of irregular precipitation patterns in the last 5 years. We also met with the representative of the District Services of Economical Activities (SDAE), who explained the different strategies used by the government and the communities to face the problem of water shortage in the communities far from the Olifants River. Regarding the management of floods and droughts, according to the technics we spoke to, Massingir does not suffer much from floods. And when they do occur only the farmers come across prejudice as they generally lose their pumps in the Olifants River. The last major flood observed in the region was in 2013 due to intense rainfall upstream. The dam managers were forced to drain large volumes of water in a very short time and thus many farmers in Massingir complained about the loss of their pumps because they were not warn in advance to remove them. After this Massingir was hit by a major drought in 2015/16 during which the dam dried up. As a result, there were important loss in cattle and crops as well as a famine outbreak. We were also explained that although being severely affected by drought, especially the communities located as far as more than 20 Km from the river, there is currently no platform/forum for water management discussions within the district. However, a regional platform called basin committee (CGBL-Comite de Gestao da Bacia do Limpopo) was mentioned, which is based in Chokwe district. This visit has highlighted a number of issues about water management and the connection for water resilience. They are: (1) Drought frequency has been increasing over the past years with return periods becoming shorter and shorter. (2) Local communities have their own-developed local strategies to deal with water scarcity. Nonetheless, the frequency and intensity of drought over the past years have been overstressing these strategies and they have become limited to respond in fully the demands of water. (3) Women are impacted the most with the droughts as local men tend to migrate leaving behind an increasing workload for women. (4) Government water managing institutes and other partners are connected for water management through the basin committee called "Comite de Gestão da Bacia do Limpopo". This is to be encouraged and has been of great relevance in managing disputes and allowing a reasonable water sharing mechanism. (5) Limited financial resources have hampered a coherent water management and platform functioning as some analysis are not possible to be pursued and meetings of the platform fail to happen sometimes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
| URL | https://connect4wr.wordpress.com/2020/01/14/connect4wr-researchers-are-surveying-a-drought-impacted-... |
| Description | Communities focus group discussion in Botswana (1 communities) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Five focus group discussions have been carried out in 2019 one communities of the Botswana part of the Limpopo river basin: 5 focus groups in the Maunatlala area, reaching around 30 people. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Communities focus group discussion in Mozambique (2 communities) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Seven focus group discussions have been carried out in 2019 accross two communities of the Mozambique part of the Limpopo river basin: 3 in Bingo area (30 people altogether) and 4 in Mukatine area (37 people). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Communities focus group discussion in Zimbabwe (2 communities) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Eight focus group discussions have been carried out in 2019 accross two communities of the Zimbabwe part of the Limpopo river basin: 3 focus groups in Mazunga area (27 people) and 5 focus groups in Ndambe area (50 people). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Communities focus group discussions in South Africa (3 communities) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Twelve focus group discussions have been carried out in 2019 accross thee communities of the South African part of the Limpopo river basin: Tshipise (4 groups), Mukovhawabale Tshipise (4 groups), and Gumbu Tshipise (4 groups). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Conference presentation IAH annual congress, Cape Town, Sept 2023, on Enhancing resilience to hydrological extremes in the Limpopo River Basin: a collaborative modelling approach |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Conference presentation to range of groundwater scientists, policymaker and practitioners. Many questions and discussion afterwards, future collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://iah.org/events/iah-50th-worldwide-groundwater-congress |
| Description | Contribution to Drought Anticipatory Action Protocols with IFRC in Mozambique |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Based on the Connect4WR research activities and preliminary findings, the researchers were able to advise Drought Anticipatory Action Protocols with IFRC on the best anticipatory action to reduce the impacts of Droughts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Inivted seminar at Arizona State University, 6 Nov 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr A Van Loon gave an invited seminar and discussion at the Department of Environmental Engineering at Arizona State University, USA on 6 Nov 2019 where she presented her research on droughts including the Connect4WR project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Invited seminar at Leicester University, 30 Jan 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr A Van Loon gave an invited seminar and discussion at the School of Geography, Geology and the Environment at Leicester University on 30 Jan 2019 where she presented her research on droughts including the then starting Connect4WR project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Invited seminar at Reading University, 4 Dec 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr A Van Loon gave an invited seminar and discussion at the School of Geography & Environmental Sciences at Reading University on 4 Dec 2018 where she presented her research on droughts including the then just starting Connect4WR project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Participation to SHEAR Programme Annual Meeting 2020 - contribution to video on utilisation of SHEAR outputs |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Project team members participated to SHEAR Programme Annual Meeting 2020, which included participation to topical breakout group discussion and contribution to produce a video on utilisation of SHEAR outputs across several SHEAR project and regions, and involving specifically project Botswana researchers and students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Participation to joint stakeholder workshop of Tuli-Karoo project "Conjunctive Surface-Groundwater Management of SADC's Shared Waters: Generating Principles through Fit-for-Purpose Practice (Tuli Karoo Project)" (2-4 October 2019, Francistown, Botswana) promoted by SADC-GMI in collaboration with LIMCOM. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of the Connect4WR project and discussion of furture collaboration and synergy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | http://conjunctivecooperation.iwmi.org/events/joint-stakeholder-workshop-tuli-karoo-system-transboun... |
| Description | Presentation given at the 3rd SADC Groundwater Conference on the Theme 'Enhancing Water and Food Security through Sustainable Groundwater Development in the SADC Region', November 2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Dr Syed Mustafa, presented at the 2020 SADC-GMI conference the project progress with respect of groundwater modelling of floods and droughts in the Limpopo River Basin: Syed Md Touhidul Mustafa, Oluwaseun Franklin Olabode, Luis Artur, Zareen Bharucha, Annatoria Chinyama, Farisse Chirindja, Rosie Day, Fulvio Franchi, Josie Geris, Stephen Hussey, Edward Nesamvuni, Alcino Nhacume, Alfred Petros, Hanne Roden, Melanie Rohse, Sithabile Tirivarombo, Anne Van Loon, and Jean-Christophe Comte 'Increasing resilience to floods and droughts in the Limpopo River Basin: development of a basin scale hydrological model to support sustainable groundwater management.' The conference was attended primarily by SADC groundwater policymakers and researchers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://conference.sadc-gmi.org/3rd-sadc-groundwater-conference/ |
| Description | Presentation to SHEAR finale Public Event 11 February 2022 by JC Comte on 'Flood and drought hazards and vulnerability across the Limpopo River transboundary basin: data and models from multiscale socio-hydrological investigations' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | As part of the SHEAR finale event the Public event brought together a wide range of stakeholders and decision makers to connect to SHEAR and discuss pressing humanitarian-science questions. This was a more formal space, to interact more formally and to present sessions to highlight new knowledge and key results of SHEAR. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | http://www.shear.org.uk/news/events.html |
| Description | Project researcher and stakeholder kick-off meeting, Eduardo Modlane University, Maputo, 19-20 Feb 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | The researcher & stakeholder meeting as part of the project kick-off meeting involved a range of academic and non academic stakeholders. The involvement in particular of water resources officers from the Botswana Department of Water Affairs and the Mozambique Directorate of Water Resources Management and Water Supply and Sanitation along with NGOs OXFAM Mozambique, the Mozambique and German Red Cross, and the (Zimbabwe) Water Resource Commission fostered very useful discussions on how to fine tune the implementation of research activities and the production of research outputs in order to be easily integrated by them for policy making in relation to management of water resources and flood & droughts related issues in the Limpopo river basin. The meeting also strengthened the collaboration with the stakeholders. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://connect4wr.wordpress.com/2019/03/07/kick-off-meeting-2019/ |
| Description | Red Cross 510 Discussion, 18 Feb 2020, The Netherlands |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr A Van Loon took part to a meeting with Red Cross 510 where she presented ongoing Connect4WR project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | SHEAR Catalyst Grants Kick-Off Meeting, London, 13 Nov 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | The event brought together all SHEAR Catalyst PIs to officially lauch the project and establish possible collaboration/synergies between project. The kick-off also involved representative of the funding bodies (NERC, DFID), SHEAR knowledge brokers and SHEAR large consorttium projects. Dr JC Comte (and other catalyst project PIs) made a presentation of Connect4WR project, team, methods, planning and expected outcomes. The event resulted in collaboration with other project such as Fathum (who took part to the subsequent Connect4WR kick off meeting in Maputo and HyFlood who collaborated in a top-up funding application for Intergration & Engagement activities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | SHEAR annual meeting, Kings College London, Sep 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | CoI Z Bharucha participated to discussion at the SHEAR annual meeting. The meeting was held at King's College London on the 10th and 11th September 2019. A total of 55 delegates from the four main research consortia, the catalyst grants, integration and innovation projects, and the SHEAR studentship cohort (SSC) participated in a range of presentations, panel discussions, posters and breakout sessions to share their learning and identify opportunities for collaboration. The meeting focussed on the theme of progress towards forecasting of natural hazards in Asia and Africa. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | UKRI and ARIN COP26 Adaptation and Resilience in South and West Africa |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | JC Comte presented the Connect4WR as a showcase of adaptation research in Africa, and contributed to panel sessions and break out group discussions on future research priorities and approaches. The event was part of the preparatory dialogues to mark the UK's presidency of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021. The aim of the event is to bring a range of different stakeholders together to showcase ongoing adaptation and resilience research based in South and West Africa and gain insights on opportunities for upscaling these. Discussions between stakeholders will also generate insights into the landscape, extent and effectiveness of adaptation and resilience initiatives in South and West Africa and inform the development of the new Adaptation Research Alliance (ARA). The South and West Africa event involved keynote speeches delivered by high-level representatives and local community representatives, followed by a panel session involving presentations from 3 selected projects to showcase transformative adaptation research (including CONNECT4WR presented by JC Comte). Two high level policy and research panelists reflected upon the projects presented and discuss the broader strategic lessons for COP26. A breakout session then followed to enable participants from different sectors to share their research experiences in South and West Africa and consider future research priorities and approaches together. Discussions were guided by four key questions that have been developed by an expert panel of IPCC lead authors to help coordinate programme workshops and deliver coherent messaging at a finale event at the COP26 conference. The questions have further been re-framed for the South and West African context as follows, and CONNECT4WR has been identified as being well placed to contribute insights to these: 1. What are the major adaptation research gaps in South and West Africa and what research is needed to respond to the adaptation gap in South and West Africa? 2. What examples are there of transformative adaptation research enabling action through addressing social justice, capacity building and governance? And why are these considered transformative i.e. what is considered transformative in South and West Africa context? 3. What forms of research partnerships are required to achieve these transformations? How best should the UK engage South and West African researchers and policy makers in pursuing these transformative opportunities? How has COVID-19 and the resultant shifts in UK funding affected adaptation research in South and West Africa? 4. Evidence shows that South and West Africa is registering relatively low presence at the global UNFCCC climate action platforms such as the Global Climate Action Portal (see here: https://climateaction.unfccc.int/). How can we best profile adaptation research and actions taking place in various South and West African countries to the global scale? And what support is required to achieve this? |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.ukri.org/our-work/responding-to-climate-change/ukri-towards-cop26/climate-adaptation-and... |