Future Resilience for African CiTies and Lands (FRACTAL)
Lead Research Organisation:
ICLEI - Local Govts for Sustainability
Department Name: Research
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Planned Impact
FRACTAL aims to fundamentally alter how African cities include climate change in development planning, in a context with no direct historical precedent. This is critical given that the interests of the majority urban population place an inviolable demand (with substantial regional dependencies) on water, energy and associated infrastructure. FRACTAL recognizes that supply-driven climate information (e.g. IPCC) is having limited impact in real world decision making, largely due to messages of limited relevance or robustness at the scales and for the contexts of decision making. We directly address this inadequacy through increased understanding of regional climate information and informed by co-exploration with decision makers. FRACTAL seek s to bring fundamental changes in key decision pathways (around water, flooding and energy) to increase the resilience of city-regions. This will leave a legacy of new knowledge, capacity and learning exemplars in 5 city-regions from which Africa can build. FRACTAL will provide an essential counterpart and balance in a landscape where the majority of climate development actions have non-urban, sectoral or rural foci.
There are four groups of beneficiaries:
a) Policy and decision-makers in government, resource management and infrastructure from local officials (case-study cities) to national-scale line Ministries which oversee urban development and the planning of infrastructure and regional services. These benefit through: co-generation of information and policy guidelines; new frameworks for incorporating climate change information in the context of multiple stressors and competing agendas; deep co-learning benefits led by researchers embedded in city governments; peer-to-peer relationships that lead to learning opportunities amongst the city partners; written materials generated by the project.
b) International and regional development institutions. The project will present research findings to guide development organizations and funders who are important contributors to development and adaptation trajectories. This will be strengthened by leveraging existing networks, such as the consortium's IPCC/WCRP/SASSCAL/Future Earth presence.
c) Academic disciplines and research communities in Africa and internationally. A publication strategy will place papers in disciplinary journals and the work will be disseminated at major conferences. Academics from under-capacitated African universities will benefit through the production of research, teaching tools and supporting publications. New inter-institutional relationships will foster the establishment of critical research capacity within the region to initiate key research agendas. Collaboration with the international community provides much needed reverse flows of knowledge, giving African researchers valuable entry to participate in research governance on the international scale (e.g. WCRP, IPCC, etc.).
d) Society. While largely an indirect process, this grouping has potential to receive the largest impact and benefit. By operating in the placed-based context of the majority of the population, FRACTAL can help steer development to enhance the quality of life and human security of large sections of society, as well as protect the economic system through both enabling opportunities and managing the very high risk of maladaptation with its attendant costs, damages, and inefficiencies. Informed city governance can lead to greater awareness and understanding in the voting population which can introduce major shifts in how nations choose to respond to climate change. Likewise, by changing the policy environment new opportunities for economic engagement are created.Lastly, a significant cross-cutting impact is the building of trust relationships, dialogue and learning between and within these communities, which fosters growth potential as adaptation increasingly adopts a policy-first approach (versus a science-scenario-first approach).
There are four groups of beneficiaries:
a) Policy and decision-makers in government, resource management and infrastructure from local officials (case-study cities) to national-scale line Ministries which oversee urban development and the planning of infrastructure and regional services. These benefit through: co-generation of information and policy guidelines; new frameworks for incorporating climate change information in the context of multiple stressors and competing agendas; deep co-learning benefits led by researchers embedded in city governments; peer-to-peer relationships that lead to learning opportunities amongst the city partners; written materials generated by the project.
b) International and regional development institutions. The project will present research findings to guide development organizations and funders who are important contributors to development and adaptation trajectories. This will be strengthened by leveraging existing networks, such as the consortium's IPCC/WCRP/SASSCAL/Future Earth presence.
c) Academic disciplines and research communities in Africa and internationally. A publication strategy will place papers in disciplinary journals and the work will be disseminated at major conferences. Academics from under-capacitated African universities will benefit through the production of research, teaching tools and supporting publications. New inter-institutional relationships will foster the establishment of critical research capacity within the region to initiate key research agendas. Collaboration with the international community provides much needed reverse flows of knowledge, giving African researchers valuable entry to participate in research governance on the international scale (e.g. WCRP, IPCC, etc.).
d) Society. While largely an indirect process, this grouping has potential to receive the largest impact and benefit. By operating in the placed-based context of the majority of the population, FRACTAL can help steer development to enhance the quality of life and human security of large sections of society, as well as protect the economic system through both enabling opportunities and managing the very high risk of maladaptation with its attendant costs, damages, and inefficiencies. Informed city governance can lead to greater awareness and understanding in the voting population which can introduce major shifts in how nations choose to respond to climate change. Likewise, by changing the policy environment new opportunities for economic engagement are created.Lastly, a significant cross-cutting impact is the building of trust relationships, dialogue and learning between and within these communities, which fosters growth potential as adaptation increasingly adopts a policy-first approach (versus a science-scenario-first approach).
Organisations
- ICLEI - Local Govts for Sustainability (Lead Research Organisation)
- NDC Partnership (Collaboration)
- Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) (Collaboration)
- United Nations (UN) (Collaboration)
- START International Inc (Collaboration)
- epic-n (Collaboration)
- University of East Anglia (Collaboration)
- Leonardo Dicaprio Charitable Foundation (Collaboration)
- EU Energy Initiative Partnership Dialogue Facility (Collaboration)
- The International City/County Management Association (Collaboration)
- Durban Adaptation Charter (Collaboration)
- Stellenbosch University (Collaboration)
- International Development Research Centre (Collaboration)
- Government of South Africa (Collaboration)
- University of Cape Town (Collaboration)
- R20 (Collaboration)
People |
ORCID iD |
Meggan Spires (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Butterfield, R.E
(2017)
Inspiring Climate Action in African Cities: Practical options for resilient pathways
Kavonic J
(2017)
Building city region resilience in Africa: Lessons from practice
O'Farrell P
(2019)
Towards resilient African cities: Shared challenges and opportunities towards the retention and maintenance of ecological infrastructure
in Global Sustainability
Spires M
(2017)
Building Resilience in African Cities: A Think Piece
Steynor A
(2020)
Learning from climate change perceptions in southern African cities
in Climate Risk Management
Title | Climate Risk Narrative Infographic |
Description | A Climate Risk Narratives (CRN) is essentially a story for a range of plausible climate futures. An infographic was developed to communicate the value of the CRN as a methodology and a tool for decision making. The target audience for the infographic is key decision makers in African cities. |
Type Of Art | Image |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Impact | Creating conversation for integrating climate information and dealing with climate uncertainty |
URL | https://ms-my.facebook.com/startinternational/posts/10156912745902648 |
Title | Poster presented at the Resilient Cities Congress 2016 |
Description | This poster showcased how researchers and local government officials can work together to co-explore/ co-produce climate change knowledge, to inform city-region decision making. Based on both literature, real world experiences and through best practice learnt during the FRACTAL (Future Resilience for African CiTies And Lands) project, the poster unpacked challenges and enablers in relation to the uptake and use of climate change information in city-regions. The poster also demonstrated how co-exploration/ co-production can improve climate change decisions in African city-regions as well as mentioned any other tools/ methods/ tips that can be utilised to ensure that climate change information is of use to city-region decision makers. |
Type Of Art | Image |
Year Produced | 2016 |
Impact | Participants at the 2016 Resilient Cities Congress were exposed to FRACTAL and its lessons |
Description | Much of the work has been focused on understanding where and how climate change information can be used at the city-region scale in southern Africa. Through the FRACTAL engagements and research, climate scientists have gained a deeper understanding of city decision processes and how their work does (or does not) fit in. Decision-makers have also gained a deeper understanding of the nature of climate change information. The team has learned a lot about the transdisciplinary research processes required to facilitate such engagements. In particular, ICLEI Africa has learnt a number of key findings related to bridging the science-policy as well as the research-practice divide. Working papers, games, think pieces, conference contributions, articles etc. related to urban complexity and governance, climate change planning in cities, urban resilience and transdisciplinarity have been developed. Key findings can also be separated into core learning themes. These include a) climate distillation, b) receptivity, c) co-exploration-co-production-transdisciplinarity, d) capacity development, e) learning how to learn and f) decision making in city-regions. |
Exploitation Route | Key findings will be feed in and influence future project work of ICLEI Africa. ICLEI is active in over 100 countries and therefore our influence on sustainability policy and local action is significant. |
Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Creative Economy Environment Government Democracy and Justice |
Description | The FRACTAL project, and ICLEI Africa specific contributions have contributed to urban governance discussions and planning related to the future of cities in southern Africa under conditions of climate variability and change (in particular in the cities of Blantyre, Cape Town, Durban, Gaborone, Harare, Lusaka, Maputo and Windhoek). The broader impact of the FRACTAL programme can be divided into seven key IMPACT pathways which include a) Institutional and cultural transformation, b) enhancing capacity to use climate information; c) improving decision making processes; d) improving our understanding of the urban decision context; e) appropriate climate information being made available to decision makers and f) increasing an understanding of regional climate process and process change. In particular, ICLEI Africa has seen long-term impacts related to FRACTAL outputs/ processes influencing Zimbabwe National Determnined Contributions whilst the cliamte risk narrative process implemented in Blantyre has influenced local decision making and development of relevant plans and policies. The project methodologies of engagement (ie. co-production, trandiscplinarity etc) that city officials were capacitated in, and the networks they now have access to (e.g. ICLEI, EPIC-N, WeAdapt etc), have far-reaching positive spin-offs. |
First Year Of Impact | 2015 |
Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice |
Impact Types | Societal Policy & public services |
Description | Climate change training - Councillors in Windhoek |
Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Description | Climate finance training - the finance landscape and how to develop effective investment cases for climate resilient initatives |
Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Description | Co-production of knowledge for the Windhoek Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (CCSAP) |
Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Impact | Windhoek Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan finalized and guiding the city council (and communities) in effective climate action |
Description | Convened Talanoa Dialogues in Namibia |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Description | Convened Talanoa Dialogues in Zambia |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Description | Development of Blantyre Policy Brief |
Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Description | Development of Harare Policy Brief |
Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Description | Green Book |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Description | Lessons sharing for governance mapping in African cities |
Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Description | Lusaka City Governance Dialogue and Talanoa Dialgoue |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Description | Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) for process orientated projects - presentation for ICLEI Africa |
Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | Influenced MEL practice of ICLEI Africa |
Description | National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy Consultation Workshop |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Description | National Treasury's Cities Support Programme |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Description | Presentation and training to the 2017 - 2019 CSAG winter school |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Description | Training of Councillors in Lusaka |
Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Description | Transformational leadership in climate change training (in Blantyre, Gaborone, Harare, Windhoek and Lusaka) |
Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Description | Contracted by Climate Systems Analysis Group to further strengthen research findings trough conducting city-level interviews |
Amount | R50,000 (ZAR) |
Organisation | University of Cape Town |
Department | Climate Systems Analysis Group |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | South Africa |
Start | 03/2018 |
End | 07/2018 |
Description | Contracted by the Climate Systems Analysis Group for support of the 2021 FRACTAL-mega learning lab |
Amount | R38,480 (ZAR) |
Organisation | University of Cape Town |
Department | Climate Systems Analysis Group |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | South Africa |
Start | 03/2021 |
End | 04/2021 |
Description | FRACTAL contributions to the IPCC Talanoa dialogues platform |
Amount | $10,000 (USD) |
Organisation | START International Inc |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United States |
Start | 06/2018 |
End | 01/2019 |
Title | Advancing climate finance for more effective access and implementation (2020) |
Description | ICLEI Africa spent a considerable time in 2020 unpacking the barriers that African cities currently face in accessing finance for climate change adaptation and mitigation. ICLEI Africa then put together a series of training slides which unpacked the current finance landscape as well as presented key tips and learnings to enhance the flow of climate finance to African cities. This training was implemented in a number of project cities in order to help improve effective access to climate finance, thereby aiming to improve implementation of climate resilient projects. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | This training was implemented in a number of project cities in order to help improve effective access to climate finance, thereby aiming to improve implementation of climate resilient projects. A key impact was the capacity building of key local government who are now better prepared to develop climate resilient bankable projects. |
Title | Co-developed principles for implementing resilience initiatives in African cities |
Description | Current resilience discourse (within a complex systems theoretical framework) emphasises the dynamic and emergent nature of systems such as African cities, which require shifts in the way we have historically implemented initiatives for resilience. In addition, the context of African cities is unique and therefore a distinct set of resilience principles needs to be developed for African cities. Representatives of initiatives that have utilised innovative steps to build resilience in African cities co-developed core principles for implementing resilience initiatives in African cities. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Guidance of future projects, activities and work through application of the core principles for implementing resilience initiatives in African cities |
URL | http://www.fractal.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ResDev-colloquium_think-piece_June2017.pdf |
Title | Co-developed principles for transformational leaders in climate change |
Description | It has long been discussed that when building city resilience, it is imperative that decision makers look beyond sustainability and also look towards transformation. The process of transformation however is complex, and has multiple phases. It is a process that involves "breaking down" what is not working as much as it relies on building up a system to be able to accept the change that is needed. Due to its complexity, there is a need to foster "transformational leaders" that are able to tackle the numerous tasks required for planning and designing resilient climate smart cities. During "Transformation Leadership on Climate Change" training events (in 2018 & 2019), Local Councillors co-produced principles for transformational leaders that they felt they would like to prioritise. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Guidance of future climate leaders through adoption of the transformational leadership principles |
Title | ICLEI Africa priority principles for engaging with local leaders for climate change |
Description | ICLEI Africa has been working with sub-national governments across sub-Saharan Africa over the past two decades on issues such as climate change. Performing the role of knowledge broker is inherent to our work, where we co-produce information with scientists, practitioners and community members that is applicable and useful for municipal decision making. Pivotal to the work we do is engaging with decision makers and local leaders in Southern Africa cities. Through our on-going work, a number of key principles for engaging with these local leaders, as well as fosters new transformative climate leaders have been learnt. A document has been produced that outlines these engagement principles and therefore makes contributions to research infrastructure by outlining key considerations and methods that assist in creating and engaging with climate leaders |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Capacity building of researchers and academics on the context of African cities, influencing the way researchers work and engage with these cities. |
Title | ICLEI Africa's Decision Making Mapping Process for African Cities |
Description | ICLEI Africa has been working with sub-national governments across sub-Saharan Africa over the past two decades on issues such as climate change. Performing the role of knowledge broker is inherent to our work, where we co-produce information with scientists, practitioners and community members that is applicable and useful for municipal decision making. In addition, pivotal to the work we do is trying to understand the decision contexts in Southern Africa cities so that we understand how best to integrate new knowledge into these contexts to illicit long-term sustainable change. Through our on-going work, a number of key considerations have been learnt that better allow co-produced information to be mainstreamed into city decision making pathways. A document has been produced that outlines these lessons and therefore makes contributions to research infrastructure by outlining key considerations that assist in bridging the divide between research and practice. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Capacity building of researchers and academics on the context of African cities, influencing the way researchers work and engage with these cities. |
Title | Improving methods of communicating climatic uncertainties to aid decision-making |
Description | The aim of this activity is to improve understanding of the constraints and opportunities associated with the communication/visualisation of uncertain climate information to decision-makers. The specific objectives are to test approaches for communicating/visualising climate information, analyse best practices, develop guidelines and provide training based on the findings of the research. The methodology relied on conducting structured interviews of a sample of scientists and decision-makers and will employ cognitive psychology theory. The interviews were structured to identify imbalances between scientist's views on aspects of uncertainty that are important to communicate, aspects of uncertainty that are difficult to communicate and policy-makers views on aspects of uncertainty that are relevant to their decision-making. An analysis provided insight into the cognitive challenges experienced by decision-makers when trying to understand uncertainties. The process identified the type of narratives and metaphors decision-makers use when trying to comprehend uncertainty and how to maximise understanding. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | An analysis provided insight into the cognitive challenges experienced by decision-makers when trying to understand uncertainties |
URL | http://www.fractal.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/FCFA-Report-Communicating-Climate-Change-to-Dec... |
Title | Re-design of the CSAG Winterschool |
Description | The Climate System Analysis Group (CSAG) based at the University of Cape Town runs an annual climate change course. This 1 week intensive course has been developed specifically for participants from developing country and aims to take participants through the full spectrum of climate and climate change related topics. These include understanding: Climate dynamics and system feedbacks Climate modelling and downscaling theory Climate change projections Risk and vulnerability framing, assessment approaches and methodologies Climate adaptation frameworks Adaptation planning, policy and decision making Climate information distillation Climate services This course benefits professionals who are dealing with decision and policy development incorporating climate and climate change issues within many sectors including Government Departments and Ministries, City Councils and Local Municipalities, NGO's, corporate organizations and environmental consultancies. ICLEI Africa has been instrumental in helping feed the lessons learnt from FRACTAL into the re-design of this course. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Re-design of this course to be better suited to the needs and context of African stakeholders as well as adopt the methodology for learning from FRACTAL. |
Title | Supported the development of the methodology for work-shopping and discussing climate risk narratives |
Description | The Future Resilience for African CiTies and Lands (FRACTAL) project has the overarching objective to advance scientific knowledge about regional climate responses to human activities and work with decision makers to integrate this scientific knowledge into climate-sensitive decisions at the city-regional scale (particularly decisions relating to water, energy and food with a lifetime of 5 to 40 years). To do so, climate knowledge is being grown in the cities through the use of climate narratives. These narratives are plausible "stories" of the future of cities, under conditions of climate change (i.e. focussing in the year 2040). Narratives are useful tools to integrate specialist knowledge such as that of climate scientists with contextual knowledge (e.g. knowledge of decision makers in cities). In this process, all forms of knowledge are considered equally important to develop relevant and significant knowledge for cities in which FRACTAL is working. ICLEI Africa was instrumental in supporting the method for workshopping and discussing climate risk narratives. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Adoption of the method of developing and discussing climate risk narratives as a way to overcome issues related to climate change uncertainty. This approach can be up-scaled to other disciplines and is a useful method for discussing future plans and policies. |
URL | http://www.fractal.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Learning_climate-narratives-briefing-note.pdf |
Title | Transformational Climate Leadership Training |
Description | A key issue in climate change resilience is a lack of effective leadership for climate change decisions. A methodology for Transformational Climate Leadership Training was developed and implemented in project cities. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | A methodology for Transformational Climate Leadership Training was developed and implemented in project cities. |
Description | 100 Climate Solutions Project Campaign |
Organisation | Leonardo Dicaprio Charitable Foundation |
Country | United States |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | In August 2016 a call for climate change related project concepts went out under the 100 Climate Solutions Project Campaign. ICLEI Africa invited all FRACTAL project cities to develop brief project proposals for implementation projects. Projects had to tangibly contribute to climate change mitigation (energy efficiency, renewable energy or waste management) or adaptation. |
Collaborator Contribution | R20 and partners selected the most promising project concepts, which are now displayed on their website. The next step has been to invite certain cities to send representatives to attend training in South Africa on International Infrastructure Support System. |
Impact | ICLEI Africa facilitated the submission of over 100 project concepts (from African cities/ towns). |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | 100 Climate Solutions Project Campaign |
Organisation | R20 |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | In August 2016 a call for climate change related project concepts went out under the 100 Climate Solutions Project Campaign. ICLEI Africa invited all FRACTAL project cities to develop brief project proposals for implementation projects. Projects had to tangibly contribute to climate change mitigation (energy efficiency, renewable energy or waste management) or adaptation. |
Collaborator Contribution | R20 and partners selected the most promising project concepts, which are now displayed on their website. The next step has been to invite certain cities to send representatives to attend training in South Africa on International Infrastructure Support System. |
Impact | ICLEI Africa facilitated the submission of over 100 project concepts (from African cities/ towns). |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Collaboration with the NDC Partnership |
Organisation | NDC Partnership |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Collaboration with the NDC Partnership to connect practitioners working on adaptation, and to facilitate learning as well as support multi-level governance in the FRACTAL project cities. The NDC Partnership works directly with national governments, international institutions, civil society, researchers, and the private sector to fast-track climate and development action. The Partnership aims to increase alignment, coordination, and access to resources to link needs to solutions. |
Collaborator Contribution | The NDC Partnership conducted a needs assessment in African cities. These needs were aligned with key partners/organisations working in Africa who were able to support certain countries address these needs. Malawi was one of the chosen countries. |
Impact | Supporting Malawi and Harare address needs identified under the NDC Partnership needs assessment and implement/lead subsequent activities |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Durban Adaptation Charter Global Adaptation Network: Regional Knowledge Sharing and Exchange |
Organisation | Durban Adaptation Charter |
Country | South Africa |
Sector | Multiple |
PI Contribution | Collaboration with the Durban Adaptation Charter (funding received from the UNEP Global Adaptation Network) to connect practitioners working on adaptation, and to facilitate learning. A city exchange between four municipalities in Mozambique, eThekwini and Kinondoni (Dar es Salaam) occurred. Lessons, challenges and success stories in relation to planning for climate change and coastal challenges, were discussed. Contributed via a presentation on coastal management and climate change, as well as in bilateral dialogues with participants. |
Collaborator Contribution | Contributed by organising the event (logistics and technical programme). Contributed expertise via presentations, training and bilateral engagements. |
Impact | (1) Discussions with attendees have resulted in the development of a session on 'Building Resilience for African Coastal Cities' at the upcoming LoCS4Africa congress, which includes some FRACTAL project city members. (2) Exploring possible project collaboration opportunities on two fronts - with the UNEP team, and with two of the Mozambican cities that attended. (3) Multi-disciplinary: Includes social scientists, physical scientists and municipal practitioners. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | EPIC-N Training Opportunity |
Organisation | The International City/County Management Association |
Country | United States |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | ICLEI Africa facilitated the submission of applications by Southern African cities to attend EPIC-N training before the 2017 Resilient Cities Congress. Four of the cities that we facilitated submission from were successful: Lilongwe, Blantyre, Bulawayo and Lusaka (two of which are FRACTAL cities). |
Collaborator Contribution | (1) Provided the opportunity. (2) Assessed the applications. (3) Approved funding for the attendance of successful applicants at both EPIC-N training as well as the Resilient Cities Congress 2017. (4) Will provide the training. |
Impact | (1) Four city applications were successful. (2) Further outcomes likely post the training and congress in May 2017. |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | EPIC-N Training Opportunity |
Organisation | epic-n |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | ICLEI Africa facilitated the submission of applications by Southern African cities to attend EPIC-N training before the 2017 Resilient Cities Congress. Four of the cities that we facilitated submission from were successful: Lilongwe, Blantyre, Bulawayo and Lusaka (two of which are FRACTAL cities). |
Collaborator Contribution | (1) Provided the opportunity. (2) Assessed the applications. (3) Approved funding for the attendance of successful applicants at both EPIC-N training as well as the Resilient Cities Congress 2017. (4) Will provide the training. |
Impact | (1) Four city applications were successful. (2) Further outcomes likely post the training and congress in May 2017. |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Partnering with IDRC to implement the Improve Municipal Planning for African CiTies (IMPACT) project |
Organisation | International Development Research Centre |
Country | Canada |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Through emergent gaps and city needs identified as part of the FRACTAL grants (as well as relationships developed), ICLEI Africa recieved a grant to implement the Improve Municipal Planning for African CiTies (IMPACT) project in two FRACTAL cities. |
Collaborator Contribution | The Improve Municipal Planning for African CiTies (IMPACT) project is funded by the IDRC. |
Impact | Ran an NDC Climate Change Dialogue in each of the countries with stakeholders from national and local government, academia and the private sector. Engaged with national and local government officials in each country to unpack mandates around four thematic themes. Developed situational and socio-economic analysis reports, one for each project country. Developed database of existing collaboration mechanisms in each project country. Stakeholder mapping in each of the countries. Submitted peer reviewed paper for research findings. Guideline (supported by online training module) on collaboration in African cities. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Partnership with ICLEI's Fortitude Initiative |
Organisation | United Nations (UN) |
Department | United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | ICLEI Africa launched the Fortitude Initiative at Resilient Cities 2019 in Bonn, Germany, following the devastating effects Cyclone Idai left in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi in April 2019. We continuously support affected cities and towns to build back better after Cyclone Idai, implementing innovative solutions that improve response to disasters in the future, while working towards the achievement of Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. Together with UNDRR, we hosted the first Fortitude Initiative meeting in Cape Town, bringing together 7 cities from 6 countries focusing on building resilience at the local level. |
Collaborator Contribution | Together with UNDRR, we hosted the first Fortitude Initiative meeting in Cape Town, bringing together 7 cities from 6 countries focusing on building resilience at the local level. Together with the FRACTAL Consortium networking opportunities as well as the opportunity for curriculum development is being explored. Networking and Training are key pillars under the Fortitude Initiative and therefore the initiative provides the ideal platform for sustainability of certain FRACTAL learning's. |
Impact | 1) Hosted the first Fortitude Initiative meeting in Cape Town, bringing together 7 cities from 6 countries focusing on building resilience at the local level; 2) Development of a curriculum concept note to continue the learning from FRACTAL |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Partnership with START relating to small opportunity grants |
Organisation | START International Inc |
Country | United States |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | ICLEI Africa ran Talanoa Dialogues in two FRACTAL cities as well as developed a Talanoa publication for sharing of lessons learnt. ICLEI Africa supports the FRACTAL cities that have received additional small opportunity grants |
Collaborator Contribution | START administers funds for the small opportunity grants |
Impact | Talanoa Dialogues in two FRACTAL cities Talanoa Publication which profiles lessons learnt Learning labs in two FRACTAL cities Policy brief for two FRACTAL cities City comparison piece for two FRACTAL cities |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Partnership with other FRACTAL consortium partners linked to climate risk narrative development and research |
Organisation | University of Cape Town |
Department | Climate Systems Analysis Group |
Country | South Africa |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Coordinated and facilitated city and multi-stakeholder workshops to answer specific research questions linked to the scope of work. |
Collaborator Contribution | Engagement to bring ICLEI Africa in as a key partner on this scope of work. |
Impact | Workshops Climate risk narrative for Blantyre, Gaborone and Harare |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Proposal: Catalysing a Higher Education Climate of Change (CHECC) |
Organisation | University of Cape Town |
Department | Primary Health Care Directorate |
Country | South Africa |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | (1) Held discussions with the ACDI, and offered some inputs into a proposal that they led for submission to SPHEIR. (2) Submitted a letter of support to indicate that ICLEI Africa was willing to partner with the ACDI and others to implement the project, if successful in their funding application. |
Collaborator Contribution | (1) Invited ICLEI Africa to be involved as a collaborating partner. (2) Developed the concept, coordinated the inputs and submitted the proposal. |
Impact | Proposal submitted to SPHEIR |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Resilience and Complexity Thinking Network |
Organisation | University of Stellenbosch |
Country | South Africa |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | (1) Attendance at network meetings. (2) Presentations/ discussions as part of contributing to these meetings. (3) Dissemination of information via network portals (e.g. e-mail mailing list). |
Collaborator Contribution | (1) Founding the network. (2) Coordinating the network. (3) Driving network related meetings and colloquiums. (4) Coordinating network communications (e.g. managing the email list). (5) Seeking funding to convene network members and associates, as well as the wider research and practitioner community. |
Impact | (1) Multidisciplinary: Social scientists, physical scientists, practitioners, researchers. (2) Outcomes: Knowledge sharing. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | South African Cities Resilience Forum |
Organisation | Government of South Africa |
Department | Department of Environmental Affairs |
Country | South Africa |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Attending Cities Resilience Forum meetings and making contributions relating to the FRACTAL research being undertaken, as appropriate, as well as general advise and inputs (based on broader organisational and personal experience). |
Collaborator Contribution | The Department of Environmental Affairs coordinates the attendance of South Africa's metropolitan municipalities at these forums. The aim of the forums is to create a platform for metropolitan municipalities and the Department of Environmental Affairs to facilitate and influence an integrated approach in the implementation of climate change response, thus enhancing social, economic, and environmental resilience, and emergency response capacity. |
Impact | (1) Networking with metropolitan municipality and national government stakeholders in South Africa (two of which are FRACTAL cities). (2) Able to feed FRACTAL research into an active forum with government stakeholders. (3) Able to feed practitioner experiences into FRACTAL research. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Survey of sub-national decision makers for incorporating climate change into infrastructure preparation, planning and design |
Organisation | Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | ICLEI Africa sent the survey out to sub-national contacts sourced from our databases. We also conducted the survey directly with city practitioners from Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa; Lusaka, Zambia; and Harare, Zimbabwe. |
Collaborator Contribution | (1) Access to the Final Demand Analysis Report, which will include a dedicated section on the demand for climate resilience urban infrastructure planning and design services. (2) Access to the Final Supply Analysis Report, which will include a dedicated section on existing supply-side initiatives at the urban scale, and how Afri-Res can best support these. (3) Attendance at the Afri-Res workshop on the sidelines of the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa Annual Meeting, to garner knowledge and networks of use to FRACTAL. (4) Engagement with Afri-Res Partners (incl World Bank, AfDB, UNECA, AUC) and key stakeholders to inform the design of the Afri-Res facility and service offering, and promote the urban agenda with Afri-Res partners. |
Impact | ICLEI Africa was invited to present at the AFRI-Res focus group workshop in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire during November 2016. The presentation focused on integrating climate change into project planning and design at the subnational government/city level. Multi-disciplinary engagement: the focus group consisted of development financiers, national governments officials, NGOs, private sector technical experts, public sector technical officials and climate change specialists. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Technical Assistance from the EUEI PDF |
Organisation | EU Energy Initiative Partnership Dialogue Facility |
Country | Czech Republic |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | (1) Opportunity to access technical assistance on climate change and energy related distributed to all FRACTAL city focal points. (2) Reviewed the report: "Future Energy Scenarios for African Cities: Unlocking Opportunities for Climate Responsive Development." |
Collaborator Contribution | (1) Received applications, and will consider if/ how to fund/ support the cities in response to their requests for assistance. (2) ICLEI logo added to the Future Energy Scenarios document in acknowledgement of the useful review. |
Impact | Report -- Future Energy Scenarios for African Cities: Unlocking Opportunities for Climate Responsive Development |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Undertaking city interviews linked to the AFR2 activities |
Organisation | University of Cape Town |
Department | Climate Systems Analysis Group |
Country | South Africa |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | To undertake research (through interview surveys) in the FRACTAL cities. Travel costs to the different cities. |
Collaborator Contribution | Financial contribution for ICLEI Africa to undertake this research (to conduct interview surveys) |
Impact | Guideline for improving methods for communicating climatic uncertainties to aid decision-making: http://www.fractal.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/FCFA-Report-Communicating-Climate-Change-to-Decision-Makers.pdf |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Undertaking city interviews linked to the AFR2 activities |
Organisation | University of East Anglia |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | To undertake research (through interview surveys) in the FRACTAL cities. Travel costs to the different cities. |
Collaborator Contribution | Financial contribution for ICLEI Africa to undertake this research (to conduct interview surveys) |
Impact | Guideline for improving methods for communicating climatic uncertainties to aid decision-making: http://www.fractal.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/FCFA-Report-Communicating-Climate-Change-to-Decision-Makers.pdf |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Adaptation Futures conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Convened a session titled "Creative solutions for cities: Lessons learnt from co-developing initiatives with African sub-national governments that achieve climate change mitigation and adaptation objectives" and participated in a number of sessions. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum |
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 | Capital cities have a unique role in providing leadership for other local authorities within country borders. Partnerships and collaborative efforts have an important role to play in the implementation of sustainability, especially collaboration between the national, local and other levels of government to align and thus more effectively address sustainable development challenges. ICLEI Africa ran a session at this event that brought together key FRACTAL Mayors to discuss the way forward. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | http://www.africancapitalcities.org/ |
Description | African Climate Risk Conference |
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 | Profiled FRACTAL activities and lessons through multiple channels at the event. These channels include through leading and implementing sessions; communication products (brochures etc.), presentations, bi-laterals and speaker on panels. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.africanclimaterisksconference2019.org/ |
Description | African Climate week |
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 | Profiled FRACTAL activities and lessons through multiple channels at the event. These channels include through leading and implementing sessions; communication products (brochures etc.), presentations, bi-laterals and speaker on panels. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018,2019 |
Description | Attendance and contribution at 7th International Conference on Sustainability Science (ICSS) conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Attended and contributed to a session at the 7th International Conference on Sustainability Science (ICSS) conference. The output of the session contribution is the development of a research paper on engaging with novel planning approaches in African context (still active). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Attendance at the Resilience Frontiers for Global Sustainability Science Conference |
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 | Attendance and networking at the Resilience Frontiers for Global Sustainability Science Conference |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Blantyre city engagements |
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 | Participation, support and lead in engagements/training/meetings/dialogues as part of FRACTAL project implementation. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018,2019,2020 |
Description | Blantyre city meetings and introduction to FRACTAL |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Recon trip to Blantyre to meet with university and City of Blantyre stakeholders. The meetings were used to raise awareness of the FRACTAL project, begin developing a city specific workplan (discussion was held on deliverables, timeframes for engagement etc), as well as learn more about what climate change and development related challenges the city is facing. These meetings were essential in keeping with FRACTAL methods of transdisciplinarity and co-production, allowing the city stakeholders to shape the research and climate science conducted with City of Blantyre stakeholders. Outcomes/ impacts included: (a) Awareness raised on FRACTAL and it's aims and objectives, (b) existing city relationships built on and new relationships and networks established, (c) practical, administrative and logistical details of the partnerships discussed (e.g. MoU and sub-contract), (d) trip report produced and shared internally, and (e) receiving documents that can feed into FRACTAL research processes. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Climate Chance Summit Africa 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Profiled FRACTAL activities and lessons through multiple channels at the event. These channels include through leading and implementing sessions; communication products (brochures etc.), presentations, bi-laterals and speaker on panels. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.climate-chance.org/en/climate-chance-africa-summit-2019/ |
Description | Climate Risk Caucus |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Climate risk Caucasus was held in Lusaka in 2019. ICLEI Africa ran a session titled "Continuing the learning". |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Climate risk narrative engagements |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Two workshops, hosted by CSAG, with Harare, Blantyre and Gaborone climate risk narrative partners to engage, plan and reflect. Engagements were then held in these three cities and three climate risk narratives were co-produced. An infographic for the methodology was also developed. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
Description | Conducted interviews in Gaborone and Blantyre in order to assess the role climate change uncertainty plays in decision making |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Over 30 interviews were conducted with city officials, communities, researchers and the media to assess (1) to what extent is climate information relevant to stakeholders; (2) what types of climate information are relevant and useful to stakeholders; (2) to what extent are uncertainties relevant and important to stakeholders; (3) preferences in communication approaches regarding uncertainties; (4) the types of narratives and metaphors stakeholders use to describe uncertainties. A guideline on how those that produce climate information can deal with uncertainty was produced as a result of this research. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Convened Talanoa Dialogues in Windhoek and Lusaka |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Talanoa Dialogues are a facilitative process where different climate stakeholders get together and are given the platform to engage around their country National Development Contributions (NDCs). The aim of the dialogue is to promote enhanced ambition and strengthen the implementation and impact of NDCs through involving different spheres of government. This process will be structured in a way that asks the stakeholders attending the dialogue the following questions: • Where are we? • Where do we want to go? • How do we get there? A publication for lessons learnt has been drafted while all the Talanoa Dialogue reports have been integrated into the 2018 UNFCCC processes. The Dialogues sparked discussion on how local and national governments can work better together in achieving their NDCs. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Convened a session at the Seedbeds of Transformation conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Convened a session at the Seedbeds of Transformation: The Role of Science with Society and the SDGs in Africa conference. The session focused on the dialogue between key researchers, practioners, young career researchers and city officials to discuss and unpack, specifically related to SDG 13, a) working towards the SDGs in the diverse context of Africa; b) knowledge gaps that are lacking in order to help achieve transformation towards sustainability and equity; c) steps towards improving the achievement of the SDGs and d) the African perspectives and priorities that can better inform and provide traction for the SDGs, the Paris Accord and other global sustainability frameworks. These contributions are informed by real world examples from experts working at the coal face with African local governments through a range of climate and resilience related projects. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Convened and coordinated a session at the African Center for Cities Congress |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Convened and coordinated a session at the African Centre for Cities congress. This session was a follow up to the principles developed previously for building resilience in African cities. The session unpacked these in more detail and facilitated key and pertinent discussion for practitioners to take these learnings forward. An output was a session report. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Engagement with City of Lusaka representative |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Meeting held with the University of Zambia representative to discuss the partnership with City of Lusaka stakeholders and how to proceed with FRACTAL related work with Lusaka. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Engagement with self-funded FRACTAL cities: the City of Durban and the City of Cape Town |
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 | We spent a morning engaging with FRACTAL self-funded city stakeholders (city officials) from the City of Durban and City of Cape Town (South Africa) about the FRACTAL project, hearing about their successes and challenges in utilising climate change information to inform municipal decision making, and discussing the way forward in engaging with both these cities. An academic who is working with the City of Johannesburg also attended the meeting and shared her experiences. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | FRACTAL Virtual Learning Retreat |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | FRACTAL held a virtual learning retreat to reflect on the project as well as plan future activities. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020 |
Description | FRACTAL annual event (recurring) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The FRACTAL consortium members present, engage, plan and reflect on the project. Open discussions and strategic meetings and conversations are held. This is a recurring event and ended in 2019. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018,2019 |
Description | FRACTAL presentations at the annual ICLEI Africa planning workshop (recurring) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A presentation on FRACTAL was given at ICLEI Africa's planning session. The project's aims, objectives and activities were shared, as well as ICLEI Africa's involvement in these activities. Discussion was held as to the overlaps and alignments between FRACTAL and the various other programmes/ projects that ICLEI Africa is engaged in. ICLEI Africa staff showed interest in the project, and alignments with other work (past and present) were discussed. This a recurring meeting, held annually. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018,2019 |
Description | Facilitated a session and presented at the Resilience for Development Colloquium |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Coordinated a session at the Resilience Development Colloquium. The session aimed to unpack and develop principles for building resilience in African cities. A presentation was also given which outlined the lessons learnt to date in the research for building resilience in African cities. The outcome was a session report for the principles that emerged as well as of the lessons learnt. These principles and lessons have fed into global processes through presentations given at international events. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Fortitude Initiative Launch Event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Together with UNDRR, we hosted the first Fortitude Initiative (FI) meeting in Cape Town, bringing together 7 cities from 6 countries focussing on building resilience at the local level. As part of this event FRACTAL lessons were shared whilst participants co-developed a plan for how FRACTAL learning's could be taken forward under FI. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://africa.iclei.org/project/fortitude-initiative/ |
Description | Gaborone city meetings and introduction to FRACTAL |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Recon trip to Gaborone to meet with university (University of Botswana) and City of Gaborone stakeholders. The meetings were used to raise awareness of the FRACTAL project, begin developing a city specific workplan (discussion was held on deliverables, timeframes for engagement etc), as well as learn more about what climate change and development related challenges the city is facing. These meetings were essential in keeping with FRACTAL methods of transdisciplinarity and co-production, allowing the city stakeholders to shape the research and climate science conducted with City of Gaborone stakeholders. Outcomes/ impacts included: (a) Awareness raised on FRACTAL and it's aims and objectives, (b) existing city relationships built on and new relationships and networks established, (c) practical, administrative and logistical details of the partnerships discussed (e.g. MoU and sub-contract), (d) trip report produced and shared internally, and (e) receiving documents that can feed into FRACTAL research processes. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Gaborone engagements and climate change dialogue |
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 | Participation, support and lead in engagements/training/meetings/dialogues as part of FRACTAL project implementation. The climate change and scenario planning workshop was instrumental in painting the current context for climate change "readiness" (related to the water sector) in the city of Gaborone. The key outputs for the day included a) identifying the landscape of water policy and legal instruments; b) identify key stakeholders and their associated impact in terms of water management; and c) work with city stakeholders to define urban agenda and priority research issues related to water and climate change. Additional, a key outcome was the network opportunity it provided, with key city officials learning more about who holds climate information. Engagements continued into 2020. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018,2019,2020 |
Description | Harare city engagements |
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 | Participation, support and lead in engagements/training/meetings/dialogues as part of FRACTAL project implementation. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018,2019,2020 |
Description | Harare city meetings and introduction to FRACTAL |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Recon trip to Harare to meet with university (Chinhoyi University of Technology) and City of Harare stakeholders. The meetings were used to raise awareness of the FRACTAL project, begin developing a city specific workplan (discussion was held on deliverables, timeframes for engagement etc), as well as learn more about what climate change and development related challenges the city is facing. These meetings were essential in keeping with FRACTAL methods of transdisciplinarity and co-production, allowing the city stakeholders to shape the research and climate science conducted with City of Harare stakeholders. Outcomes/ impacts included: (a) Awareness raised on FRACTAL and it's aims and objectives, (b) existing city relationships built on and new relationships and networks established, (c) practical, administrative and logistical details of the partnerships discussed (e.g. MoU and sub-contract), (d) trip report produced and shared internally, and (e) receiving documents that can feed into FRACTAL research processes. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Hosted a session at the ICLEI 2020 Daring Cities Congress |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | The FRCTAL session brought together local government officials, academics and members of both the FRACTAL and EPIC-N initiative in an interactive panel-style session. Panelists reflected on the questions that linked to leaving a legacy of sustainable action and research post a grant project is completed. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://daringcities.org/program/list/?tribe-bar-search=Continuing+the+learning&eventDisplay=past |
Description | ICCA 2019: Collaboration for Climate Action |
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 | Profiled FRACTAL activities and lessons through multiple channels at the event. These channels include through leading and implementing sessions; communication products (brochures etc.), presentations, bi-laterals and speaker on panels. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.icca2019.org/ |
Description | Improving Methods of Communicating Climatic Uncertainties: Supporting Those That Communicate Climate Information |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Article written to profile ICLEI Africa activities and learning's which emerged from a FRACTAL specific activity. The article converted scientific results and recommendations into practical language for city officals and decision makers, thereby improving reach as well as the potential uptake of results and recommendations by local governments. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Inception meetings with Maputo city stakeholders |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Recon trip to Maputo to meet with university (Eduardo Mondlane University) and City of Maputo stakeholders. The meetings were used to raise awareness of the FRACTAL project, begin developing a city specific workplan (discussion was held on deliverables, timeframes for engagement etc), as well as learn more about what climate change and development related challenges the city is facing. These meetings were essential in keeping with FRACTAL methods of transdisciplinarity and co-production, allowing the city stakeholders to shape the research and climate science conducted with City of Maputo stakeholders. Outcomes/ impacts included: (a) Awareness raised on FRACTAL and it's aims and objectives, (b) existing city relationships built on and new relationships and networks established, (c) practical, administrative and logistical details of the partnerships discussed (e.g. MoU and sub-contract), (d) trip report produced and shared internally, and (e) receiving documents that can feed into FRACTAL research processes. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Inception workshop for FRACTAL |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The inception meeting occurred over three days (12-14 August 2015), participants included consortium members and city partners. The aim of the meeting was to improve the understanding and collaboration between all FRACTAL partners; and to work on an integrated FRACTAL work plan that is based on well thought through science questions, that are aligned with targets and actions for year one. During the meeting, thematic clusters (and co-leads of these clusters) were established to take the work forward. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Local Climate Solutions for Africa: Virtual Congress |
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 | The 2020 Local Climate Solutions for Africa (LoCS4Africa) theme, Financing for Change, aimed to respond to the growing acknowledgement worldwide that, to tackle climate change, city-scale finance must be mobilised. Local finance will give subnational actors access to the resources they need to respond effectively to climate change impacts that manifest at the local level, and harness the emission reduction potential in cities. All levels of government are essential in unlocking funding for local action. LoCS4Africa 2020 was an unprecedented occasion for cities from across Africa to convene remotely, and progress these climate finance discussions with national government representatives, private sector leaders, community champions and top academics and researchers. The programme featured stimulating online sessions on interactive platforms, ensuring that everyone can get involved in innovative, thought-provoking discussions and learning sessions, regardless of connectivity and data challenges. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://locs4africa.iclei.org/ |
Description | Lusaka learning labs, city dialogues and engagements |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Engagement in learning labs and other related engagements/training/meetings/dialogues as part of FRACTAL project implementation. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018,2019 |
Description | NDC Investment Forum |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Profiled FRACTAL activities and lessons through multiple channels at the event. These channels included presentations, bi-laterals and speaker on the forum panel. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.ndcs.undp.org/content/ndc-support-programme/en/home/ndc-events/country-level/ghana-ndc-i... |
Description | New study reveals that African leaders are ready to take climate action |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Article written to profile ICLEI Africa activities and learning's which emerged from a FRACTAL specific activity. The article converted scientific results and recommendations into practical language for city officials and decision makers, thereby improving reach as well as the potential uptake of results and recommendations by local governments. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://africa.iclei.org/uncategorized/new-study-reveals-that-african-leaders-are-ready-to-take-clim... |
Description | Panel discussion at the "Promoting the Role of Cities: Africa Strategy Workshop" |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Participated in a panel discussion at the Cities Alliance's "Promoting the Role of Cities: Africa Strategy Workshop". The panel was entitled: "Key Issues in the Urban Transition: The Contribution of Research: Climate Change and Energy". I presented lessons and findings based on a number of ICLEI Africa projects (including FRACTAL) as well as personal experience working with sub-national governments on climate change related issues. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Participation in the FCFA mid term meeting |
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 | Attended and contributed to the FCFA mid term conference. The output of this conference was greater collaboration between the FCFA consortium partners as well as contribution to discussion around ensuring a legacy for the FCFA work. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Presenation, panel discussions and speakers in a range of events in 2021 and early 2022 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | In 2021 and early 2022, ICLEI Africa profiled the FRACTAL project at many webinars and events (both virtual and face to face). These included the G-STIC Conference in January 2022 where the FRACTAL project, and in particular the cliamte risk narratives, were mention in a keynote address titled "Systems change made real: climate solutions to address global sustainable development". In addtion, ICLEI Africa partnerd with the UK MET office and was a panelist in an event titled "Early career researchers building urban resilience in Africa" which was hosted in the Blue Pavillion on the Youth and Empowerment day at UNFCCC COP 26. Other events or webinars where FRACTAL and its lessons were mentioned by ICLEI Africa include Africa Climate Week (hosted by the Government of Uganda), Daring Cities 2021, 2021 RiseAfrica Congress, 8th Africa Water Week, 8th Africa Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, ICLEI Africa 2021 changing webinar series and Stockholm World Water Week |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
Description | Presentation and lead session at the African Climate Risk Conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | ICLEI Africa coordinated a session at the conference. The aim of the session was to co-develop an approach to multi-level governance on the African continent. The title of the presentation given during the session was: Strachan, K. Multi-level governance in Africa: ICLEI lessons, presented at African Climate Risk Conference (2019) (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Presentation to CSAG Winterschool |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presenation title: Kavonic, J. Inspiring Adaptation Cases from Africa, presented at CSAG Winter School (2017 - 2020) (Cape Town, South Africa) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018,2019,2020 |
Description | Presentation to ICLEI Africa staff on lessons learnt from FRACTAL |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presented to ICLEI Africa staff (40 colleagues) on the learning's and methods emergent from the FRACTAL project (including MEL lessons). This sparked a debate around mainstreaming climate information into local level decision making and all colleagues reported learning's in how they will approach and design future activities. The two presentation titles were: 1) Kavonic, J. Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning: FRACTAL as a Frontier, presented at ICLEI Africa strategic planning day (2019) (Cape Town, South Africa) 2) Kavonic, J. Lessons and Impact of FRACTAL, presented at ICLEI Africa strategic planning day (2018) (Cape Town, South Africa) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2020 |
Description | Presentation to South Africa's Climate Change Adaptation Technical Working Group |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | I attended South Africa's national government convened climate change adaptation technical working group. These meetings are an opportunity for those operating within the climate change adaptation space within South Africa to discuss important matters. I presented on the FRACTAL project, and the important outcomes applicable to broader climate change work in the country. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Resilient Cities Congress (2016 - 2019) |
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 | Presented on FRACTAL as part of a panel at Resilient Cities 2016. The panel discussion was entitled: "Cities as First Responders to Climate Change, and the Role of the UCCRN Regional Hubs". UCCRN presented their "Summary for City Leaders of the Second UCCRN Assessment Report on Climate Change and Cities (ARC3.2)" report and discussions were held as to how FRACTAL and ICLEI processes could feed into/ benefit from the UCCRN work. Shared FRACTAL activities and learning's in multiple sessions/panels at consecutive congresses (2017 - 2019). Presented a FRACTAL poster at the Resilient Cities 2016. Lead a session at the 2019 Resilient Cities congress on the experiential learning methodologies developed under FRACTAL. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018,2019 |
Description | Sharing FRACTAL approaches, lessons and research as part of the 2020 ICLEI Africa webinar series |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | ICLEI Africa launched their own webinar series titled: Building sustainable African cities during and after a pandemic. A different webinar topic was hosted each Tuesday and saw between 50-300 participants join virtually. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://africa.iclei.org/webinars/ |
Description | Talanoa dialogues in Africa: Highlighting the value of multi-level governance for climate action |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Article written to profile ICLEI Africa activities and learning's which emerged from a FRACTAL specific activity. The article converted scientific results and recommendations into practical language for city officials and decision makers, thereby improving reach as well as the potential uptake of results and recommendations by local governments. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://africa.iclei.org/news-events/news-details/article/talanoa-dialogues-in-africa-highlighting-th... |
Description | Trained local Councillors and technical officials on "Transformational Leadership for Climate Change" |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Offered Transformational Leadership for Climate Change training to city officials (heads of each department and directorates) as well as local Councillors (ward and city council) in Lusaka (2019) and Windhoek (2018). In Lusaka, training was conducted for the officials that are responsible for influencing the water security action and investment plan for the city of Lusaka of Lusaka. In Windhoek, principles for what a transformation leader looks like were co-developed. In 2019, training was extended to Blantyre, Harare and Gaborone. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
Description | Unravelling the complexities: co-producing climate solutions for African cities |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Article written to profile ICLEI Africa activities and learning's which emerged from a FRACTAL specific activity. The article converted scientific results and recommendations into practical language for city officials and decision makers, thereby improving reach as well as the potential uptake of results and recommendations by local governments. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | http://africa.iclei.org/news-events/news-details/article/unravelling-the-complexities-co-producing-c... |
Description | Walking the talk for sustainability projects: 4 tips for hosting a virtual learning retreat |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Article written to profile ICLEI Africa activities and learning's which emerged from a FRACTAL specific activity. The article converted scientific results and recommendations into practical language for city officals and decision makers, thereby improving reach as well as the potential uptake of results and recommendations by local governments. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | http://africa.iclei.org/news-events/news-details/article/walking-the-talk-for-sustainability-project... |
Description | Windhoek learning labs and engagements |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Engagement in learning labs and other related engagements/training/meetings/dialogues as part of FRACTAL project implementation. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018,2019 |