Social Inclusion & Community Ownership for Successful NbS adoption
Unlocking investments and locally-led NbS for urban adaptation in Africa
4:00PM EAT | 9AM EDT
Urban climate resilience requires deep, inclusive community engagement. Working with local implementation teams in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia; Kigali, Rwanda and Johannesburg, South Africa – through gender-responsive Nature-based Solutions, the SUNCASA project is planting 4 million+ trees and unlocking long term resilience for 2.2 million in these geographies.
Implementation of NbS at scale, and the sustainability of the project’s interventions, requires that everyone in the community is involved as creators, knowledge holders, and stewards of change– but this is not always the case. The delivery of NbS, farming, labor intensive work is traditionally male-dominated. Men are oftentimes in charge of decision-making, and are the ones to derive the greatest benefits from NbS. The SUNCASA project works with target communities in Dire Dawa, Kigali and Johannesburg to create opportunities for everyone in these communities to own and benefit from NbS – including women, both young and old, and people with disabilities.
This webinar will highlight the tools and partnerships that are unlocking this shift. From participatory mapping, couples’ counseling, and community design workshops, SUNCASA’s approach offers lessons for ensuring nature-based interventions are rooted in local knowledge and responsive to community priorities. These insights offer city and project planners best-practices for ensuring that NbS projects do not inadvertently exclude or burden vulnerable groups, but instead serve as platforms for empowerment by responding to differentiated needs within communities.
This webinar is the second in a two-part series on implementation, diving into the climate-ecosystem-community interface of NbS implementation, sharing best practices and lessons learned on implementing and scaling green infrastructure for resilient cities across Africa.
This webinar is part of WRI Africa’s Green-Gray Infrastructure Accelerator Webinar Series, which draws on the experience of Cities4Forests, Urban Water Resilience, and partners from across the continent to illuminate best practices for planning, financing, implementing and institutionalizing natured-based solutions for urban climate resilience.