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Project

Improved municipal planning in African CiTies – IMPACT for a climate resilient future
 

Malawi
Zimbabwe
Project ID
108665
Total Funding
CAD 749,900.00
IDRC Officer
Heidi Braun
Project Status
Completed
End Date
Duration
36 months

Programs and partnerships

Climate Change

Lead institution(s)

Project leader:
Meggan Spires
South Africa

Summary

Sub-Saharan Africa’s most pressing challenges include both the development of skills and sustainable governance systems. These challenges are particularly daunting in view of the significant impacts that climate change will impose on African populations.Read more

Sub-Saharan Africa’s most pressing challenges include both the development of skills and sustainable governance systems. These challenges are particularly daunting in view of the significant impacts that climate change will impose on African populations. African city government officials are required to deal with these challenges while facing major resource shortages. It is therefore essential that local governments do not work alone, but harness the skills and energy of multiple and diverse city stakeholders. However, viable mechanisms to enable these engagements are rarely implemented successfully and research is needed to explore effective collaboration mechanisms.

The aim of this project will be to investigate improved municipal planning in African ciTies (IMPACT) mechanisms (processes or interventions that enable collaboration between diverse sets of stakeholders) and how they can contribute to building climate resilience via more inclusive planning and action. This project will put research into use by engaging stakeholders in sub-Saharan African cities in the co-production and implementation of improved IMPACT mechanisms. The proposed research will be conducted in two cities in Malawi and two in Zimbabwe. Through consultative and learning engagements, mechanisms will be identified, implemented, and monitored to highlight barriers and enablers to their implementation. In addition to traditional academic outputs such as research papers, long-term legacy will be pursued through the production of a set of guidelines and training and capacity development for a diverse set of municipal and other governance stakeholders.

The research project will be led by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives Africa, with the collaboration of the African Climate and Development Initiative at the University of Cape Town, the University of Malawi, the Chinhoyi University of Technology (Zimbabwe), and the cities’ local stakeholders.

Research outputs

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Brief
Language:

English

Summary

Improved Municipal Planning in African CiTies (IMPACT) is a three-year project implemented in Zimbabwe and Malawi, which aims to investigate how enhanced collaboration mechanisms in municipal planning in African cities can enable climate resilient development. Examples of collaboration mechanisms include multi-sectoral forums, conferences, community-led mapping, ward committees and think tanks. Collaborative governance can improve municipal planning and in turn, increase the resilience of cities in relation to effects of climate change as well as associated social challenges.

Author(s)
ICLEI - Local Governments For Sustainability - Africa NPC
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