2 nd Project Conference held in Addis Ababa The 2 nd Project Conference was held in Addis Ababa January 25-28, 2015. We had some really good days, where all project members gathered together and discussed the project status and plan for the future activities. The major topics that we went through during the Project Conference were: The annual project conference was marked with a banner over the main entrance to the EIABC, saying WATER RESILIENT GREEN CITIES IN AFRICA (WGA), Annual Conference, 25 28 January 2015, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. - PhD students presented and discussed progress in plenary as well as with their supervisors - The project s paper plan was discussed in plenary. A list of planned papers (including PhD students papers) was uploaded to the Dropbox folder Project Conference 2 January 2015 - Work Package leaders presented the main findings for the Report 1 and discussed in plenary how to integrate between WPs. - Parallel with the planned research activities, the WGA project will conduct a study on project process and interdisciplinary/cross-country research collaboration, in order to improve the collaboration and project process, as well as to learn from our own experience. A session for reflections were included, and in an open dialogue, bottlenecks and breakthroughs were identified, as well as suggestions for improvement. - Earlier developed 1:1 ideas were presented. Further 1:1 ideas were discussed in groups. 1
- Antje gave a lecture on methods and examples of design charrette. Afterwards WGA Design Charrettes were prepared in city groups. - Site visit to one condominium area. Project members communicated with the condominium managers on water stress and the use of the green areas. - The 2 nd Project Management Meeting was held. A to-do list for the spring/summer 2015 can be found in project Dropbox folder Project Conference 2 January 2015. Presentations from the Project Conference can be found in Dropbox folder Project Conference 2 January 2015 ->Project Conference presentation. Left: Kumelachew presents report 1 findings in plenary. Right: Visit to condo-site. Training workshop for Addis Ababa stakeholders Related with the 2 nd Project Conference, a training workshop Urban Green Infrastructure and Ecosystem Services was held for professionals in Addis Ababa. EiABC and IGN organized and conducted the training. All WGA members participated. A study on the stakeholders mind-set change before and after the training was conducted. The participants showed a strong interest and engagement during the training sessions. Mr. Yonas Ayalew, deputy head of the Addis Ababa City Construction and Housing Development Bureau, Kumelachew and Marina handed over a training certificate to all participants in the end of the training, which were much appreciated by the participants (see Dropbox folder Questionnaires ). 2
Photos from the three days training for professionals in Addis Ababa. PhD students carry on 1:1 test In Addis, there is only a plan for 1:1 test which will hopefully be conducted after the design charrette event. In Dar es Salam preparation for a 1:1 test of dual porosity filtration for treatment of stormwater runoff has been made. A box has been constructed and filter materials identified. This is headed by Given. Stakeholder meeting in Dar es Salaam The Dar Team held a stakeholder round-table meeting on May 11 th 2015. Representatives from the Prime Minister s Office (PMO), Disaster Management Department, the National Environmental Council (NEMC), the Kinondoni Municipal Engineer, the Drainage Engineer from the Ministry of Works, the Municipal Agricultural Officer were among the stakeholders. In addition, Ward representatives from the Sub-ward case study areas of Mbezi Luisi and Kawe Ukwamani were invited. There were about 14 participants including academics from ARU. Left & right: IHSS team presents the progress of WGA to stakeholders. The WGA research Team presented the progress made in the execution of the three Work Packages. Following this, the participants raised a number of questions as well as advised the team to take in-depth reflections on issues that concern the need for the research team to draw on relevant local experiences related to LSM including those from traditional villages; download the complex challenges associated with 3
weak coordination and mandates of stakeholders and the challenges of accessing land in a situation where land has become a hot cake. The participants also made a number of additions and suggestions to improve the outputs from the Work Packages. Film by Danish Team African Cities and Climate Change During the last week of May 2015, a team comprising two Danish photographers visited Ardhi University (ARU) and made an interview with Prof. Kombe, the WGA Dar es Salaam Project leader. Among key issues discussed was the position and significance of the Water Resilience Green Cities Africa (WGA) research project in addressing the problem of rapid urbanization and climate change in Dar es Salaam City. The aim of the interviews with the Team was to prepare a film which will be used to inform and educate the general public in Denmark and elsewhere on the climate change related challenges that beset most African Cities. The key issues underlined in relation to the WGA project were: - How Dar es Salaam is coping with flooding and water shortages; - To what extend is Dar es Salaam City resilient to climate change imperatives including flood and drought; - What are the coping strategies that communities have adopted? - How is WGA research project contributing to making the city more resilient to adverse effects of climate changes especially floods? Among other things, Kombe underscored the overall objectives of the project noting that the aim is to analyze and explore opportunities and challenges for adopting landscape-based stormwater management (LSM) in Dar es Salaam City. In this regard, it was emphasized that the adoption of the LSM concept was conceived as a strategic two-prong intervention that addresses both flooding problem and the shortage of water for various household activities such as urban gardening and poultry keeping. Scientific paper on Green Infrastructure in Africa under developing Lise has been leading the writing of a scientific paper Conditions and opportunities for green infrastructure aiming for green water resilient cities in Addis Ababa and Dar es Salaam (working title). The paper is based on the updated data of WGA project and the earlier CLUVA project, which all three institutes were involved in. The paper is planned to be published in the scientific journal Landscape and Urban Planning in 2015. WGA terminology booklet under developing During the 2 nd project conference, a decision was reached to develop a WGA terminology booklet to improve the internal and external communication. Antje has listed the English terms. The EiABC team has added Amharic. The working documents for the WGA terminology booklet can be found in the project Dropbox folder Project Conference 2 January 2015. Livelihood study Livelihood studies are starting in both Addis (WP1 & WP3) and Dar (WP1 & WP3). Materials on methodology and framework for livelihood have been circulated. Kumelachew (WP1), in collaboration with Ketema and Liku, has developed an outline for the investigation of livelihood activities in the urban landscape. The Dar team also visited case sites and collected data on livelihood aspects. Lise and Antje plan 4
to visit the case sites in June together with the local teams and do further data collection and development for the livelihood study. Characterization of the catchments PhD students have been doing data collection for the characterization of the catchments. However, an overview of the available data and potential of the estimations is needed, before a clear plan and task list can be made for the output of the characterization of the catchment. Lise and Antje will have a better overview of the data and discuss further actions in June. Marina will coordinate with Ole and others on the potential of the estimations. Lise and Antje visit in Addis and Dar in June/July 2015 Lise and Antje go to Addis June 22-29 and Dar June 29-July 2, 2015. A major activity during the stay will take part in form of the 1 st design charrette in the Jemo condominium case area in Addis. In addition, further data collection and discussion on the livelihood study will be on the agenda. Other agenda points include data collection and further plan for the characterization of the catchments, preparation for design charrette in Dar, and preparation for the training workshop in Dar this autumn as well as supervision of PhDs and project coordination. 1 st design charrette will be held in Addis in late June The 1 st design charrette will be conducted in the condominium case area in Addis June 26-28, 2015. A precharrette meeting was held with representatives of the Jemo condominium block representatives and the executive members of the condominium association. Thirty-two individuals took part in the meeting, including Manager of the Woreda 1 Jemo area and experts from the Woreda Environmental Protection and Construction Development and Management Office. The meeting was opened by Mr. Yonas Ayalew, deputy head of the Addis Ababa City Construction and Housing Development Bureau. In the meeting, the objectives and activities of the WGA project was presented by Kumelachew and the plan and proposed activities of the Design charrette was presented by Alazar which was followed by discussion. Left & right: EiABC team holds pre-charrettte event with Jemo condominium representatives 5