In the midst of a global health emergency and socio-economic crisis, the importance of advancing the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has become even greater. The COVID 19 pandemic has revealed the multidimensional and interconnected nature of risks and vulnerabilities, which arise from growing pressures on the environment and endanger not only public health, but also the economy and society as a whole. Across the globe, cities are on the front-line of coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and its lasting impacts. To become more resilient in the face of future threats, cities need to adopt longer-term recovery strategies that drive a global transition towards more sustainable and inclusive urban development.
The International Science Council (ISC) and the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC) will convene a series of webinars to showcase collaborative research projects led by early-career African scientists to advance sustainable development across cities in Africa. All projects will share their experiences of driving collaboration among scientists, policy actors, urban practitioners, the private sector and communities towards addressing specific societal challenges across African cities.
All projects are being implemented under a research programme known as Leading Integrated Research for Agenda 2030 in Africa (LIRA 2030 Africa), run by the ISC together with its Regional Office for Africa and in partnership with NASAC, with financial support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
Webinar #1
When: 19 November 2020, 2PM CET / UTC+1
Introduction
LIRA Programme Manager, the International Science Council
Keynote: The implications of COVID-19 on urban development research in Africa
Dan Inkoom
Dan Inkoom, Professor of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana and Visiting Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
LIRA projects
Kweku Koranteng, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Bridging Decentralized Energy Planning with Neighbourhood-level Innovations in Cities of Africa: Case Studies from Ghana and South Africa
Lwetoijera Dickson Wilson, Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania
Sustainable water and sanitation solutions for safer, more inclusive and climate resilient cities in Tanzania and South Africa
Simiyu Sheillah, African Population and Health Research Center, Kenya
Shared sanitation facilities in informal settlements of Kisumu, Kenya and Kumasi, Ghana
Justin Visagie, Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa
Realizing the potential of urban density to create more prosperous and live-able informal settlements in Africa
Webinar #2
When: 26 November 2020, 2PM CET / UTC+1
Introduction
Jackie O’Lang
Executive Director, Network of African Science Academies (NASAC)
Keynote: Advancing with Transdisciplinarity – Effective Responses for Coronavirus
Roderick Lawrence
Honorary Adjunct Professor, University of Adelaide, Australia
Photo: researchgate.net
LIRA projects
Alice McClure, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Transforming southern African cities in a changing climate
Peter Elias, University of Lagos, Nigeria
Standardising City-Level Data-Gathering towards achieving SDG 11 in Africa
Safiétou Sanfo, WASCAL, Burkina Faso
Green Spaces and Repurposing Waste: Building Capacities for Resilience in Urban and Periurban West Africa
Sylvia Croese, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Co-producing urban knowledge in Angola and Mozambique through community-led data collection
When: 3 December, 2020, 2PM CET / UTC+1
Introduction
Richard Glover
Programme Specialist, Regional Office for Africa, International Science Council
Keynote: Vulnerabilities exposed – COVID, the precursor to living with Climate Change
Coleen Vogel
Professor, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Photo: wiomsa.org
LIRA projects
Tolu Oni, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine
Integration of housing and health policies for inclusive, sustainable African cities
Buyana Kareem, Makerere University, Uganda
Co-creating Localised Norms on Sustainable Energy in Cities in Kenya and Uganda (LoNSEC)
Madelein Stoffberg, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Namibia
Community led upgrading of informal settlements in cities in Namibia and Zambia
Photo: fnrss.nust.na
Discussant
Zarina Patel
African Centre for Cities, South Africa
