Designing inclusive African coastal cities’ resilience

The “Designing inclusive African coastal cities’ resilience” (INACCT Resilience) project is an action-oriented research project focused on two coastal cities: Durban (South Africa), and Beira (Mozambique), both having recently experienced extreme climate-related flooding that caused severe damage, displacement, and loss of life. Through a transdisciplinary approach, the project aims to enhance proactive, inclusive and evidence-informed urban resilience in African coastal cities, by exploring what measures can and should be in place to prevent and mitigate disasters, specifically flooding. Based on the two city studies, the transdisciplinary project team is collaborating with local government and communities to assess how urban coastal resilience can be conceptualised and developed through a co-designed ‘Gender Responsive Resilience Planning Framework’. This framework will serve as a blueprint for fostering proactive, adaptive and transformative capacities within coastal urban systems across Africa. Particular attention is on understanding resilience through the lens of local communities from a ‘negotiated just’ resilience perspective. Innovative methodologies such as photovoice; a qualitative approach involving collecting photographs taken by participants alongside their own stories and lived experiences. This provides rich insight into the realities of individuals who have been most affected by climate-related disasters in eThekwini and Beira. This participatory approach not only generates valuable data but also fosters relationships and trust researchers and communities. Emerging findings from the research highlight diverse interpretations of resilience and what that means for policy and practice and underscores the resilience and adaptability of informal settlement in the face of climate hazards. Despite being exposed to risks, these communities demonstrate resilience through innovative collaboration with various stakeholder and creative approaches to disaster planning and response.. The presentation emphasizes the critical role of intermediaries, knowledge brokering, and relationship-building in strengthening community resilience to disaster risk. By understanding and incorporating local perspectives, the project aims to develop tailored resilience strategies