Climate-resilient community: Onyika Settlement

Creation of new green areas, Ecological restoration of ecosystems, Transformation of previously derelict areas, Knowledge creation and awareness raising

Namibia is one of the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Rising temperatures and increasing extreme heat conditions, uncertain and increasingly unpredictable rainfall and extreme weather will induce new challenges and exacerbate existing ones such as urban growth. The latter is uncontrolled in the capital of the country and it is estimated that 30-40% of the city's population lives in informal settlements. Such a settlement is Onyika, where rapid growth in migration from rural to urban spaces has put a huge demand on existing infrastructure. Many people, desperate for a home, have built their dwelling informally, in tightly confined spaces and in the path of a dangerous natural phenomenon: without drainage, water becomes a villain. The present intervention is directed not only to counteract the effects of climate change but also to improve the life quality of underprivileged people. More precisely the goals of the intervention are: 1. To provide climate-friendly solutions to improve life in this community. 2. To launch a participatory urban planning process and climate-sensitive to support the development of resilient settlements and increase sensitivity on climate risk. 3. To raise awareness regarding the relationship with nature as the settlement is well known for the removal of vegetation and degradation in and around informal settlements – when trees are cut down to make space for make-shift homes – this has proven to be another problem, removing necessary shelter from the heat in a warming climate. 4. Together with the organized community of the settlement, it has as an objective to build a shared vision so that the settlement is legalized and, in this way, shape a concrete intervention that improves their living conditions and their weather resistance. 5. To address issues such as inclusion, representation of minorities, accessibility, gender sensitivity, interactivity, flexibility and attention to the demands of the communities. 6. To counteract the effects of climate change by employing mitigation strategies to deal with waste management and stormwater: the construction of a bioswale system in order to create a water retention area that can filter contaminated water or greywater and convey stormwater runoff as well as to reorganise the current waste collection system of the community 7. The bioswale system also addresses the urban green infrastructure which deals with the restoration of a degraded ecosystem peri-urban expansion in Windhoek encroaches into natural areas such as riverbeds, hilly slopes, and other marginal lands, causing environmental degradation 8. Growing different local species to restore the ecosystem surrounding the settlement: vegetables, riverbed vegetation, shrubs, riparian vegetation (3) (1,2,3,5,6)

The intervention was initiated in July 2019 under an Urban Living Lab project. Throughout the rest of 2019, community workshops were organised to plan interventions with a focus was on the public spaces of Onyika, especially those near the local river that floods frequently. During the three community workshops, the following were used as participatory methods with the help of models and images of settlement drones: participatory mapping (brainstorming driven by the community about the opportunities and risks within of the settlement), systems circles (participatory methods to identify the problems and how climate change it can affect the community), cross-sectoral route (identification of different areas with problems and opportunities), collaborative spatial planning (conceptualization of an ideal future by drawing aerial maps of the concentrating on public spaces and darkening private areas). Afterwards, the community with the help of the architects established 5 working groups that decided on different construction projects, including stormwater management - bioswale. The components of the bioswale are a combination of grey infrastructure with green infrastructure. Covid19 pandemic has slowed down the project however sources mention that residents started growing vegetables and maintaining the bioswale (3)

• Citizens or community groups
• Marginalized groups: Socio-economically disadvantaged populations (e.g. low-income households, unemployed)
• Food producers and cultivators (i.e. farmers, gardeners)
• Young people and children