Enhancing community flood resilience in Lusaka's unplanned settlements: A case study of multi-stakeholder perspectives
(2022) In IIIEE Master Thesis IMEM01 20221The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics
- Abstract
- In Lusaka, 70% of the residents live in unplanned settlements. Here, they are regularly exposed to flooding events which exacerbate existing development challenges and have adverse social and economic impacts. Climate change will likely increase the frequency, magnitude, and variability at which such flooding events occur. Therefore, Lusaka City Council has declared the building of community flood resilience (CFR) in the unplanned settlements a priority. Building CFR needs to be a multistakeholder effort. However, to date, a research gap remains around how different stakeholders 1) define flood resilience and 2) think it could be enhanced. Hence, this research asked 1) ‘how do different stakeholders in Lusaka define flood resilience, in... (More)
- In Lusaka, 70% of the residents live in unplanned settlements. Here, they are regularly exposed to flooding events which exacerbate existing development challenges and have adverse social and economic impacts. Climate change will likely increase the frequency, magnitude, and variability at which such flooding events occur. Therefore, Lusaka City Council has declared the building of community flood resilience (CFR) in the unplanned settlements a priority. Building CFR needs to be a multistakeholder effort. However, to date, a research gap remains around how different stakeholders 1) define flood resilience and 2) think it could be enhanced. Hence, this research asked 1) ‘how do different stakeholders in Lusaka define flood resilience, in terms of a desirable state to be achieved?’, and 2) ‘how could community flood resilience in Kanyama and George be enhanced according to stakeholders?’. A qualitative multi-method case study was designed to answer these questions and capture multi-stakeholder perspectives. Data was collected by means of nine key informant interviews, a stakeholder workshop with 24 participants, and through participant observation in Lusaka. Secondary data from a community flood experience survey was also analysed. Stakeholders were found to have varying definitions of community flood resilience, some of which align with one or more of the ‘three capacities for resilience’. These include the community’s ‘capacity to resist’, ‘capacity to absorb and recover’ and ‘capacity to adapt and transform’ in the face of flooding events. The definitions have implications for the types of measures which should be prioritised to enhance CFR in the future, given that financial resources are limited. Community members and stakeholders alike believe that a combination of governance and other measures will be key to enhancing CFR in Lusaka. At the governance level, a shift towards more adaptive governance could help to increase community involvement in the decision-making processes that affect their ability to become more resilient. The community members and stakeholders who were involved in the research are recommended to come together to formulate a common definition of CFR to work towards, and to prioritise measures and changes at the governance level that align with the intended outcomes. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9095330
- author
- Grobusch, Lena Carlotta LU
- supervisor
-
- Aleh Cherp LU
- organization
- course
- IMEM01 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Community flood resilience, multi-stakeholder perspective, unplanned settlements, Lusaka, pluvial flooding
- publication/series
- IIIEE Master Thesis
- report number
- 2022.33
- ISSN
- 1401-9191
- language
- English
- id
- 9095330
- date added to LUP
- 2022-07-04 13:37:03
- date last changed
- 2022-07-04 13:37:03
@misc{9095330,
abstract = {{In Lusaka, 70% of the residents live in unplanned settlements. Here, they are regularly exposed to flooding events which exacerbate existing development challenges and have adverse social and economic impacts. Climate change will likely increase the frequency, magnitude, and variability at which such flooding events occur. Therefore, Lusaka City Council has declared the building of community flood resilience (CFR) in the unplanned settlements a priority. Building CFR needs to be a multistakeholder effort. However, to date, a research gap remains around how different stakeholders 1) define flood resilience and 2) think it could be enhanced. Hence, this research asked 1) ‘how do different stakeholders in Lusaka define flood resilience, in terms of a desirable state to be achieved?’, and 2) ‘how could community flood resilience in Kanyama and George be enhanced according to stakeholders?’. A qualitative multi-method case study was designed to answer these questions and capture multi-stakeholder perspectives. Data was collected by means of nine key informant interviews, a stakeholder workshop with 24 participants, and through participant observation in Lusaka. Secondary data from a community flood experience survey was also analysed. Stakeholders were found to have varying definitions of community flood resilience, some of which align with one or more of the ‘three capacities for resilience’. These include the community’s ‘capacity to resist’, ‘capacity to absorb and recover’ and ‘capacity to adapt and transform’ in the face of flooding events. The definitions have implications for the types of measures which should be prioritised to enhance CFR in the future, given that financial resources are limited. Community members and stakeholders alike believe that a combination of governance and other measures will be key to enhancing CFR in Lusaka. At the governance level, a shift towards more adaptive governance could help to increase community involvement in the decision-making processes that affect their ability to become more resilient. The community members and stakeholders who were involved in the research are recommended to come together to formulate a common definition of CFR to work towards, and to prioritise measures and changes at the governance level that align with the intended outcomes.}},
author = {{Grobusch, Lena Carlotta}},
issn = {{1401-9191}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
series = {{IIIEE Master Thesis}},
title = {{Enhancing community flood resilience in Lusaka's unplanned settlements: A case study of multi-stakeholder perspectives}},
year = {{2022}},
}