Key messages from the UMFULA project
UMFULA has addressed questions of climate science, climate impacts and decision-making processes for adaptation, including: How does the climate of central and southern Africa work? And how well do climate models represent the key processes responsible for climate? How might the climate…
Think Piece: Exploring perspectives that underpin decisions for southern African urban development – Insights from Lusaka, Zambia
This is a discussion piece on the preliminary findings of a research process and activity around the values and perceptions of decision-makers on the Kafue Bulk Project. The Kafue Bulk Water Infrastructure project was chosen because of its compelling relative…
Think Piece: Exploring perspectives that underpin decisions for southern African urban development – Insights from Blantyre, Malawi
This think piece presents the findings and results of a stakeholders’ think tank workshop for the Innovation Fund research project for Blantyre City: Exploring values and perspectives that underpin the development of African cities. It features stakeholder level of engagement…
Think Piece: Exploring perspectives that underpin decisions for southern African urban development - Insights from Harare, Zimbabwe
The entry point into the discussion on exploring perspectives and underpinnings for decision-making in water related issues in the city of Harare is premised on the understanding that water is a central commodity, which is key for the development of…
Think piece: Exploring perspectives that underpin decisions for southern African urban development
This think piece was developed as part of FRACTAL’s innovation fund programme. FRACTAL research has found decision spaces in rapidly growing urban centres of southern Africa to be very complex. Hence this project looked at real case studies in three…
Brief: Zambia’s adaptation to climate change
This brief explores how certain ideas and framing potentially shape state action in Zambia. The analysis is based on a review of five key policy documents from Zambian institutions, with a special focus on Lusaka, the nation’s capital. The brief…
The Story of Water in Windhoek: A Narrative Approach to Interpreting a Transdisciplinary Process
The aim of the paper is to present a story about the 2015 to early 2017 Windhoek drought in the context of climate change while using the narrative approach. The story that is presented here is derived from the engagement…
Learning from South Africa's recent summer rainfall droughts: How might we think differently about response?
The 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 summer rainfall seasons in South Africa, as well as in the Southern African Development Community region more widely, are generally agreed to be the most severe droughts on record since those of the early 1980s and…
Business experience of floods and drought-related water and electricity supply disruption in three cities in sub-Saharan Africa during the 2015/2016 El Niño
Drought during the 2015/2016 El Niño amplified disruption to public water supply in Botswana’s capital Gaborone and contributed to unprecedented hydroelectric load shedding across Zambia. In Kenya, moderate precipitation during the El Niño brought localized floods to Nairobi and other…
Overcoming the barriers to climate change adaptation
As adaptation moves from theory to practice, there is growing recognition that barriers may make it difficult for individuals, businesses and governments to plan and implement adaptation actions. These involve a variety of issues, especially for long-term decisions, and include…