Partnering solutions for water

What is this programme all about?

The EDP has helped find partnering solutions for water-related problems for a number of years.  While the EDP played a significant role in enabling collaboration during the drought, for example, the focus of this programme is now more on working with provincial and local government, and with water user forums, to find ways for these entities to collaborate better and to find shared solutions to their shared issues.

Who do we work with?

For this programme the EDP works with the provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP), the Breede-Gouritz Catchment Management Area (BGCMA) team, various officials at the City of Cape Town, and a number of other entities working on water programmes in the Western Cape, such as the World Bank, Arap, etc. 

What does the EDP do?

The EDP’s current water programme focuses on three areas.

1. The EDP has been working with DEA&DP and the BGCMA for some time, to help them partner better with each other and with the other role-players in the Breede-Gouritz catchment area.  For example, the EDP has run workshops with all these role-players (including farmers, the Department of Agriculture, etc.) to determine how best to find ways of agreeing on priorities and working together in this catchment area.  The EDP has also hosted and facilitated a number of DEA&DP/BGCMA workshops to help these two teams in particular to build a strong working relationship.
2. The EDP is also working on water issues with the City of Cape Town.  Specifically, the EDP is helping the City find collaborative ways to implement its water strategy by making recommendations for structural and process changes to the way this is done.
3. The EDP is also involved in the Western Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS), most notably with a proposal to map the WCWSS, and to collaborate with a hydro-economic study for the World Bank.

What impact have we had?

• DEA&DP and the BGCMA team are now firm partners; they share objectives for the Breede River, do joint communications, and share data – all things that they didn’t do in the past.
• DEA&DP have also asked the EDP to help them implement the recommendations in the Berg River I mprovement Plan, which is clear indication that they understand the need for partnering, and the help that the EDP can supply in this area.
• The EDP is increasingly being seen as an expert in water governance and water management.  We have been invited to present on this topic at a number of international conferences and to contribute our insight to global commissions, for example, on climate change coping and adaptation.

OECD Policy Dialogues

What is a policy dialogue?

The OECD Policy Dialogues are in-depth multi-stakeholder policy dialogues that seek to provide an evidence-based analysis of how water governance systems are performing in a given country, and to determine whether adjustments are needed for the future. These exercises are demand-driven and tailored to local needs.

Water security is an important issue, not just in Cape Town and surrounding catchments but across South Africa, as most parts of the country experience water scarcity. With the understanding that crises offer a window of opportunity to learn and improve governance systems, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) partnered with the City of Cape Town (CoCT) and the Western Cape Economic Development Partnership (EDP) to carry out a year-long bottom-up policy dialogue. The aim was to collate experiences and lessons from the 2015-2018 drought period, and to allow new ideas on good water governance to emerge.

The water governance policy dialogue was carried out with over 100 stakeholders in Cape Town and South Africa between 2020 and 2021. The EDP’s support to the OECD policy dialogue ensured that a diverse range of stakeholders and role-players were brought together in a deliberative, inclusive and bottom-up fashion to build a shared understanding of the challenges, and to find suitable sustainable solutions and joint actions to secure our water future.

An outcome of the Policy Dialogue is the OECD Water Governance in Cape Town Report which was launched by the OECD Secretary-general , Angel Gurría, on the 24th of March 2021. The report provides key whole-of-government and whole-of-society recommendations on water policy and water governance challenges and solutions in our region. It also provides a diagnosis of key water governance challenges in Cape Town, as well as policy recommendations to enhance more effectiveness, efficiency and inclusiveness in water management systems based on the OECD Principles on Water Governance.

Water security is an important issue, not just in Cape Town and surrounding catchments but across South Africa, as most parts of the country experience water scarcity. With the understanding that crises offer a window of opportunity to learn and improve governance systems, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) partnered with the City of Cape Town (CoCT) and the Western Cape Economic Development Partnership (EDP) to carry out a year-long bottom-up policy dialogue. The aim was to collate experiences and lessons from the 2015-2018 drought period, and to allow new ideas on good water governance to emerge.

The water governance policy dialogue was carried out with over 100 stakeholders in Cape Town and South Africa between 2020 and 2021. The EDP’s support to the OECD policy dialogue ensured that a diverse range of stakeholders and role-players were brought together in a deliberative, inclusive and bottom-up fashion to build a shared understanding of the challenges, and to find suitable sustainable solutions and joint actions to secure our water future.

An outcome of the Policy Dialogue is the OECD Water Governance in Cape Town Report which was launched by the OECD Secretary-general , Angel Gurría, on the 24th of March 2021. The report provides key whole-of-government and whole-of-society recommendations on water policy and water governance challenges and solutions in our region. It also provides a diagnosis of key water governance challenges in Cape Town, as well as policy recommendations to enhance more effectiveness, efficiency and inclusiveness in water management systems based on the OECD Principles on Water Governance.

Nexusing Water, Energy and Food to Increase Resilience

The South African National Research Foundation (NRF) together with the Dutch Research Council (NWO), under the Cooperation South Africa-Netherlands Programme, are funding research to support studies on solutions that balance trade-offs and amplify synergies between the water, energy, and food sectors while simultaneously preserving the environment.

Click here to learn more about this project.

Adaptive Leadership

What is this programme all about?

The basic principle of adaptive leadership is that leaders are increasingly confronted with varied, and frequently-changing, problems.  A single style of leadership is therefore not appropriate, as different problems need to be solved in different ways.  This means that leaders need to adjust how they respond to shocks and stressors, and so need to be familiar with the principles and practices of adaptive leadership.

The City of Cape Town’s Resilience team have recognised that climate change is causing shocks and stressors that impact significantly on how the City operates – and that these shocks are only likely to increase.  The EDP was therefore asked to draw on its experience in partnering and systems analysis to develop and present a series of Masterclasses on Adaptive Leadership, to help the City to be able to respond appropriately to crises.

Who do we work with?

For this programme the EDP works with the City of Cape Town Resilience Team, as well as the Organisational Development team.  The EDP has also run Adaptive Leadership Masterclasses which included attendees from the Western Cape Government as well as City of Cape Town employees.

What does the EDP do?

For this programme, the EDP currently delivers two learning experiences:

1. An Adaptive Leadership Masterclass. This is a four-hour session in which participants are given the basic principles of adaptive leadership, taught about the different kinds of problems that arise, asked to identify the types of problems they face in their workplace, and given some tools to deal with complex problems. 
2. A heat wave simulation. In this class, participants are given roles to assume, i.e. they could be city officials, private business owners, people in an NGO, or officials in the Provincial Government. The scenario of a prolonged heat wave in Cape Town is then described, and participants are asked to respond within their designated roles. Throughout the session, additional information about the extent of the heat wave, and additional problems related to it, are introduced. Participants are therefore given the opportunity to practice adaptive leadership in a simulated stressful situation.

The EDP role in both instances is to develop the classes, complete the material and tools (slides, posters, cards, etc.), and facilitate the sessions (including doing the presentations). The EDP also produces a detailed report after each of these sessions, to allow participants to have a record of the insights that they gained on the day.

What impact have we had?

• The classes have been successful enough to be included in the revised 2019/2020 EDP/City of Cape Town Business Plan.
• The Adaptive Leadership programme has been extended to include Western Cape Government Provincial staff and members of the public. For the first time, a joint City/Province class on Adaptive Leadership has been held, and the EDP ran a Masterclass as part of Open Design Afrika (opendesignafrika.org) which was attended by members of the public.

Partnering solutions for Saldanha Bay

What is this programme all about?

Greater Saldanha has been identified as a Provincial ‘growth node’, with a focus on industrial development.  However, there are several obstacles to economic growth in this region.  The EDP is working with a number of key players in the region to provide partnering support to overcome these obstacles.  The EDP has been involved in Saldanha for over two years; currently, the focus of this programme is on the revitalisation of the West Coast Business Development Centre (WCBDC), and on building capacity in the Saldanha Bay Municipality.

Who do we work with?

For this programme the EDP works with the Saldanha Bay Municipality, the West Coast Business Development Forum, the local Corporate Procurement Forum, the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone, and the Provincial Departments of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning and Economic Development and Tourism.

What does the EDP do?

For this programme, the EDP currently delivers two learning experiences:

1. The WCBDC was set up to provide practical, accessible assistance for SMMEs in the region.  For a number of reasons, however, it has not succeeded in providing the levels of support that are expected, and has also not established enough linkages between the corporate sector (who could procure SMME services) and the local SMMEs.  The EDP has therefore helped with:
   1. Engaging with the corporate and SMME sectors to clarify expectations of the WCBDC (through a number of workshops with these organisations and individuals in the region)
   2. Defining what the WCBDC should actually do (i.e. clarifying its value proposition)
   3. Setting up governance structures and processes for the WCBDC Board.
      
      
2. The WCBDC was set up to provide practical, accessible assistance for SMMEs in the region.  For a number of reasons, however, it has not succeeded in providing the levels of support that are expected, and has also not established enough linkages between the corporate sector (who could procure SMME services) and the local SMMEs.  The EDP has therefore helped with:

• We have changed the way that stakeholders in the area think about the WCBDC, and have re-energised efforts to provide support to SMME’s so that they can contribute to economic growth.
• We have changed the way the Saldanha Bay Municipality thinks about what they need to do for the community, and who they need to work with in order to have more impact.

The South Cape Economic Partnership

What is this programme all about?

The South Cape Economic Partnership (SCEP) was set up by the EDP to enable partnering between spheres of government, and between government and other sectors (predominantly the private sector), for the purposes of economic development in the South Cape region. A key part of this programme is the leveraging of existing regional economic partnerships and organisations.

Who do we work with?

For this programme the EDP works with the Garden Route District Municipality, the municipalities of Mossel Bay, George, Knysna, and Bitou, the local business chambers, and other economic role-players in the region.

What does the EDP do?

At a Provincial level, a number of sectors have been identified as having the potential for high growth in the South Cape. SCEP’s efforts are therefore focused on these sectors, i.e. tourism, the creative industries, agri-processing, the timber economy, ICT, waste management, energy and water, integrated transport, and oil, gas and marine industries.

Specifically, SCEP provides partnering expertise and practice to existing forums, and has helped convene and facilitate engagements such as the Smart Cities Summit. SCEP also provides input into potential international investment into the region, in areas such as waste-to-fuel. Overall, SCEP continuously drives for a co-ordinated, collaborative regional approach to finding solutions to challenges in the area.

What impact have we had?

• We have changed the way many economic role-players think about regional activity, and have helped keep partnering, and collaborative solution-seeking, as a way of working, both for the District Municipality and for the other local municipalities.
• In the tourism industry in particular, SCEP has played a significant role in the establishment of a regional tourism organisation.
• For the creative industries, SCEP helped create an online portfolio of filming locations, to help drive increased movie and commercial filming in the region.

Township economies

What is this programme all about?

Township economies are widely misunderstood, and there are a host of misperceptions that abound regarding the reality, and the potential, of economic activity in townships around South Africa. The EDP is therefore working on a number of aspects of township economies: understanding the economic activity within townships, identifying the potential economic opportunities in under-serviced townships, and helping to develop suitable strategies to respond to these findings.

Who do we work with?

For this programme the EDP works with the Western Cape Government Department of Economic Affairs and Tourism (DEDAT), the City of Cape Town, the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) and a number of township-based community and business forums and their partners, such as the Mfuleni Development Forum, the Mfuleni Business Forum, and the Mfuleni Business Hive.

What does the EDP do?

The EDP’s current Townships Economy programme focuses on the following areas.

1. The EDP is providing support on partnering and governance strategies for the various business forums, and for the Mfuleni Business Hive.
2. The EDP is also helping develop a pathway for township producers to have increased access to sites in and around the airport, so that they can market and sell their products.
3. The EDP has convened and facilitated a range of workshops in the area, aimed at clarifying the economic strategy for the area, and at building a shared economic vision and common agenda.
4. A separate set of workshops are also being held, to identify and unlock constraints to economic growth and development.

What impact have we had?

• The EDP is jointly developing an Executive Short Course on Township Economies with the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance and other partners, scheduled for 2020. This course aims to provide policy stakeholders with knowledge of, and exposure to, the breadth of evidence on township economies, so that they are better equipped to influence decision-making in their respective institutions.
• Learnings from the above workshops have been consolidated, and provided as input for UCT Planning students.
• The EDP’s work has provided clarity and strategy on governance to the Mfuleni Business Forum.

EDP HSRC Township Economies Toolkit
EDP HSRC Strengthening Township Economies Report

Hermanus and the Overstrand Municipality

What is this programme all about?

The EDP has been working with a number of groups – the Overstrand Municipality, the private sector, and members of local communities – to find collaborative solutions to some of the complex problems facing this municipal area. The EDP’s focus to date has been on helping to define the problems in the area clearly, on gaining agreement on these problem statements, and on convening engagements that bring a broad range of stakeholders together so that they can start the process of jointly finding these solutions.

Who do we work with?

For this programme the EDP works with the Overstrand Municipality, the local tourism operators, and members of communities such as Hawston. This programme may expand significantly over the remainder of 2019 and into 2020, during which time far more stakeholders and partners will obviously form part of the process.

What does the EDP do?

The EDP work in this area started with talking to business and community groups about the value of a partnering and systems change approach. This presentation included examples of what effective partnering entails, and some insights on how to start a partnering process.

The EDP then facilitated a number of workshops with very different audiences, i.e. the Overstand Municipality, community members from Hawston, and the Hermanus business community. At all these workshops, the EDP role was to help participants describe the issues they face, and to start the process of their working together to find joint solutions. 

What impact have we had?

• We have introduced local municipal officials and business owners to each other – many of whom had never met.
• We started the process of including the community of Hawston in the planning for tourism for the region.
• We convened and facilitated two workshops as safe spaces, in which tourism operators and municipal officials collaborated, for the first time, on finding solutions together to some of the issues that they share.

City of Cape Town – partnering for resilience

What is this programme all about?

The EDP is providing advice and support to the City of Cape Town (CCT) on how to implement its Resilience Strategy inclusively and collaboratively. Specifically, this programme focuses on five areas

Who do we work with?

For this programme the EDP works with the City of Cape Town officials. There is the potential, however, for some of this work to be shared with Provincial teams as well.

What does the EDP do?

For this programme, the EDP has varying deliverables for each of the five areas. In general, the EDP will:

• help scope the projects that are as yet undefined,
• perform system mapping where appropriate,
• convene, host and facilitate workshops that will explore partnering opportunities,
• host Adaptive Leadership Masterclasses, and
• document and report on all findings, recommendations and next steps.

What impact have we had?

• To date, the EDP has only been working in the areas of water governance and Adaptive Leadership.  Its impact in these two areas is demonstrated, in the first instance, by the fact the CCT has requested that the EDP continue its work, and, in fact, expand the scope of its activities in these two areas.
• Impact in the water governance area can be seen through the broad range of activities to which the EDP has been asked to contribute.  These include mapping the water landscape, demonstrating water governance tools, facilitating engagements between diverse water users, and assisting in aligning spheres of government to do a hydro-economic study of the Western Cape Water Supply System.

City of Cape Town – Area Economic Development support

What is this programme all about?

Urban Management is a new function in the City of Cape Town (CCT), and Area Economic Development (AED) is an approach and structure being used to develop local economic development as part of effective Urban Management. The EDP will support the process of defining the role and function of AED as a pilot in the Eastern District of the City.

Who do we work with?

For this programme the EDP works with the City of Cape Town Enterprise and Investment team, as well as the Urban Management Department.

What does the EDP do?

The EDP will complete the following activities:

• Develop a shared agenda for the project
• Do a visioning exercise to generate a common goal
• Complete a stakeholder mapping exercise for the project
• Define an agreed process for developing minimum norms, standards and guidelines for AED.

What impact have we had?

This programme has not yet started. However, the impact of the EDP can already be seen in the inclusion of partnering principles and tools in the planning process and the project deliverables.

Futurecasting

What is Futurecasting?

Futurecasting is a well-established approach to model the future and anticipate changes in a sector or society in the coming 10 to 15 years. It combines past patterns and trends with current insights and includes futures thinking to help shape the future and mitigate any possible risks.

The Futurecasting Cape Town series, convened by the City of Cape Town’s Resilience Department with support from the Western Cape Economic Development Partnership (EDP) provides an opportunity for all sectors to model the future around critical issues facing Cape Town and influence decisions that will reflect shared values and drive innovation to contribute to a common inclusive and resilient future.

The series underscores a key element of the City of Cape Town’s Resilience Strategy, which aims to encourage participation in urbanisation solutions, access to shared knowledge and expertise and the ability to tap into the inherent economic opportunities inherent in rapid urbanisation and technological transformation.

Upcoming Futurecasting Cape Town Events

• Too hot to handle? Tackling heatwaves in Cape Town – 25 February

Previous Futurecasting Cape Town Events

• Exploring the changing nature of work in Cape Town: Towards a post-pandemic environment – 15 March 2021

Watch the webinar | Read the report

• Exploring municipal energy resilience – 7 May 2021

Watch the webinar | Read the report

• Preparing Cape Town for shocks & stresses, risk & insurance – 13 August 2021

Watch the webinar | Read the report

• Mental health: a key component of Cape Town’s response to climate change – 12 November 2021

Watch the webinar | Read the report

Contact

Marcela Guerrero Casas
076 466 7910
marcela@wcedp.co.za