Conversations to visualise the future
Wednesday 11 September 2024
11:00 – 12:30am
In recent times, South Africa has grappled with increasingly severe weather conditions, exacerbating social, economic, and infrastructural vulnerabilities. Much work has gone into adequately preparing for disasters. It is of critical importance to proactively reduce disaster risk in order to protect communities, livelihoods, and ecosystems from the adverse impacts of climate-induced disasters. However, a challenge persists: how do we build cities that simultaneously respond to and mitigate damages of natural disasters in a way that ultimately makes cities more resilient to these shocks?
The recent extreme weather conditions in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu Natal coastal provinces have caused significant infrastructural damage in residential and human settlement areas, highlighting the importance of community inclusion as an approach to strengthening resilience and mitigating the impact of future disasters. The most vulnerable communities bear the brunt of these disasters and rely extensively on external interventions for recovery. Integrating communities into disaster response strategies is crucial for reducing vulnerabilities and building resilience. In thinking about the future, resilience building should include the most vulnerable communities so that they know how to respond when disaster strikes.
Lessons on how to think about the future can be drawn from the City of Cape Town’s (CCT) reflective learning methodology. This methodology aims to learn from the past to enable “more effective, efficient, and better decisions made in the future as a result of experience gained in the past.” It allows for a pause and reflection to learn more about the experiences during stressor events and how these are navigated. Furthermore, this approach aligns with the Futures Thinking Strategy of the Western Cape Government, which emphasizes learning by doing and back-casting as part of an approach to thinking about the resilience needed for the future. However, these efforts tend to focus more on building the capabilities of public officials and communities invited to participate at the end of the process.
Resilience should be built by sharing knowledge between government, community leaders, and the private sector; it cannot be built in silos. For lessons learned from past events to have an impact on the future, it is important that stakeholders working in these different spaces have a platform for an inclusive dialogue. This approach finds expression in the example of the CCT’s Let’s Act campaign, which emphasises the inclusion of multiple stakeholder groups in building resilient cities.
This Futurecasting webinar aims to explore how community inclusion and adaptation to change can contribute towards building resilience and mitigating future shocks and stressors in urban development processes. The selection of speakers will emphasise community inclusion required to co-create resilient cities that prioritise the wellbeing of all citizens, particularly vulnerable and marginalised groups. To do this, the webinar will share examples of practical lessons learned when responding to shocks and stressors related to urban planning and infrastructure development. The discussion will explore the partnering opportunities that need to be intentionally created in order to leverage cross-sectoral resources and knowledge. Finally, the webinar will explore strategies required to address the needs of rapidly growing urban populations amidst the spectre of climate change.
Key topics for discussion will include:
- Community Inclusion: What strategies can empower communities in disaster preparedness and response by leveraging local knowledge and resources to enhance resilience?
- Inclusive Resilience: How can resilience-building strategies be sure to benefit all segments of society, particularly vulnerable and marginalised groups affected the most by the impacts of climate change?
Facilitator: Samantha Naidu – CSP Lead
Panelists:
- Daniel Sullivan – CoCT
- Zarina Motala – Ahmed Kathrada Foundation Board Member
- KZN or EC representative
About Futurecasting: The Futurecasting webinar series, convened by the Economic Development Partnership (EDP) invites experts and thought leaders across sectors to explore critical issues facing South Africa, and share knowledge and insights that contribute to forward-thinking strategies for development in an interconnected world.