Urban and Heat Learning Journey
Session 1
Urban Dynamics
The Alliance has launched a 5-part Learning Journey where Alliance members and other DRR practitioners explore and learn about urban and heat resilience in practical and interactive ways.
Below are key clips and resources for our first session of the Urban and Heat Learning Journey.
This first session, held in June 2024, explored urban dynamics, including the key characteristics and complexities of working in the urban context and a review of the importance of stakeholder engagement in cities.
Two experts from the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement were invited to present on urban dynamics.
| Jeff Woods | Eddie Jjemba |
|---|---|
| Advisor for Humanitarian Assistance in the Urban Context, IFRC Africa Regional Office and Cluster delegation for Kenya and Somalia, shared the presentation A Brief Introduction to Urban Contexts, communities and Systems. | Senior Urban Resilience Advisor at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, gave a presentation titled Urban Stakeholders, diving into the process of identifying and engaging with stakeholders in the urban context. |
| Key takeaways from the session |
|---|
| Remember: Urban areas have high density, diversity, and dynamics. |
| Urban resilience planning must be mindful of constant change. |
| Urban resilience planning involves engaging with many interconnected systems and stakeholders. |
| Invest time mapping and engaging with stakeholders, as well as building relationships. |
Highlights from the session
Have a look at the following short videos on key topics shared during the session:
Urban Density, Diversity and Dynamics
"One of the things we have long preached in the Red Cross is 'the community must own their resilience; they must own their project'. But this can be more difficult in an urban context."
Keeping Track of Change in Urban Areas
“If you are working in an organization doing Early Warning Early Action on floods in informal settlements, it is important that you keep track of change.”
Urban Systems and Cascading Risks
"If you are looking to create an Early Warning System, engage the systems that are needed in order to support the project. It is easy to try to engage too many people, and identifying the right stakeholders with the right influence at the right time is critical."
Stakeholder Mapping
Who are the Urban Stakeholders?
Stakeholder Engagement
We will often encounter opposing views within the city – so we must negotiate – and we must invest a lot of time building relationships.
Related Resources
Urban and Heat Directory: a compilation of existing tools, information, and guidance documents on urban heat resilience, aiming to support Alliance country teams with their urban programming approaches.
Toolkit for Building Coalitions for Resilience: This toolkit presents an approach for building coalitions in cities to build resilience.
Stepping back: Understanding Cities and their Systems. This paper explores the nature of urban contexts, and the potential of systems thinking as a way to improve our understanding of urban spaces. It argues the importance of stepping back as a first step
Thank you for joining us! We look forward to seeing you at the next session.For more information, please contact:Francisco Ianni
Senior Officer, Floods resilience
[email protected]