Emphasising Ecosystems, Elevating People (3EP): Planning for “Rivers and People” in the Nairobi River Regeneration Initiative (NRRI)

Implemented by Kounkuey Design Initiative, Inc. (KDI) in partnership with ICLEI Cities Biodiversity Center & UN Habitat

In partnership with UN-Habitat, Nairobi City County, and ICLEI Cities Biodiversity Centre, this project aims at rediscovering and regenerating Nairobi’s natural assets throughout Nairobi’s river system with focus on the Ngong River Basin to reduce climate risks, increase biodiversity, and enhance resident’s climate change and socio-economic resilience. The project connects to city-wide river regeneration initiatives and structures the driving consortia for the Ngong River Basin where several underserved, highly vulnerable, unplanned settlements are located close to the river. The project demonstrates how Ecosystem based Adaptation (EbA) principles can be incorporated at different scales of participatory planning from the neighbourhood to the city. The project seeks to catalyse and integrate river basin assessments and multi-stakeholder visioning, move to collaborative production of ‘Rivers + People’ plans with the residents of informal settlements (to support integrated development planning), and to implement community-driven climate adaptations to generate evidence on the application of EbA in river regeneration. The project will build capacity in Kenya and across the East African region on the application of EbA in urban river basins and sustainable development.

Cohort: 2nd (September 2021 cutoff)

Award: US$249,694

Header Image: © KDI; Footer Image: © UNEP