Urban areas worldwide are increasingly affected and impacted by climatic events such as flooding, erratic weather events, storms, droughts and sandstorms. I particular African cities find themselves at the frontlines of climate change. The capital of Sudan, Khartoum, is one of those African cities that has faced major climatic changes over the past decade.
The main purpose of this research project is to contribute to scientific knowledge to tackle consequences of climate and environmental changes in urban areas of the Global South. The project will strengthen applied studies on urban sustainable development according to the Sustainable Development Goal 11, also known as the Urban Sustainable Development Goal (USDG). This project therefore aims to explore urban community resilience and the initiatives of social cohesion, that are participatory and inclusive and help mitigate climate change and adapt to increasingly challenging conditions in urban areas.
The RUS project aims to explore urban community resilience and the initiatives of social cohesion, that are participatory and inclusive and help mitigate climate change and adapt to increasingly challenging conditions in urban areas. In order to face environmental threats, at the roots of growing inequalities, there is a scholarly need to better understand the proactive or reactive acts of resilience that urban communities develop themselves. Dealing with the Sustainable Development Goals 10 and 13, this project also highlights the ways communities in specific neighbourhoods contribute to enhance a sustainable climate action and strengthen efforts to reduce inequalities.
To study these effects of climate change and environmental issues in urban areas, the research team is preparing to conduct an interdisciplinary Participatory Action Research (PAR) focused on a selected urban neighbourhood in Greater Khartoum. The aim is to explore environmental challenges, as well as the societal responses that are developed by the communities in the selected neighbourhood. The project aims to investigate the impact of environmental challenges on communities and explore ways in which communities come together to identify shared challenges and devise climate action.