Community-led urban ecosystem restoration project kicks off in Lusaka
Dr Petra Holden and Dr Chipo Mungenge from People in Nature and Climate (PiNC) Lab at the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI) joined partners from across Southern Africa in Lusaka, Zambia, from 29 September to 2 October, for the inception meeting of a new collaborative programme.
Called the Locally-Managed Finance for Urban Ecosystem Restoration: Catalysing Community-Led Action by Slum Dwellers in Southern Africa project, the initiative is funded by the Reversing Environmental Degradation in Africa and Asia (REDAA) programme.
“The Lusaka meeting marked the official launch of a regional collaboration focused on restoring degraded urban ecosystems through locally managed financing and community-led action,” says Mungenge.
“This is a critical opportunity to align partner organisations, community representatives, and researchers on the shared vision of the REDAA-funded project and our aim of driving meaningful and lasting environmental change.”
ACDI joins the programme as research partner together with organisations including Zambia People’s Process on Housing and Poverty in Zambia (PPHPZ), Malawi’s Centre for Community Organisation and Development (CCODE), Zimbabwe’s Dialogue on Shelter Trust (DoS), alongside the Slum Dwellers International (SDI) Secretariat and its federation members from the three participating countries.
Restoring degraded urban ecosystems
For PiNC Lab and SDI, this meeting was key to deepening partnerships with community-based organisations and contributing scientific and research expertise to ensure that ecosystem restoration interventions are both socially inclusive and ecologically sound.
The meeting also aimed to co-develop operational strategies and frameworks that support communities as leaders in restoring and managing their environments, demonstrating the effectiveness of researchers working with communities.
“This project helps to break the old idea that researchers and communities don’t understand each other,” says Lindiwe Mahlale, a Senior Learning, Mentoring and Evaluation Specialist at SDI. “With SDI working with ACDI, we show that when both sides listen and learn from one another, we can co-create knowledge that’s both rigorous and grounded in reality.”
Building a common understanding
Over the four-day meeting, participants worked collaboratively to establish a common understanding of the REDAA programme’s objectives and results framework. Discussions focused on linking country-specific work plans to the programme’s broader outcomes, particularly improving urban ecosystem health and community resilience to environmental change.
ACDI presented the international principles and standards guiding ecological restoration. Its researchers also led interactive sessions with country teams to co-develop appropriate monitoring methods and sampling strategies for the project.
The ACDI team brought strong technical expertise in climate research and ecosystem impact modelling, according to SDI International partners, who highlighted their support in developing a shared understanding of how to connect environmental changes with social realities.
“They introduced us to the Restorative continuum framework and tools like the ecological and social benefits wheel, which helped put complex ideas into an understandable, practical framework,” said Mahlale.
Collaboration and capacity-building
Most appreciated was how the ACDI team didn’t just present academic concepts, but took the time to unpack them with participants. “As SDI, we’re very strong on social research and community-led data, but this collaboration gives us an opportunity to strengthen our technical and analytical side and to learn from academic partners,” Mahlale says.
A major outcome was the discussion of the results and research frameworks for locally led restoration, research, and monitoring, which emphasised the use of participatory approaches. Each country partner presented their selected project sites and shared insights into the key degradation issues faced by the communities, such as waste accumulation, deforestation, gully erosion and sandmining.
The meeting also identified capacity-building priorities, including training local partners in drone mapping for tracking restoration progress and monitoring changes over time. Additionally, partners contributed to refining the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) tracker, narrative template, and monitoring tracker – important tools that will help ensure accountability, inclusivity, and adaptive learning throughout the project.
Empowering slum dwellers and communities
The Locally-Managed Finance for Urban Ecosystem Restoration project operates across Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Its central goal is to empower slum dwellers and local communities to lead and finance restoration activities in their urban environments.
“Through innovative financial mechanisms, participatory mapping, and knowledge co-creation, our work on the project seeks to strengthen local stewardship of ecosystems while improving urban livelihoods,” Mungenge says.
The inception meeting outcomes directly contribute to building the foundation for this multi-country collaboration. By aligning on shared indicators, frameworks, and learning pathways, the partners set the stage for evidence-based, community-driven restoration efforts that integrate both ecological and social dimensions of sustainability.
Following the inception meeting, country partners will receive training in drone-based mapping techniques and begin baseline assessments at their respective sites. These activities will help document existing environmental conditions and establish a monitoring system for restoration progress.
The next phase will focus on implementing restoration actions, developing locally managed finance models, and strengthening knowledge exchange between communities and researchers. Continuous reflection and reporting, guided by the REDAA results framework, will ensure that project activities remain adaptive and responsive to local needs.
Restoration for nature and people
Urban ecosystems in Southern Africa face increasing pressure from rapid urbanisation, pollution, and climate change. This project places communities, especially those living in informal settlements, at the forefront of addressing these challenges.
By linking local knowledge, scientific research, and financial empowerment, the initiative demonstrates how restoration can simultaneously improve ecosystems and also lead to benefits for the people. Through the Urban Ecostewards Grant Facility, for example, communities are directly managing resources and driving restoration in their own settlements.
“That’s powerful and shows that when local people control finance and knowledge, restoration can truly work for both nature and people,” says Mahlale.
By showing that locally-managed finance and community-led research can deliver measurable environmental and social results, SDI hopes to see a shift in policy and investment toward models that genuinely include the urban poor.
“In the long run, we see this project strengthening local ecosystems, improving health and livelihoods, and building the confidence of slum communities to engage as equal partners in shaping urban resilience and climate policy,” Mahlale says.
For the PiNC Lab, engaging in this project underscores the importance of co-production between science and society in driving meaningful, lasting environmental change.
“The Lusaka inception meeting laid the groundwork for an inspiring partnership that will not only restore degraded ecosystems but also restore hope among the communities that depend on them most,” says Mungenge.
Written by Dr Chipo Mungenge, with support from Lindiwe Mahlale