VUMA members present their ideas to the community

Kibera Public Space Project 11

Design workshop looking at challenges and solutions

Defining the vision for KPSP11

VUMA members present their ideas to the community

Kibera Public Space Project 11

Kibera Public Space Project 11

The second built intervention under the multi-year Community Responsive Adaptation to Flooding research project and the 11th public space in our KPSP network, KPSP11 is being designed and built in partnership with a vibrant youth group called Vijana Usafi na Maendeleo (Youth for Sanitation and Development) in Makina village, Kibera.

Context

Flooding in Makina Village

Makina village is one of the more expensive areas of Kibera, located further from the settlement’s watercourses than many of our KPSP sites.

Nonetheless, our community-led research has found that flooding is a severe issue affecting as many as 40% of houses. The Vijana Usafi na Maendeleo (VUMA) group, consisting of reformed youths, is working hard to address this issue as well as creating new job opportunities in the community.

Process

Local kids showing off their concept plans for the site

At the beginning of the project, VUMA invited KDI to join one of their monthly clean-ups to understand the group’s workings and mission.

VUMA went on to co-facilitate and even lead many of the co-design workshops with equal enthusiasm and commitment. These included gender-segregated meetings to understand the challenges facing women in the community, workshops with children to design the play space at the site, and sessions where community members created site models using bricks provided by Nexon Foundation.

Solution

Render of the site

Now in construction, KPSP11 is designed to fulfill VUMA’s five goals: a clean environment, financial stability, community safety, social welfare, and children’s welfare.

The site features a community hall, kiosk, water tank, playground, garden, and sanitation block that builds on and upgrades existing facilities operated by the youth. Sustainable doors, windows, and a bamboo roof will be fabricated by some of the youth through the KDI-KEFRI Carpentry Academy. As well as creating jobs and other income-generating initiatives, the site will help mitigate the increasingly severe flooding in the area through Sustainable Urban Drainage strategies (SUDs) such as rainwater harvesting, stormwater detention, and a renovated well.

Impact

Celebrations at the groundbreaking event

The KPSP11 project promises to bring Makina village a variety of much-needed amenities and opportunities, and will have long-term impacts within the community and the sustainable development field.

VUMA, who have been actively co-leading the design process from the beginning, have built their capacity to manage complex, community-driven sustainable development processes. The youth who have joined the KDI-KEFRI Carpentry Academy will also learn vocational skills to support a more prosperous future for themselves and their community. Like KPSP10, the project is yielding critical information for practitioners, governments, and researchers to understand the value of Community Responsive Adaptation approaches to climate risk such as flooding.