Abstract
The capital cities of the South Pacific are experiencing rapid urbanisation pressures as increasing numbers of people migrate to the primary cities either in search of employment and greater access to healthcare and education, or as a consequence of environmental ‘push’ factors. However, the limited capacity of municipal Governments to respond to the scale and pace of change is leading to a growth of informal settlements in peri-urban locations. Factors of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity combine to make these informal settlements the most vulnerable areas to natural hazards. In response to this critical urban resilience agenda, this paper looks at how participatory action research is providing inter-disciplinary scientific support for the implementation of urban resilience and climate actions in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Adaptation measures involve a combination of hard and soft actions; as well as activities designed to strengthen local capacity to respond to contemporary resilience challenges. Addressing the adaptive capacity component, this paper also highlights the opportunities for Australian universities to integrate teaching and learning with action research to achieve a substantive real-world impact in the Pacific region, as well as illustrating the capacity strengthening benefits that can be achieved through sustained engagement and collaborative partnerships with local organisations.
Highlights
A combination of urbanisation and a changing climate present significant challenges for many fast-growing cities in the Global South [1,2,3]
This paper looks at ongoing activities to enhance the climate resilience of Honiara, the capital city of the Solomon Islands
The strong emphasis on participation and bottom-up analysis has proven to be extremely valuable as it has enabled local voices to introduce their own perspectives of community vulnerabilities and priority needs, as well as allowing them to be actively involved in the co-design of climate actions and capacity building activities
Summary
A combination of urbanisation and a changing climate present significant challenges for many fast-growing cities in the Global South [1,2,3]. This paper looks at ongoing activities to enhance the climate resilience of Honiara, the capital city of the Solomon Islands. It has been the subject of an ongoing UN-Habitat programme of vulnerability assessments and climate adaptation planning activities since 2012 framed by their ‘Planning for Climate Change’ guidelines [6]. For a review of this journey, see reference [7]
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