Facilitating early adoption of Blue-Green Infrastructure for urban water system adaptation in Eastern Africa

The main aim of this project is to establish new research collaborations on Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) for early career researchers at two ARUA universities – Makerere University (MU) and University of Rwanda (UR) – and one U21 university – Lund University (LU). In addition, the project aims to develop strategies for implementation of BGI in the cities of these universities – Kampala, Kigali, and Lund – which are all experiencing strong population growth, intensified runoff through property development, and increased frequency of high-intensity rainfall due to climate change. To adapt to these changes, urban water managers require new strategies to reduce urban flood risk. Since the 1970s, BGI has been suggested as a sustainable way to manage stormwater to reduce flood risk and mitigate urban heat islands. While solutions like green roofs, rainwater harvesting systems, and bioswales have been developed, large-scale implementation has been slow.

This project will address the slow uptake of BGIs by conducting a comparative study of barriers to implementation of BGI in the three case cities. This will be achieved through a co-creation process based on stakeholder workshops, expert interviews, field visits, and compilation of previous flood protection measures, as well as urban flood modelling for selected areas in Kampala and Kigali. The project team will build on previous cases, expertise in the research network, and diversity of urban conditions in the case cities to develop recommendations for implementation of BGI. The resulting knowledge and research network will enable the development of future research projects between ARUA- and U21-universities to support urban areas to adapt to climate change and urbanization.