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Learning pathway

Flood Resilience for African Cities

From the evidence on disaster losses to what cities are doing on the ground: this pathway walks municipal teams through understanding flood risk, learning from Kenyan counties and Dar es Salaam, and planning nature-based and community-led responses.

Category: Disaster Risk Reduction | Urban Development | Climate Change Adaptation

6–8 hoursIntermediate5 steps

Your journey Start this pathway and work through its steps, then pass the quiz. Your progress is saved to your account, and you can download your record of completion when you complete the pathway.

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Your learning steps

What you'll learn

  • Explain how disaster loss data supports early warning and early action for floods.
  • Compare flood preparedness lessons from Kenyan counties and Dar es Salaam.
  • Describe how investment in flood resilience can support urban development and economic opportunity.
  • Identify opportunities to use sponge-city approaches and green and blue infrastructure to manage heavy rainfall.
  • Recognise how community knowledge can inform disaster risk reduction, drawing on experiences from Malawi.

Course content

5 steps • 6–8 hours total
Bridging the gaps in disaster loss data to support early warning and early action in Southern AfricaReport • UNDRR

Open resource: Bridging the gaps in disaster loss data to support early warning and early action in Southern Africa

Why this step: Start with the evidence: what disaster loss data shows about flood impacts in Southern Africa, and why the gaps matter for early action.

Insight Session - Flooding in Kenya: Where did the Rain start "beating" us? Experiences from the CountiesOther publication • Connective Cities Network

Open resource: Insight Session - Flooding in Kenya: Where did the Rain start "beating" us? Experiences from the Counties

Why this step: Hear county officials explain how Kenya's floods unfolded, and what they would prepare differently.

Turning Flood Risk Into Economic Opportunity in Dar es Salaam, TanzaniaReport • World Bank

Open resource: Turning Flood Risk Into Economic Opportunity in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Why this step: A city-scale example: how Dar es Salaam turned flood risk into a plan for investment and jobs.

Insight Session: The Sponge City Concept and Implementation Potentials in Sub-Saharan AfricaOther publication • Connective Cities Network

Open resource: Insight Session: The Sponge City Concept and Implementation Potentials in Sub-Saharan Africa

Why this step: Explore the sponge city concept: letting green and blue infrastructure absorb heavy rain.

Why community-based disaster risk reduction fails to learn from local knowledge? Experiences from MalawiReport • UNDRR

Open resource: Why community-based disaster risk reduction fails to learn from local knowledge? Experiences from Malawi

Why this step: Close with communities: why local knowledge is often missed in risk reduction, and how to include it.