Building strong partnerships with local organisations is key to ensuring that climate research translates into meaningful action on the ground.
In November 2025, the WaRisCo team met with representatives of the ‘Durban Coalition’ in the City of eThekwini’ to explore opportunities for collaboration and to discuss how the WaRisCo project could support the coalition’s work with communities facing increasing climate risks. The Durban Coalition brings together civil society organisations, community groups, the City of eThekwini and researchers working collectively to strengthen climate resilience and promote socially just responses to climate change in the city and surrounding areas.
During the meeting, the coalition shared with the WaRisCo team their ‘People’s Plan for the Right to Housing in the Age of Climate Change’, a community-driven initiative that aims to improve housing conditions while addressing climate risks such as flooding, landslides, and heat waves. The plan highlights the importance of safer settlement planning, resilient housing, and stronger community participation in decision-making processes related to urban development and disaster risk reduction.
The exchange also provided an opportunity to discuss how the WaRisCo project can contribute scientific knowledge to support these efforts. One important component of the project is the modelling of future flood lines under changing climate conditions. These projections can help identify areas that may face increased flood risk in the future and therefore provide valuable information for safer settlement planning, climate-resilient housing, and risk-informed urban development. The Durban Coalition is at the forefront of establishing ‘Community-Based Flood Early Warning Systems (CBFEWS)’ in the City of Ethekwini. CBEWS involve the co-production of evacuation plans between vulnerable communities and the relevant authorities. The Durban Coalition has expressed its appreciation for WaRisCo’s work, which is greatly emphasizing the need for CBEWS given increasing flood risk as induced by climate change. At the same time, WaRisCo’s research informs on future peak flows and areas vulnerable to inundation, thereby providing guidance in terms of operational evacuation plans. One of WaRisCo’s key aims is to inform the development of climate-smart Disaster Risk Reduction Plans for the City. The Durban Coalition, including the City of eThekwini, are key implementation partners in this respect.
Building on this dialogue, the WaRisCo team is planning a follow-up visit at the beginning of June 2026. Together with members of the Durban Coalition, we aim to visit communities that are particularly vulnerable to climate impacts. These field visits will allow us to engage directly with community members, better understand local challenges, and explore how WaRisCo’s research – including future flood risk modelling – can support the coalition’s work and the development of community-driven solutions for climate-resilient housing, safer urban settlements, and climate-smart CBFEWS.
Authors: Dr. Sophie Biskop and Prof. Francois Engelbrecht