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Please be aware that the content herein has not been peer reviewed. It consists of personal reflections, insights, and learnings of the contributor(s). It may not be exhaustive, nor does it aim to be authoritative knowledge.
Title
Please provide a name for your action learning plan.
Developing Sustainable Innovations to Solve Urban Problems
Challenge statement
Challenge type: If you are working on multiple challenges, please indicate if this is your "big bet" or "exploratory" challenge.
Please note: we ask you to only submit a maximum of 3 challenges - 1x Big Bet, 2x Exploratory. Each challenge must be submitted individually.
EXPLORATORY
Challenge statement: What is your challenge? (Please answer in specific terms: "Our challenge is that...”.)
Ghana is one of many African countries grappling with the high speed of urbanization, and our local cities are making efforts to tackle the numerous public issues across the country.
Our challenge is that most of the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) lack the technical capacity to develop sustainable innovations and fundable proposals for their urban innovations.
Background: What is the history of your challenge? What is causing or driving it? Who is involved? How does the current situation look like? What undesired effects does it produce?
Across Africa, the number of people living in urban areas is expected to reach 1 billion by 2042, according to the World Bank. In a paper published by the African Futures Institute in 2016, researchers Julia Bello-Schunemann and Ciara Aucoin noted that “The current speed of Africa’s urbanization is unprecedented in history. For some, it is the ‘single most important transformation’ that is happening on the continent”. Most African cities are now overcrowded due to urbanization, putting a lot of strain on local governments to provide basic social amenities, jobs, and modern infrastructure for citizens.
A chief cause of the urbanization is the massive migration of people from rural areas to cities in West Africa in search of greener pastures, which has led to an increase in the incidence of diseases, sanitation issues, social vices, and a raft of urban challenges.
Quantitative evidence: What (official) data sources do you have on this challenge that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge? You can add text, a link, or a picture.
Ghana's Urban Context
Ghana's urban population has grown by 11.3 times since 1960. The country's urban population growth rate (3.1%) consistently outpaces the national growth rate (2.1%). Over the same period, the urbanization rate outpaced the SSA (41.8%) and WA average (47%) (OECD, 2021).
Ghana's urban population is set to double at the current growth rate in less than a generation (2045). However, the rate of urban growth has been increasing at a decreasing rate since 2000.
All of Ghana's regions are urbanizing. Seven regions have more than 50% of their population living in urban areas (cf. 4 regions in 2010). Greater Accra Region has the highest urban population (91.7%), and the lowest is the Upper East Region (25.4%). Almost half (47.8%) of the increase in urban population is from Greater and Ashanti regions.
Qualitative evidence: What weak signals have you recently spotted that characterizes its urgency? Please provide qualitative information that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge. You can add text, a link, or a picture.
Value proposition: What added value or unique value proposition is your Accelerator Lab bringing to solving this challenge? Why is it your Lab that needs to work on this challenge and not other actors within UNDP, other stakeholders in the country respectively? Why is it worth investing resources to this challenge?
In 2021, Bloomberg Philanthropies launched the first Global Mayors Challenge in 2021, with a focus on identifying and accelerating the most ambitious ideas developed by cities. Out of 10 local cities in Ghana that submitted an application, only one - Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly - was shortlisted was for the Championship phase, and ultimately became one of 15 global winners of the Challenge.
As part of the Country Office's support to the Global Mayors Challenge project, The Lab, working with the Environment and Climate Cluster, is organizing an Urban Innovation Bootcamp to offer a systematic introduction to problem-solving and innovation skills that Ghanaian cities need to design and implement mission-driven and sustainable urban projects.
The bootcamp, which will take place from the 11th – 13th December 2023, is being organized in collaboration with the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF).
Leading this initiative, the Lab will bring and share its expertise in design thinking, human-centered design, problem definition, sustainable business model design, and related skills in lean innovation.
Short “tweet” summary: We would like to tweet what you are working on, can you summarize your challenge in a maximum of 280 characters?
n/a
Partners
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the partner:
Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) and the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG)
What sector does our partner belong to?
Government (&related)
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
The Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) is a large international network that promotes and strengthens democratic local government to support sustainable development across the Commonwealth and provides a collective voice to advocate for greater empowerment at the local level.
Through this collaboration, UNDP Ghana, through the Accelerator Lab, worked with CLGF and NALAG to engage development planners and decision makers in ten selected municipalities and metropolises for a 3-day innovation bootcamp.
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
Yes
Learning questions
Learning question: What is your learning question for this challenge? What do you need to know or understand to work on your challenge statement?
1. Do our local cities understand the complexities of public and urban problems?
2. Can cities define urban problems with data and using human-centered design thinking?
3. Can cities develop and test innovative solutions to public problems?
4. Can cities develop concrete implementation plans and budgets for their innovations?
5. Can cities prepare winning grants and funding proposals?
To what stage(s) in the learning cycle does your learning question relate?
Sense, Explore
Usage of methods: Relating to your choice above, how will you use your methods & tools for this learning question? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
We will apply the innovation methods and tools in designing and delivering an urban innovation bootcamp for selected municipalities and metropolises. Cities are to prepare and deliver a presentation during the bootcamp on a peculiar challenge in their town, how they are addressing it or intend to address this challenge. The methods and tools would also inform our assessment of cities' capabilities to design and develop sustainable urban innovations and plans to support them in the future.
Existing data gaps: Relating to your choice above, what existing gaps in data or information do these new sources of data addressing? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
There needs to be more qualitative evidence available on the extent of the pressing urban challenges being faced by most of our local governments. By applying these innovation methods and data tools, our cities can gather and analyze valuable data to back their innovations.
Closing
Early leads to grow: Think about the possible grow phase for this challenge - who might benefit from your work on this challenge or who might be the champions in your country that you should inform or collaborate with early on to help you grow this challenge?
All participating cities would be required to apply the knowledge gained from the bootcamp (including the innovation methods highlighted) to develop sustainable urban innovations and submit a brief concept note for their venture.
After a successful bootcamp, the goal is to support cities with promising urban innovations in testing and scaling their innovations.
END OF ACTION LEARNING PLAN: Thank you! The form saves automatically and your submission has been recorded. You may now exit this window.
6Clean water and sanitation
9Industry, innovation and infrastructure
11Sustainable cities and communities
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