Disclaimer:
Please be aware that the content herein has not been peer reviewed.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.
Learnings on your challenge
What are the top 5 key insights you generated about your frontier challenge during this Action Learning Plan?
- Flooding is a very complex issue involving several factors: physical environment, climate change, planning, governance, social behaviour etc.
- Just like floods themselves, the institutional framework shaping the field of floods is also complex, marked by a large number of actors involved at different levels. However, although these actors are open to multi-stakeholder partnerships, there is, strictly speaking, no framework that favours the establishment of platforms or frameworks for exchange/collaboration between the various stakeholders.
- The floods have had a major impact on the populations, in this case the disadvantaged ones. The impact is particularly significant at the household level, but also at the level of gender relations, education (especially for children) and health.
- At the community level, people are developing strategies that are sometimes very effective in coping with floods. Nevertheless, such strategies are still marginalized and not yet well explored, tested and scaled up.
- The innovation ecosystem - an often-overlooked stakeholder in the flood management process - can play a key role in identifying and implementing innovative and sustainable solutions.
Please paste the link(s) to the blog(s) that articulate the learnings on your frontier challenge.
Did you experience any barriers or bottlenecks when impacting the system, working on your frontier challenge respectively?
- Administrative procedures at the country office level, including procurement and finance;
- Lack of expertise on certain aspects of flooding or on certain recommended solutions: artificial intelligence, massive data, satellite data.
- The unexpected passing of our colleague Hassanatou SOW (Head of Solutions Mapping) which contributed to the slowing down of activities and the implementation of the action plan.
For this frontier challenge, how much of your time did you dedicate to the stages in the learning cycle? Please make sure that your answers adds up to 100%.
Data and Methods
Relating to your types of data, why did you chose these? What gaps in available data were these addressing?
In most cases, traditional data has often been used in flood management. Due to the complexity of the phenomenon, it is necessary to use new sources of data, namely massive data.
Why was it necessary to apply the above innovation method on your frontier challenge? How did these help you to unpack the system?
These methods have particularly helped to better understand the phenomenon from the perspective of the affected populations and to better identify innovative solutions, especially those developed by grassroots communities and the innovation ecosystem.
Partners
If applicable, what civil society organisations did you actually work with and what did you do with them?
We work with various stakeholders. In this case, we have established a UNDP/Government/Civil Society, Innovation Ecosystem partnership to help address flooding challenges. Regarding civil society organizations and the innovation ecosystem, we are collaborating with organizations such as Zero Inondation, Keur Thiossane (Fab Lab), Inond'actions, URBASEN, GRET, OpenStreetMap Senegal, CONCREE Civil society organizations and the innovation ecosystem play a crucial role in the flooding arena. Because of their proximity to the affected populations, they are able to co-construct strategies with them in order to better understand the issues related to floods and to act accordingly to limit the risks. A partnership with these groups of actors could prove decisive in the search for effective and innovative solutions.
If applicable, what academic partners (and related institutions) did you actually work with and what did you do with them?
We did not work particularly with academic partners. However, we are considering collaboration in the current year.
If applicable, what private sector partners did you actually work with and what did you do with them?
We have worked with companies such as GEOMATICA. Collaboration will be open to other companies, including start-ups that have been selected as part of the Water Innovation Challenge.
If applicable, what government partners (and related institutions) did you actually work with and what did you do with them?
- Direction de la Prévision et de Gestion des Inondations (DPGI)
- Direction de l’Assainissement
- Agence de Développement et d'Encadrement des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises (ADPME)
- Ministère de l’Environnement
We have established a partnership with these organizations which has led to the co-organization of a workshop on floods and a Water Innovation Challenge. In this case, we partnered with ADPME to launch a competition and select 5 start-ups that stood out for the innovative nature of their solutions for the fight against floods and the promotion of hygiene and sanitation in Senegal.
Relating to your answers above: who of the partners listed were new and unusual partners for UNDP, and what made them special?
- The Innovation Ecosystem: Keur Thiossane, CONCREE, Inond'actions OpenStreetMap Senegal etc. These actors often develop strategies and innovations that are not always taken into account, but which can be mobilised to find innovative solutions to flooding.
If applicable, which UN internal partners did you actually work with and what did you do with them?
We are not currently working with UN internal partners.
End
Bonus question: How did the interplay of innovation methods, new forms of data and unusual partners enable you to learn & generate insights, that otherwise you would have not been able to achieve?
Please upload any further supporting evidence / documents / data you have produced on your frontier challenge that showcase your learnings.
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6Clean water and sanitation
11Sustainable cities and communities
13Climate action
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