We are excited to present an update on the ‘Water as Leverage Nakuru for a Resilient Sponge City’ programme.

The second local workshop was arranged on March 26 in collaboration with the County administration of Nakuru and our strategic local partner, VEI Dutch Water Operators. This workshop was a follow-up to the first event that took place in Nakuru in January of this year; and aimed to present and discuss the draft findings of the “Setting the Scene WaL Nakuru for a resilient sponge city”.

The workshop session was formally launched by the facilitator, Mr. Anthony Mwangi, who also acknowledged the attendance of the city manager, Mr. Gitau Thabanja, and the managing director of Nakuru Water and Sanitation Services, Mr. Eng. Gachanthi.

With curiosity and enthusiasm, the stakeholders took part in the plenary talks and interactive working sessions facilitated by Rebel East Africa and Defacto Urbanism. About forty people from the public and private sector, academia, and non-governmental organizations worked to retrofit the identification of Nakuru’s hot-spots and exchanged information about financial incentives and governance involvement in these areas.

Important meetings were also organized with the City Manager, the County, and National Government, and relevant chief representatives in the sectors of water, sanitation, civil engagement, and disaster risks, to discuss the next steps of the WaL Nakuru programme.

Since WaL fosters and aims for an inclusive process, visits to the local communities of the Hotspots were also organized with productive conversations and obtained additional necessary information. A final Setting the Scene report will be produced after processing and presenting all of these inputs.
More to come!