Community Resilience in Cape Town (CoRect) Project

SOUTH AFRICA - Western Cape province

Many residents in Cape Town’s townships and informal settlements are frustrated with the limited access to water and sanitation services. To understand these experiences and gather information to present to decision-makers, the Western Cape Water Caucus (*WCWC) collaborated with researchers at University of Cape Town’s African Climate & Development Initiative [ACDI], assisted by Stellenbosch University’s Centre for Complex Systems in Transition (CST), and supported by EMG. *WCWC is part of the South African Water Caucus [SAWC] - a network of organisations active in the water sector.

The AIM OF THE COMMUNITY RESILIENCE in cape town (CORECT) PROJECT was to conduct a study that would inform WCWC’s work to improve living conditions in communities, and for its members to learn how to do citizen science.

The project team used a powerful research tool called SenseMaker, which is used to collect stories about people’s own experiences and problems. This process allows for making sense and understanding the collective experiences within the situational context, and using the knowledge to inform action, decision-making and monitoring.

CITIZEN SCIENCE - COLLECTING DATA

Working together, the group of WCWC members and the researchers came together in workshops to design the questionnaire for the purpose of understanding water-related issues in working class and poor, that is, low-income areas. WCWC members worked for 3 months to collect 311 interviews from several sites, including their own areas. Sites in the research included (as seen in the map left - ©ACDI) Du Noon, Joe Slovo , Delft, Green Park, Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, Makhaza, among others.

Transdisciplinary research - The CoReCT project is an example of THIs research process, in which both academic scholars, community members and other stakeholders are seen as legitimate holders and producers of knowledge. Combining different perspectives builds a better understanding, especially of complex problems.

For this purpose, WCWC nominated 12 members who worked with researchers to decide what questions the project should try to answer, and how to best find residents with stories to share. The WCWC citizen scientists then went to their own communities as story collectors, interviewing residents about water related issues they had faced and tried to address. By using this approach and their own familiarity with the areas, the story collectors were able to have open, honest conversations about peoples’ experiences, and to capture this in a way that could be used for scientific analysis.

FURTHER DOCUMENTATION:

Summary of project and findings (PDF):Community Resilience in Cape Town (CoReCT) A transdisciplinary research project on water-related issues in low-income area

Implications

The CoReCT project is of great value for efforts to address Cape Town’s water problems. It has assisted the WCWC to empower their collective voice as in representing local communities, and it has generated new information and understanding about resident’s everyday struggles in some of Cape Town’s most disadvantaged areas. This knowledge has facilitated discussions between WCWC, City of Cape Town representatives and other community organisations about how to best address the complex web of water-related issues. Last but not least, the project has also generated valuable academic research that will be published in scientific journals, where others can learn from the Cape Town case.