Aligning regenerative communities in the Green City Under the Sun
Nairobi is a Maasai name meaning 'cool waters'. The city was originally a wetland that over the years has turned into a concrete jungle. It's not just urban areas like Nairobi that have faced extensive land use changes, rural areas as well have been impacted as Kenya's population has grown over the years. There is a countrywide need for a regeneration culture. A culture whose roots have begun growing in Nairobi. Nairobi has been home to several sustainability initiatives, movements, and organizations that are working towards promoting sustainable living, protecting the environment, and combating climate change. Some of these initiatives include the Kenya Climate Change Working Group, the Green Belt Movement, the African Conservation Centre, and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), which has its headquarters in Nairobi. Nairobi also has a thriving startup ecosystem and is an investment hub for the greater East Africa Community. There is plenty of institutional and government support for regeneration with the government currently working on a carbon market framework. The country aims at planting 5 billion trees over the coming number of years and is exploring ReFi mechanisms to achieve this ambitious target.
Nairobi has a history of being an urban center interwoven with ecology. With natural forests, savanna grasslands and three major rivers running through it. However the urban expansion of the city along with a growing population has led to significant loss in tree cover, increased waste mismanagement and water degradation. Urban social movements, (citizen led) aimed at restoring the environment have emerged in Nairobi; a chief example being the Changing Faces Competition that empowered local communities to change their neighborhoods and take ownership of their ecosystem assets. Our project partners, the Public Space Network Nairobi and the Kamukunji Environmental
Water is integral to the well being of local and national communities and we continue to depend on it for our continued sustenance. The challenge in the Nairobi is continued degradation of the rivers and water resources The project seeks to develop and regeneration program to protect the highland water resources serving Nairobi as well as the main river in Nairobi.
We cannot have reservoirs, public water supply and hydropower, irrigation systems and cities functioning well without protecting, restoring, managing and investing in the natural system that provides that water in the first place.
To increase investment and scale up nature-based solutions to protect and restore water resources, we need more "bankable projects." You can help by donating to a grant that supports such projects. By doing so, we can attract investors and address the increasing demand for freshwater, ensuring a sustainable future for all.
Akshay Aditya: Environmental Solutions Lead. As an Urban Planner turned Web3 Founder, he has experience in project development, economic and environmental planning and geospatial solutions.
Kennedy Nganga: Kennedy has raised funds for their startups through grants. This involves mobilizing funds from different programs to support the development and deployment of ReFi solutions.
Elzaphan Murage:
Kenya leads in crypto adoption, being ranked by Paxful as among the top 5 countries in peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading. Nairobi has a thriving ReFi and web3 community. Some of the startups found here include Shamba Network, reps of Regen Foundation, Celo, and Open Forest Protocol among others. Chama DAO from Regen Network has some presence in Nairobi and there also a number of ReFi adjacent initiatives like Fonbnk, Blockchain for Africa and Teca which are beginning to get more involved in the city's Regeneration.
Conservation Champions have both been a part of this competition and used its support to engage and mobilize their respective local groups for regeneration. Shamba Network, a geospatial data oracle has also been a major representative of the city in the ReFi space. BFA and TECA have both also been highly interested and involved as impact investors in this space. And support from institutions like C40 cities and UN-Habitat has been critical in getting the wheels in motion.