From Vulnerability to Resilience: Students and Women Driving Urban Climate Action in East Africa

Students and women in vulnerable communities are driving climate innovation in East Africa. This session highlights practical projects in Tanzania and Kenya that transform vulnerability into resilience through education, grassroots leadership, and applied learning. Examples include the Dodoma Demonstration Borehole, School Botanical Garden, and Forest Bioeconomy Development project and BARWAQA Relief Organization’s women-led resilience programs. Together, these initiatives show how schools can serve as urban climate innovation hubs and how women’s leadership solutions for water, biodiversity, and food security.

The Innovate4Cities agenda by linking education systems, grassroots organizations, and city strategies, offering transferable approaches and policy pathways. It emphasizes equity and inclusion by elevating the voices of students and women from the Global South. Expected outputs include a regional toolkit for replication, a joint Tanzania–Kenya declaration on resilience, and visual documentation of applied learning. Interactive dialogue and youth testimonies, the session will inspire collaboration and showcase practical experience that inform future urban climate action.