Knowledge Sharing on Climate Change as a Resource for Adaptation Processes: The Case of Malika, Senegal

Abstract

In order to face Climate Change, cities should have a complex system of adaptation capacities and abilities. Cities should involve everyone in this process, disseminate information, and spread awareness of Climate Change issues. Conventional studies and approaches are based on scientific knowledge that rarely takes into consideration the socio-cultural aspects and practices prevalent in specific contexts. The assumption on which this chapter is based, however, is that inclusion of these components is important and even necessary to starting a real process of adaptation. Therefore, we consider adaptation as a continuum in which strategy development depends on the relationships between local authorities, the private sector, researchers, and civil society. In this context, building adaptive capacity, knowledge sharing, and the delivery of adaptation actions become phases of the methodology. Malika, a peri-urban area of Dakar in Senegal, has been vulnerable to flooding since 2005, undermining dwellers’ daily lives and productive activities, particularly agriculture. This chapter aims to highlight how the sharing of knowledge on Climate Change, through a participatory approach, can be a useful tool in the decision-making processes that characterize urban planning.