Cascading Climate and Health Risks in African Cities (CASCADE)

Home/Our Work/Programs/Cascading Climate and Health Risks in African Cities (CASCADE)

Cascading Climate and Health Risks in African Cities (CASCADE) aims to enhance the resilience of African cities by tackling the pressing urban health challenges exacerbated by climate change and rapid urbanization. African cities present a critical focus of opportunity and risk due to the intersection of rapidly expanding urban landscapes and climate shifts. The overarching objective is to advance our understanding of urban health challenges in African cities and support practical, impactful responses at the city level. At CASCADE, we address urgent urban health challenges using a comprehensive systems approach, bridging the gap between science and decision-making in African cities through deep, cross-disciplinary collaboration.

START is deeply involved with early career researchers who are part of the program, especially through the design and facilitation of the CASCADE Leadership Course, a learning journey focused on internal capacities and traits that are essential for doing complex, collaborative work, and that are foundational for leading others in efforts to effectively meet today’s urgent and interconnected challenges. START will also play a leadership role in CASCADE’s Small Opportunities Grants program which will support project researchers with more concise pieces of research that complement and enrich the overall work of the project.

Approach

CASCADE employs City Learning Labs as its primary mechanism for community engagement and learning. These labs bring together diverse participants to address complex urban challenges and co-create viable solutions collaboratively. Our vision is centered on improving the lives of people across Africa. The consortium is committed to empowering a new generation of researchers, enhancing their ability to contribute to Africa’s resilience to climate and health challenges. By focusing on the capacity strengthening of our young researchers, CASCADE ensures the sustainability of its initiatives and the ongoing evolution of scientific expertise in urban health and climate resilience for our continent.At the heart of CASCADE is the objective to grow scientific leadership within Africa.

Research Questions

Urban Climate-Health Risk Pathways: What are the multiple risk pathways through which climate variability, extremes, and change lead to health risk in African cities?
Urban Climate Health Interventions: What are effective and practical long-term interventions and health messages for reducing mortality and morbidity in African city contexts due to climate and health risks, and how can they be formulated to more effectively engage communities and inform decision-making related to urban climate and health risks?
Urban Climate Health Governance: What urban climate health governance modes are required to support the implementation of priority interventions, particularly considering developmental vulnerabilities and societal inequalities related to socio-economics, gender, and marginalized groups that are prevalent in African urban contexts?

Partners

CASCADE’s consortium includes partners from major African cities and leading academic institutions:

University of Ghana
Chinhoyi University of Technology
Makerere University
Global Change Institute (University of Witwatersrand)
The African Population and Health Research Center
Climate System Analysis Group (University of Cape Town)
Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre
START International

Funders

CASCADE is funded through the second phase of the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science Africa program and implemented by the Science for Africa Foundation, with support from Wellcome and the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Find out more

For more information about CASCADE, visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn. You can also download our program overview [attach] or read our 2023 Press Release for additional details.

Cascading Climate and Health Risks in African Cities (CASCADE) aims to enhance the resilience of African cities by tackling the pressing urban health challenges exacerbated by climate change and rapid urbanization. African cities present a critical focus of opportunity and risk due to the intersection of rapidly expanding urban landscapes and climate shifts. The overarching objective is to advance our understanding of urban health challenges in African cities and support practical, impactful responses at the city level. At CASCADE, we address urgent urban health challenges using a comprehensive systems approach, bridging the gap between science and decision-making in African cities through deep, cross-disciplinary collaboration.

START is deeply involved with early career researchers who are part of the program, especially through the design and facilitation of the CASCADE Leadership Course, a learning journey focused on internal capacities and traits that are essential for doing complex, collaborative work, and that are foundational for leading others in efforts to effectively meet today’s urgent and interconnected challenges. START will also play a leadership role in CASCADE’s Small Opportunities Grants program which will support project researchers with more concise pieces of research that complement and enrich the overall work of the project.

Approach

CASCADE employs City Learning Labs as its primary mechanism for community engagement and learning. These labs bring together diverse participants to address complex urban challenges and co-create viable solutions collaboratively. Our vision is centered on improving the lives of people across Africa. The consortium is committed to empowering a new generation of researchers, enhancing their ability to contribute to Africa’s resilience to climate and health challenges. By focusing on the capacity strengthening of our young researchers, CASCADE ensures the sustainability of its initiatives and the ongoing evolution of scientific expertise in urban health and climate resilience for our continent.At the heart of CASCADE is the objective to grow scientific leadership within Africa.

Research Questions

Urban Climate-Health Risk Pathways: What are the multiple risk pathways through which climate variability, extremes, and change lead to health risk in African cities?
Urban Climate Health Interventions: What are effective and practical long-term interventions and health messages for reducing mortality and morbidity in African city contexts due to climate and health risks, and how can they be formulated to more effectively engage communities and inform decision-making related to urban climate and health risks?
Urban Climate Health Governance: What urban climate health governance modes are required to support the implementation of priority interventions, particularly considering developmental vulnerabilities and societal inequalities related to socio-economics, gender, and marginalized groups that are prevalent in African urban contexts?

Partners

CASCADE’s consortium includes partners from major African cities and leading academic institutions:

University of Ghana
Chinhoyi University of Technology
Makerere University
Global Change Institute (University of Witwatersrand)
The African Population and Health Research Center
Climate System Analysis Group (University of Cape Town)
Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre
START International

Funders

CASCADE is funded through the second phase of the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science Africa program and implemented by the Science for Africa Foundation, with support from Wellcome and the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Find out more

For more information about CASCADE, visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn. You can also download our program overview [attach] or read our 2023 Press Release for additional details.