In Nairobi’s ever evolving urban landscape, community driven research is proving crucial in bridging the gap between scientific and tacit knowledge. The 2025 Thesis Atelier, a collaborative initiative by the Nuvoni Center for Innovation Research and the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS), Erasmus University Rotterdam, is spearheading impactful master’s theses by integrating them into the Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach ensuring that local voices shape research outcomes.
On May 5, 2025, six Leiden-Delft-Erasmus master's students arrived in Nairobi, embarking on an immersive research journey guided by the CBPR methodology, a framework that ensures local communities are active participants in shaping research outcomes. This approach minimizes research waste while generating insights that inform development planning. The 2025 cohort focused on four pressing urban themes: Disaster risk management in cities and neighborhoods, Climate-resilient housing and Scaling resilience initiatives. Fieldwork took place across Kibera, Mukuru, and Mathare settlements in Nairobi and in collaboration with organizations such as SDI Kenya, WRI Kenya, Ghetto Foundation, and Muungano wa Wanavijiji.
Rather than relying solely on scientific information, students engaged directly with local realities through: Transect walks and site observations, Mathare Research Repository, Stakeholder engagements and collaborating with community researchers, ensuring mutual knowledge exchange and participatory data collection.
Key Findings from Housing, Community-led Resilience, and Women-Led Enterprises
A validation session provided an opportunity for students to present their findings to local communities and explore how research could influence ongoing policy and development decisions. In the housing sector, studies revealed deep rooted challenges stemming from gaps in community participation in government led programs. As the Kenyan government plans new housing initiatives, these findings will be instrumental in facilitating smoother transitions and ensuring acceptance at the grassroots level. Additionally, research into women-led enterprises shed light on their role in sustaining the local economy and building resilience within marginalized communities. Meanwhile, studies addressing fire and flood-related disasters highlighted how communities navigate and respond to these shocks.
Slum upgrading initiatives
Human capital: The government needs to partner with civil society organizations to build on the human capital of the people along with infrastructural development during slum upgrading. They should focus on enhancing the entrepreneurial skills of community members to upgrade their livelihoods.
- Government-led housing: This research focused on how to create long-term affordability of public housing in Kenya. It is a call to communities, civil society, and the government to proactively conduct public participation so that affordable housing models link to the priorities of the residents.
Disaster-risk management
- Flood-risk reduction: The community being at the center of flooding adaption in informal settlements should leverage social capital to enhance adaptive strategies. Social networks have proved to be beneficial in promoting the well-being of flood victims. Thus, the networks, including the CBOs and women groups, should be strengthened to enhance their capacity to respond to flooding in informal settlements. Moreover, communities should develop early warning systems to proactively respond to flooding risks.
- Fire-risk reduction: This focused on how to nurture fire reduction strategies in informal settlements. The community holds immense knowledge of fires, especially their causes. For proactive fire management, integrating community knowledge with urban planning frameworks can reduce the fire menace that is currently risking livelihoods in informal settlements.
Nature-Based Solutions (NbS)
As our cities continue to urbanize, the threat of climate disasters escalate. Amongst other benefits, nature-based solutions can be leveraged to manage the climate risks in cities. However, there is noticeable lack of policy and regulatory frameworks encouraging the development of NbS in cities. This research aimed to explore the perceptions of different stakeholders on the NbS, and what could its benefits when implemented in urban areas.
Beyond individual research sectors, discussions underscored the interconnected nature of urban challenges, advocating for multidimensional approaches to policy and development. Addressing housing, climate resilience, and economic sustainability in isolation is insufficient, integrated decision making is key to meaningful progress.
Looking Ahead
Findings will be formally shared at an upcoming dissemination workshop, bringing together key stakeholders to discuss actionable insights. Students will also produce valorised versions of their research, ensuring their work contributes not only to academia but also to real-world urban planning and community development.