Action research and coalition building in Nairobi

“From the design of the project, from the design of the tools, to implementation, to data collection and everything, the community should be at the lead, at the forefront, speaking about their issues.”

ACRC research in Nairobi has brought together communities, academics, county and government officials and the private sector, to come up with actions that support communities at the city level. Jane Wairutu from SDI-Kenya, and Nicera Wanjiru Kimani and Nancy Njoki Wairimu from Muungano wa Wanavijiji, sat down with ACRC informal settlements domain co-lead Daniela Cocco Beltrame, to talk about their experiences of the first phase of ACRC research in Nairobi.

They discuss the challenges of finding language to bridge the gap between academics and local communities, highlight the benefits of bringing stakeholders together outside of their silos, and stress the importance of enabling communities to lead action research and to have ownership of data for advocacy purposes.

Nancy Njoki Wairimu is a national federation leader for Muungano wa Wanavijiji and a community mobiliser, with a background in community development and as a community health volunteer.

Nicera Wanjiru Kimani is a woman leader in her community, a federation member at Muungano wa Wanavijiji and the founder of Community Mappers.

Jane Wairutu is a sociologist and programme manager at SDI-Kenya, working closely with data and project implementation teams.

Daniela Cocco Beltrame is a PhD researcher in development policy and management at The University of Manchester, and co-lead for ACRC's informal settlements domain.

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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer

Sounds: Zapsplat

This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

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