Nature for resilience reconfigured: global-to-local translation of frames in Africa

Rochell, Katharina; Bulkeley, Harriet; Runhaar, Hens

Abstract

Globally, various frames of urban nature circulate, each emphasising particular challenges and natural solutions in the climate context. Yet which actors and dynamics shape their translation to the African context remains unclear. This paper explores the global-to-local translation process of frames through interventions funded by transnational actors, conceptualised as agents of policy transfer. Critical scholarship has observed that urban adaptation and resilience interventions in Africa are often characterised as technocratic and top-down approaches, hence it is vital to understand whether these are replicated through proliferating nature-based solutions (NBSs). The study of a resilience-building intervention in Lilongwe, Malawi, reveals that transnational actors play important roles by deploying frames of urban nature through funding projects. However, rather than involving a top-down imposition of particular solutions, this sets in motion dynamics: in the competition for resources that frames generate, various actor constellations of transnational actors, subnational governments and local NGOs reconfigure or relabel strategies and associated (nature-based) practices to suit global frames and the resources they generate. This shapes who is included or not, and what kinds of NBS are being developed, for and by whom. There is a risk that priorities of communities get lost in translation.

Citation

Rochell, K., Bulkeley, H., & Runhaar, H. (2024). Nature for resilience reconfigured: global-to-local translation of frames in Africa. Buildings and Cities, 5(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.379

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 19, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Feb 15, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024
• Deposit Date: Mar 21, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 21, 2024
• Journal: Buildings & Cities
• Print ISSN: 2632-6655
• Publisher: Ubiquity Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 1-15
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.379
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2335283