“I do not want to be merely a waste collector. I want to be a waste manager.”
Such was the overwhelming sentiment at the Urban Restoration Dialogue that GLFx Nairobi conducted in collaboration with Ubunifu Hub, Kenya Environmental Action Network (KEAN) and Regreening Africa on 24th June 2022. The dialogue brought together youth groups and community-based organisations from around Nairobi that engage in landscape restoration projects.
The objective was to hear from the participants about their:
- Work and projects
- Successes
- Challenges
- How they’d prefer to have those challenges addressed.
Our main takeaway was that the youths were very passionate about improving their communities. They were keen on ensuring the sustainability of these projects, as most of them derived their livelihoods from said projects. The greatest demonstrated need among all the groups was the need for capacity building. The further development of a foundation that was already in place. The youths also got to meet like-minded groups that were doing similar projects in different parts of the city (Nairobi) and compared notes with them.
GLFx Nairobi will use the knowledge gathered from this dialogue to inform its Community Action Plan.