Development Policy Foundation
Development Policy Foundation6 months ago
💡We have learned a lot on our last visit to Walvis Bay, the coastal city in Namibia. 🌍
The whole Namibian coastline is about 1,572 km long, extending from the Kunene River in the north to the Orange River in the south. Therefore, the effects of the climate change on the Atlantic ocean affects directly the life and safety of Walvis Bay citizens.

🏝The oceans absorb more than 80% of the solar irradiation received by the earth and continued warming and expansion over the next century is now unavoidable. Climate change induced sea level rise, in the form of higher mean sea levels and more intense and frequent sea-storm surges coinciding with high tides, which occur frequently at Independence Beach in Walvis Bay and floods the recreational area.🌊

❗️As a result, there can be damage to infrastructure, property, threats to communities and disruptions to ecological balances. The extent of this damage can be significantly reduced by preparedness, developing adaptive capacity and pre-emptive actions.

💡As an adaptive measure, infrastructure at the Independence Beach has been designed in such a way that they are not submerged during high tides. Hence, the elevation of electrical boxes on concrete structures, making them resistant to damages during high tide.🌊

Members of the Municipality of Walvis Bay were delighted to show the Independence Beach 🏝and exchange experience with the delegation from the Czerwonak, zobacz więcej, supported by the members of Development Policy Foundation Team. This site visit is a part of the development of the Independence Beach Promenade, in Walvis Bay Namibia.☀️🐋

This event was financed under the project ‘Erongo Sustainable Governance LAB: Participatory Urban Governance For Resilient, Safe and Inclusive Multifunctional Public Spaces in Namibia’, co financed by the European Union within the framework of the European Commission - DG DevCo EuropeAid and in cooperation with the Delegation of the European Union to Namibia.

The project is implemented in terms of the partnership between the Municipality of Czerwonak and the Municipality of Walvis Bay. This event was co-funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the Authors and they do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
Development Policy Foundation
Development Policy Foundation6 months ago
Did you know that the world's longest palm avenue is in Namibia?🧐

Over 1,600 palm trees🌴are situated along the road between Walvis Bay and Afrodite Beach, planted by the Parks and Cemeteries Section within the Department of Community and Economic Development of Municipality of Walvis Bay, with a special watering system along the road.

On our last visit to Namibia, the representatives of Czerwonak, zobacz więcej, supported by the Development Policy Foundation Team have visited several of over 30 green areas within the Municipality of Walvis Bay, owned and managed by the Local Authorities, to see the local activities of the climate change adaptation measures. Here are some gathered facts:
➡️In the whole town of Walvis Bay, there are 5000 palm trees of two different types: Washingtonians/ Fan Palm and the Phoenix dactylifera
➡️The Parks Section plants different types of trees/plants which are adaptable to the climate conditions (wind, sand, heat, low rainfall and cold weather) of Walvis Bay. One of which is Spek boom (Portulacaria afra)🪴:
🍃This miracle plant species can be beneficial in rehabilitating and restoring semi-arid and thicket habitats. More impressive still is the spekboom’s fantastic growth rate and its drought-resistance, making it an ideal plant for arid areas.
🍃This plant helps to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by acting like a carbon sponge, improving the quality of air we breathe. More specifically, spekboom can absorb between four to ten tonnes of carbon per hectare. This incredible tree uses carbon to make plant tissue and produce oxygen. According to The Spekboom Foundation, spekboom’s “capacity to offset harmful carbon emissions is compared to that of moist, subtropical forests. This remarkable plant is unique in that it stores solar energy to perform photosynthesis at night. This makes a spekboom thicket 10 times more effective per hectare at carbon fixing than any tropical rainforest.” 🍀

The visit was a part of the Erongo Good Governance Academy events and beside the local vision of the green areas in Walvis Bay, was also focused on preparation of the team of Erongo Academy students for their forthcoming visit in Poland. The representatives of Gmina Czerwonak supported by the DPF team have assisted in visa application procedure, revised the student’s pilot projects and shared their good practices on the following: Waste management & Circular Solutions, Revitalization and restoration of infrastructure and public space; Urban Spatial Plan, Neighbourhood & Area Development Planning; Accessibility & Safety & Security in Public Spaces: data gathering.

This event was financed under the project ‘Erongo Sustainable Governance LAB: Participatory Urban Governance For Resilient, Safe and Inclusive Multifunctional Public Spaces in Namibia’, cofinanced by the European Union within the framework of the European Commission - DG DevCo EuropeAid and in cooperation with the Delegation of the European Union to Namibia.

The project is implemented in terms of the partnership between the Municipality of Czerwonak and the Municipality of Walvis Bay. This event was co-funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the Authors and they do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
Development Policy Foundation
Development Policy Foundation7 months ago
✨ We are thrilled to share a snapshot from our last visit to Namibia and workshops conducted within Erongo Academy!

➡️ The workshops were dedicated project proposal development, aiming supporting Municipal services towards creating more sustainable, green, and accessible cities 🌱

During the workshops in Omaruru, participants from various municipalities and cities from Erongo: Usakos, Omaruru, Arandis and Karibib, had the unique opportunity to design their own projects under the EU Experts guidance

The main focus was on addressing crucial aspects of municipal and community development and transforming them into proposals. Some of the topics that participants explored were:

🏘️ Management of Illegal Settlements: working on creating sustainable solutions to manage and improve living conditions for everyone in the town, while also tackling the issue of illegal settlements

🌿 Urban Gardening: as green spaces play a vital role in protecting biodiversity, making cities more resilient, green and providing a more pleasant livelihood for the communities. It promotes eco-friendly practices and reducing food poverty.

🚰 Management of Sewage System: ideas for enhance municipal sewage management, which is essential for public health and environmental protection - to develop efficient systems that ensure clean waterways and a hygienic living environment for the communities.

This impactful project is implemented by Gmina Czerwonak (Czerwonak, zobacz więcej) along with partner Municipality of Walvis Bay, backstopped and supported by the Development Policy Foundation.

🍀 Together, we are taking significant strides towards supporing Local Authorities in creating more sustainable and inclusive cities in Namibia! 🍀

This event was financed under the project ‘Erongo Sustainable Governance LAB: Participatory Urban Governance For Resilient, Safe and Inclusive Multifunctional Public Spaces in Namibia’, cofinanced by the European Union within the framework of the European Commission - DG DevCo EuropeAid and in cooperation with the Delegation of the European Union to Namibia.

The project is implemented in terms of the partnership between the Municipality of Czerwonak and the Municipality of Walvis Bay. This event was co-funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the Authors and they do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
Development Policy Foundation
Development Policy Foundation8 months ago
Recently, our experts visited Athens to participate in the 1st plenary meeting of the FORTESIE project under the #HorizonEU scheme, along with 26 other fantastic organizations from across Europe.

During the conference, we summarized the foregoing achievements of the project and planned further actions - all towards more sustainable infrastructure and energy efficiency! ✨

There's a lot of work ahead - stay tuned!

#FORTESIE #fortesie #greenbuildings #greenrenovations #HorizonEurope #EU #europe #EUfunded #HorizonEU #EUresearch #energy #energyefficiency #buildings #energypolicy #renewableenergy #saveenergy #energyconsumption #EUGreenDeal #energytransition #RenovationWave #Renovation #esie
Development Policy Foundation
Development Policy Foundation10 months ago
Dual-use PV set is about to be installed at the creche in Antonesti
Stefan Voda (Primăria Ștefan Vodă), South Eastern Moldova.

The tailored system was designed to provide an emergency power backup for the automatic and mechanical control unit of solid-fuel burner or "котеl" and pumps feeding the hot water into the radiators at the creche. This ensures that the heating system is to operate seamlessly even in the instance of a black-out -not that unusual in rural Moldova, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In regular circumstances or no-emergency, the system is generating power, buffering electricity at the batteries, and feeding the surplus into the grid.

The project was designed and is facilitated & backstopped by the
Development Policy Foundation. The project is implemented by the Polish technology provider Makroterm. It is being delivered under the Polish Challenge Fund, co-founded by Polish aid Moldova: Poland's development cooperation program.
Development Policy Foundation
Development Policy Foundation10 months ago
Guess what? A bus stop can serve as the NATO critical infrastructure component!

Indeed, this bus stop is an example of a smart, autonomous, and universally designed solution. Its energetic independence is obtained through the installation of photovoltaic panels, which ensure the functioning of the bus stop in case of a power outage. What’s more, this particular smart bus stop is to be equipped with an electronic display of bus timetables, voice announcements, a public Wi-Fi connection as well as mobile charging ports hence creating a haven for citizens.

This bus stop is also a climate-adjusted intervention as it is fitted with an air-quality sensor, gathering both climate and air quality statistics (dust, CO2, temperature) which are later on transmitted to a Smart Cities remote management platform (InCity), helping authorities to capture data and timely respond to local climate challenges. Additionally, a micro-storm garden pot for water retention is incorporated in case of flash flooding which is becoming more and more frequent due to climate change. Even during the construction of the bus stop, one flash flood took place in the area. Apart from water retention, the Stormgarden will allow for decreasing air temperature and reducing the number of dust particles in the air.

The project aims to adjust and transfer genuinely Polish TECH of smart, agile, and cost-effective public spaces retrofit. This is to be achieved by the pilot implementation of SEEDiA's Smart Urban Furniture: the Smart Bus Shelter in Rejon Ștefan Vodă, the rayon city in SE of Moldova. The action is co-financed by the Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Poland) and is being managed by the United Nations Development Programme - UNDP under the Polish Challenge Fund.

The Development Policy Foundation is the idea-brewer, project designer/developer, expertise provider, and facilitator.