Enhancing urban resilience to climate change impacts and natural disasters: Honiara

The overarching aim of this project is to enhance the resilience of the city and its inhabitants to current and future climate impacts and natural disasters.

Project dates: 2019 (ongoing)

This project has a particular focus on pro-poor adaptation actions that involve and benefit the most vulnerable communities in the city and a special emphasis on youths, women, girls, the elderly, and people with disabilities. 

The ‘Climate Resilient Honiara’ Project (CRH) is a four-year project funded by the UNFCCC Adaptation Fund and administered by UN-Habitat. RMIT University provides scientific support to a range of different urban climate resilience activities (actions and capacity building). Professor Darryn McEvoy leads the project and a large multi-disciplinary team of lecturers and researchers from six different schools at RMIT. The project also engages with multiple local partners, NGOs and consultants. The project is implemented locally by the Solomon Islands Ministry for the Environment, Climate Change and Disaster Management (MECCDM), the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Survey (MLHS), and Honiara City Council (HCC).

A team of RMIT University engineers, planners and designers are developing Nature-based solutions for adaptability and resilience of five highly vulnerable informal settlements in Honiara, since the project’s commencement in 2019. The team is developing solutions for urban environment based on spatial mappings of disaster risk and, co-design workshops with community during field visits and in consultation with local stakeholders. The team is also developing a professional training course curriculum for land managers from the Solomon Islands.

The report on Work Package 7b: Climate Resilient Spaces – Nature based Solutions (NbS) will be available soon.

Work Package 10: Professional training course

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Key people

  • Mittul Vahanvati – Senior Lecturer
  • Andrew Butt – Associate Dean, Sustainability & Urban Planning
  • Serene Ho 
  • Darryn McEvoy
  • Usha Iyer-Raniga
  • Tariq Maqsood
  • Ata Tara
  • Yazid Ninsalam

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Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

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