CityRAP TOOL
DiMSUR develops relevant and innovative tools to improve local, national and sub-regional capacities for reducing vulnerability and building the resilience of communities to natural and other hazards in the southern African region and beyond.
CityRAP Tool
The City Resilience Action Planning Tool
CityRAP Tool is DiMSUR’s flagship product. It is a tool used for training city managers and municipal technicians in small to intermediate sized cities in sub-Saharan Africa. CityRAP enables communities to understand and plan actions aimed at reducing risk and building resilience through the development of a Resilience Framework for Action.
CityRAP is designed as an enabling rather than prescriptive tool, as core principle is fostering ownership by local government and communities. The CityRAP process includes a set of trainings, exercises and activities directed at municipalities that want to kick-start their resilience action planning.
CityRAP puts local governments and urban stakeholders in the driver’s seat of urban resilience planning to ensure capacity retention and use. The tool’s design allows local governments to adapt and implement it with minimal external intervention. It draws on participatory methods – such as local government self-assessments, participatory risk mapping exercises and cross-sectorial action planning – to leverage local knowledge for understanding and planning resilience.
The CityRAP Tool’s outcome is a Resilience Framework for Action (RFA)
The RFA is a key document guiding decision-makers to improve city resilience and reduce risks. The RFA identifies relevant challenges and priorities according to the local context and realities. It defines the key actions to be implemented at the short-, medium- and long-term to overcome the challenges, while promoting close collaboration and coordination between sectors. The most important prerogative of the RFA is to be implementable. It can also be used as strong fundraising instrument for financing priority actions. DiMSUR supports resilience planning and the development of RFAs in different municipalities through the provision of technical support and training of trainers on implementing CityRA
PARTICIPATORY METHODOLOGY
The CityRAP Tool methodology enables the delivery of high-quality, innovative and interactive training courses to help build and strengthen capacities of both communities and decision-makers in disaster risk management, climate change adaptation and urban resilience.
The CityRAP Tool training of trainers programme provides tailor-made training courses adapted to local realities. Customized programs are designed to the specific needs of the participants enabling them to improve and broaden their knowledge and skills on very specific issues or hazards. After completing the training, participants are enabled to carry out training workshops themselves, which amplifies the impact of CityRAP.
On-the-job training courses are also available covering a broad range of issues from adaptive architecture and construction techniques, to risk mapping, participatory planning and vulnerability assessments.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
DiMSUR offers demand-led technical assistance providing different stakeholders with the expertise needed to promote urban resilience, manage disaster risks and adapt to climate change.
DiMSUR’s specialists work hand-in-hand with beneficiaries to develop locally appropriate solutions tailored to specific needs. Technical assistance often takes the form of missions carried out by recognized experts helping to solve key organizational, institutional and technical challenges.
City RFAs
RFA Chokwe, Mozambique
RFA Zomba, Malawi
RFA Moroni, Comoros
RFA Bissau, Guinea Bissau
