Adaptive governance describes the purposeful collective actions to resist, adapt, ortransform when faced with shocks. As governments are reluctant to intervene ininformal settlements, community based organisations (CBOs) self-organize and takethe lead. This study explores under what conditions CBOs in Mathare informal settle-ment, Nairobi initiate and sustain resilience activities during Covid-19. Study findingsshow that CBOs engage in multiple resilience activities, varying from maladaptiveand unsustainable to adaptive, and transformative. Two conditions enable CBOs toinitiate resilience activities: bonding within the community and coordination withother actors. To sustain these activities over 2.5 years of Covid-19, CBOs alsorequire leadership, resources, organisational capacity, and network capacity. Thesame conditions appear to enable CBOs to engage in transformative activities. How-ever, CBOs cannot transform urban systems on their own. An additional condition,not met in Mathare, is that governments, NGOs, and donor agencies facilitate, sup-port, and build community capacities.
Journal Title: Sustainable Development
Publication date: 2024
Article title: Adaptive governance by community based organisations: Community resilience initiatives during Covid-19 in Mathare, Nairobi.
Authors: Fransen, J., Hati, B., Simon, H. K., & van Stapele, N.
Cite this article as: Fransen, J., Hati, B., Simon, H. K., & van Stapele, N. (2024). Adaptive governance by community based organisations: Community resilience initiatives during Covid-19 in Mathare, Nairobi. Sustainable Development, 32(2), 1471–1482. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2682
Keywords: adaptive governance, community resilience, community-based organisations, Covid-19, Kenya,Nairobi, sustainability