Water Wheel Nov/Dec 2023: Citizen Science

Abstract

Citizen science: Community-based early warning tools improve weather and climate risk awareness and resilience Reflecting on the recent floods in Durban and Cape Town, Bonani Madikizela, research manager at the Water Research Commission (WRC), highlights that “Citizen science and early warning bottom-up approaches have been overlooked not only in South Africa but globally, as everyone has assumed a top-down approach would work to save lives during extreme weather events.” To overcome this oversight, the WRC is funding a three-year project on citizen science in support of weather and climate risk awareness for five vulnerable communities in South Africa. Currently in phase two, the project will run until March 2026. The project aims to develop a monitoring network for early detection of weather-and climate-related disasters to adapt and mitigate the impacts on livelihoods as well as build community resilience.

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