Background: Community engagement in urban climate resilience planning is essential for the sustainability of cities. However, there’s a low percentage of community engagement and channels for participation in Arab localities.
The overall objective of the project is to increase civil society engagement in promoting climate resilience among the Arab minority through the development and promotion of Shefa-‘Amr as a model for collaborative, sustainable climate resilience. Arab communities lack the human, institutional, and collaborative capacities required to build Climate Resilience. Poor social cohesion characterizes Arab localities, where citizens are divided and lack trust in their Local Authorities, and local authorities lack the capacities/participatory processes to promote the welfare of the communities they serve, women and youth are systematically excluded from decision-making processes, and civil society organizations are sparse and lacking in resources and skills. The project addresses these needs/constraints through capacity-building and awareness-raising in order to empower these individuals to harness their agency through participation and collective action to promote CR and ultimately their rights. Community participation is important in building a cohesive community, empowering its citizens, and improving their sense of ownership of their city.
This is not an academic paper on urban social engagement even though it builds from and is inspired by academic writings on resilience.
