True climate resilience requires a radical redistribution of power, not just participation.
This was strongly emphasised at the Community-Led Data as a Tool for Power Redistribution event, hosted by SDI in partnership with Humanitarian OpenStreetMap (HOT), International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and Enda Energy at the Peru Resilience Hub during COP30 in Belém in November.
Speakers stressed that data collection is not merely a technical exercise. The focus must be on “actionable insights” rather than collecting data for its own sake. “Data collection is a process. It is a process that starts with community action… It is also a catalyst for engagement with the city and national authorities,” remarked SDI Network President, Joe Muturi.
Data collection drives community action, can shape local development agendas and provides actionable insights for planning and policy formation to better influence national legislation and municipal planning globally.
Community-led data provides the credibility and evidence needed to make communities visible and amplify their local adaptation and resilience strategies. The Centre of Dialogue on Human Settlement and Poverty Alleviation in Freetown, Sierra Leone, successfully influenced a national policy, the Land and Country Planning Act, which recognises informality and mandates municipal councils to provide essential services to these communities.
“Our approach goes beyond traditional data collection. We focus on collecting accurate data, generating actionable insights and influencing policy formulation,” shared Richard Bockarie, Centre of Dialogue on Human Settlement and Poverty Alleviation.
While SDI’s Know Your City approach, launched in 2012, is recognised as the gold standard for community-generated data, there is an urgent need for donors to get behind this work. The vision must be an integrated, community-led plan that all donors and different spheres of government can support, to move beyond project-by-project funding.
Watch the full video for more.
