Impact story: Practice Reform

When the UNA programme first started engaging with city stakeholders in Malawi and Mozambique, local officials identified a pressing need for supportive resources they could draw on to make more informed decisions around nature-based resilience in their everyday practice. Even where policies do incorporate nature and climate change considerations, actors noted that they lacked the concrete, data-driven guidance and knowledge they needed to execute plans and strategies on the ground – to turn intentions into strategic action. Officials often didn’t have access to baseline information about which urban natural assets (e.g., forests, wetlands, rivers etc.) are present in their city, and what critical ecosystem services they provide.

By co-developing concrete tools and resources with city actors, the UNA programme laid the foundation for fundamental shifts in the way decisions are made to better integrate nature and climate considerations in daily urban practice.