Credit: Olumuyiwa Bayode Adegun

What inspired you to focus your research on environmental sustainability in informal settlements, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa?

While growing up, I curiously observed the dualistic nature of cities in Nigeria: the laid out, ‘modern’ formal areas and the traditional, most-times-underserved informal areas. I initially became interested in areas regarded as slums and informal settlements through the studios that focused on such spaces during my undergraduate architecture program at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. Given the current and projected challenges associated with global environmental and climate change, my research interests have gravitated towards environmental sustainability within informal settlements. This interest is further motivated by the fact that residents of informal settlements experience environmental disadvantages and are disproportionately affected by the growing effects of climate change. This research focus has involved field work experience in Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya.

Can you tell us more about your current work piloting a heat warning system within informal settlements in Nigeria?

In quantifying the human cost of global warming, Lenton and colleagues (T. Lenton et al. Nat. Sustain. 6, 1237–1247; 2023) estimated that about 2 billion people could face dangerous extreme heat in the coming decades. Within this estimate, over 600 million will be in India and over 300 million in Nigeria. These are socioeconomically disadvantaged people living in poor communities, especially within cities. According to the World Cities Report 2020: The Value of Sustainable Urbanization, about 50% of urban residents are estimated to live in areas categorized as slums and informal settlements within sub-Saharan Africa. The physical and spatial characteristics (dense form, substandard building materials, poor infrastructure and inadequate services) of informal settlements often exacerbate the effects of extreme heat, which often lead to health problems.

The morbidity, mortality and non-health problems that ensue from exposure to extreme heat are preventable with improved preparedness, especially through early warning systems. Our study therefore sought to first evaluate the utilization of existing heat-related weather information and to identify access barriers. We then wanted to codesign, pilot and evaluate a community heat early-warning system tailored to slum communities. This was intended to empower vulnerable urban settlements by enhancing their preparedness for extreme heat events, strengthening their resilience, and fostering risk reduction in the face of climate change.

What strategies did you use to engage residents of informal settlements in the codevelopment of the heat warning system?

The study used a knowledge coproduction approach. Local stakeholders — specifically, a grassroot nongovernmental organization (NGO) and members in a local detachment of the Nigerian Red Cross — supported data collection activities. We engaged residents through focus group discussions followed by a survey to elicit information about their access, comprehension and actions from existing heat warning resources, as well as preferences for effective early warning and early action in the community. A heat warning system named ‘HEATALERT’ was developed and tested. Volunteer residents received daily alert messages for 39 days. After the alert duration, a community meeting, focus group discussion and interviews were held with residents to evaluate their access to, understanding of, actions taken in response to, and general feedback based on heat warning system deployed.

What technologies or tools were used in the pilot, and how were they adapted to function effectively in informal settlements?

Tools used in the project were primarily applicable to post-processing of meteorological data for heat forecast information in the study communities. Weather information came from the open-source platforms of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and UK Met Office. Furthermore, the heat warning messaging used a bulk short messaging service (SMS) platform. The alert messages align with the common alerting protocol. They advised on preventative actions based on calculated daily heat index levels.

We see prospects to further leverage technology to enhance the effects and reach of heat warning information and foster effective early action. This is also crucial to scaling up. For instance, automating the community heat early-warning systems by integrating the internet of things (IoT) can feed into machine-learning models for faster and broader dissemination.

How did your collaboration with others enhance the interdisciplinary dimensions of the project? What models of collaboration have you found most effective in your work?

Our team brought together diverse disciplinary capacities in the project. Tobi Morakinyo, an urban climatologist affiliated with Texas A&M University, led weather information processing, and Peter Elias, an urban geographer at the University of Lagos, contributed by implementing a citizen science approach. We share common interest and have a history of fruitful collaborative engagements aimed at shaping inclusive responses to global change challenges in African cities, showcased through impactful funded research projects within slums and informal settlements.

Beyond collaboration across disciplines and locations, I have experienced the efficacy of working with non-academic stakeholders such as policy actors and community residents in the coproduction of knowledge. Given the participation of relevant stakeholders, transdisciplinary collaborations provide the opportunity to better understand complex problems and generate workable solutions that can positively influence society.

What early findings or lessons have emerged from the pilot, and how might they inform future efforts to develop climate adaptation tools for vulnerable urban populations?

The findings echo the importance of heat-related challenges faced by large populations living in informal and disadvantaged communities, compounded by limited access to and poor utilization of existing weather information. Infrequency of heat forecast, low awareness, inaccessible technology and language were barriers to the utilization of heat warning information. There is much interest in heat warning dissemination, and radio, in-person and SMS are the most preferred media. These results, among others, informed the development and pilot of the community heat early-warning system. The post-pilot evaluation shows that many altered their daily lifestyle owing to their contact with heat warning information. Changes were made in aspects of hydration, dressing, bathing, diet and activity patterns, especially among those exposed to heat at home and work.

The most popular individual and household heat adaptation measures within slum communities are linked to water (hydration and bathing) and electricity (cooling devices). So, beyond risk communication, provision of basic services and infrastructure in vulnerable slum communities is essential. Overall, our work reveals the potential and limitations of community-based heat early warning. These provide useful lessons for the evolution of adaptation tools that are useful for vulnerable urban populations.

What are some of the key challenges you have encountered in designing and implementing research projects within informal settlements?

Studying urban informality, especially informal settlements, is an exciting academic endeavor. However, securing adequate funding, the complexity of making a policy impact, data scarcity, and effectively disseminating results are some challenges to research within informal settlements. Engaging diverse stakeholders based within or who are connected to informal settlements — residents, community leadership, NGOs and policy makers — often requires time. It is usually time-consuming to properly gain access, build trust and understand sociocultural sensitivities. These often get complicated where power dynamics and political contestations exist within the community or communities.

Where communities have long welcomed research activities without tangible improvements, they often get fatigued and become hesitant towards more studies. Conflict also arises between academic expectations (usually peer-reviewed publications) and communities’ aspiration for tangible improvements in their lives and environment. Lastly, it is possible to become emotional with the extreme deprivation that might be encountered in some settings. Yet, the notable innovation amid deprivation that always becomes discernable ignites hope.

You have held research positions across Africa, Europe and North America. How have these international experiences shaped your approach and insights to studying informal settlements in African cities?

The experience from my research positions outside Nigeria and Africa has been useful in many ways. It has brought me in contact with scholars with interests in urban informality in Africa and globally. It has provided familiarity with and a better understanding of diverse approaches of researching and teaching about informal settlements. Furthermore, these have been instrumental to the methodologies I have used for my work across different locations in Africa. It has helped in undertaking historical and comparative analysis, cross-regional collaborations and deploying mixed-methods for engaging data, as well as in disseminating research findings.

There is still a lot more to learn. So, I look forward to further international experiences that build my capacity to address problems associated with urban informality and contribute towards an inclusive urban future in sub-Saharan Africa.

Coming from a focus on urban green infrastructure and climate adaption, what have you learned about informal settlements in African cities that you might not have otherwise?

A focus on green infrastructure and climate adaptation within informal settlements in African cities often highlights the need to consider human–nonhuman relations: that is, how people interact with nonhuman entities such as plants, animals and ecosystems. As a result, sociotechnical and socioecological intricacies (for example, between residents and green spaces) often come to the fore in many of the studies I have undertaken. I am open to more lessons as my work extends and deepens within this context.