The Urban Activist, Not just dreamers but doers

The well-being of many urban communities is under immense pressure, but city people have waged local battles with solution-driven initiatives on diverse global issues affecting their daily lives. If we don’t shed light on those local actions, local governments and other potential partners would miss an important part of how to make cities and communities more resilient and sustainable.

In a short presentation format, young urban Africans will present how they are remarkably taking on environmental, safety and local governance issues by transforming their communities in informal settlements in Kampala and Nairobi into green, resilient and thriving societies. They will show their boldness in shifting the narrative of what African cities are and can be.

We will also listen to two successful local initiatives on informal waste collection in Cairo, and one led by an artivist in São Paulo, Brazil, the one country in the world recycling 100% of its aluminum cans. Policymakers have attempted to leverage informal waste collection to increase recycling rates. But progress is slow. Informal workers picking valuable waste from households, and cleaning streets or urban rivers, remain in the shadows. Yet they are on the front line of the environmental fight with tangible solutions.

After the short presentations, four presenters and a moderator will discuss in a panel how city administrations could embrace the important work of informal waste collection, cleaning rivers and cities, by these engaged groups to boost recycling while empowering the most marginalized members of society. These initiatives represent an immense opportunity to create local green economies that benefit all.

An art piece will be onsite at the event, made with garbage from the Nile river as a result of a collaboration with two of the panelists, Mundado, the renowned Brazilian artist and Very Nile.

“Art can reach people in a way that numbers can’t” - Mundano

Before the Forum: Mundano will paint two murals in Cairo – one in Al-Qursayah, an Island in the Nile, where Very Nile works with disadvantaged communities, and another one possibly (but needs approval) in the Zabaleen neighborhood known as Garbage City. Both artistic interventions will elevate the voices of local heroes during the forum and raise awareness about those who care for our cities and our planet.

Moreover, we could offer a tour to Garbage City for waste companies and government officials working on waste management , if the World Urban Forum allows off-site trips around Cairo.