REGIONAL CENTRE OF
EXPERTISE (RCE) GREATER NAIROBI
RCE Greater Nairobi being a flagship project for Eco-School
programme was launched on the 9th of July 2007 at Kamukunji
grounds in Kibera Slums. The programme was hosted by the
Kenya Organization of Environmental Education (KOEE).RCEGN
is a leading civil society organization network working
energetically on ESD, and acts as a platform for pooling
resources and expertise to facilitate interventions that
respond to local problems, needs and sustainable development
challenges and explore alternative methods of delivery
of education. it has brought about the need to address
the challenges faced by the residents in the slum, the
launch was well attended by various prominent people and
stakeholders including the then PS ministry of Environment
and natural resources Prof. James Ole Kiyapi, Dr. Susan
Nkinyangi Senior Education Advisor( UNESCO), Mr. Yoshihiro
Natori United Nations University (UNU), Dr.Muusya Mwinzi
Director General( NEMA), Dr. Dorcas Otieno Executive Director
(KOEE), Dr. Akpezi Ogbuigwe of UN-HABITAT and Mr. David
Mutekanga (UNU) among others.
Photo; (front) David Mutekanga (UNU)
and far Left Dr. Dorcas Otieno ( Directo-KOEE)
The RCE for Greater Nairobi contributes to the local
learning space for sustainable development. It aspires
to achieve the goals of the UN Decade of ESD by translating
its objectives into the context of local communities living
in slums of Nairobi. It proposes to establish an RCE in
collaboration with the UNU Programme on Education for
Sustainable Development (ESD). The proposed RCE will serve
the Greater Nairobi area through actions carried out at
the local level.RCE is a hub for extensive networking
among partners working with communities. The RCE for Greater
Nairobi intends to push the ESD agenda in impoverished
communities of the capital city in order to mobilize stakeholders
around ESD goals and concrete actions that make a difference
in people’s lives especially those living in the city
slums. The RCE will serve as a model from which other
sub-national centres can evolve over time. It will cater
to the range of ESD stakeholders from government sector,
private sector and civil society.
The Greater Nairobi RCE addresses the environmental issues,
risks and associated sustainable development challenges
in the greater Nairobi region by employing programs that
are guided by socially critical environmental education
orientation. Such processes aim to address issues in context
through transformative education and action. Further,
the RCE aspires to contribute towards the attainment of
the millennium development goals in the Greater Nairobi
region.
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Goal of the Greater Nairobi RCE
The goal of RCE Greater Nairobi is to promote public awareness,
education and training to promote sustainable development
and build the capacity of Greater Nairobi community to
achieve sustainable development.
Short-term objectives
• Carry out a participatory needs assessment for ESD in
Nairobi to identify stakeholders, local problems, priorities
and existing capacity for ESD in the region.
• Establish networks, partnerships and resource center
of and for organizations concerned with ESD in Greater
Nairobi with KOEE serving as a hub of networking.
• Identify and promote examples of good practices in ESD
Long-term objectives
• Promote understanding and raise awareness of ESD and
to enhance active participation by stakeholders.
• Establish a training of trainers programme in ESD for
stakeholder organizations.
• Develop materials and tools for implementing ESD in
the region
• Establish a regional information system to document
and disseminate best practices and deliver effective ESD
to the local community
• Improve the livelihoods of communities living particularly
in the Slum areas of Nairobi
• Promote sustainable urban development in Nairobi and
reduce waste through ESD
Mobilization process in favor of the RCE
The mobilization process that provides the basis for launching
the Greater Nairobi RCE started in 2003 when a first consultative
stakeholder workshop was convened in Nairobi (July 2003).
It was resolved that there was need for an ‘Environmental
Education (EE) Strategy’. In early 2004, a drafting workshop
was held at the Kenya Commercial Bank Training College,
Karen, to develop the EE strategy. Later in November 2004,
a stakeholders’ workshop was convened to further improve
the contents of the document. That forum recommended the
EE Strategy to be re-oriented to an ESD Strategy in line
with global developments. In 2005 a technical working
group was formed to develop an ESD strategy and this culminated
into a draft ESD Strategy for
Kenya in February 2006. A large stakeholders’ forum took
place in July 2006 in Nairobi to examine the draft and
make recommendations.
The ESD strategy identifies the local sustainable development
issues, priorities and existing capacities. Its mission
is to provide an enabling environment and capacity for
sectors and stakeholders to effectively contribute towards
the achievement of the DESD objectives. The Greater Nairobi
RCE takes direction from this umbrella strategy.
Achievements of RCEGN
Fact finding mission
This involved the production of a DVD with support from
UNESCO Gigiri, highlighting the plight of the communities
targeted by the RCE initiative, best practices that are
responsive to problems which need to be developed and
replicated in the region and elsewhere.
Advocacy and public awareness: The advocacy and public
awareness programme involves campaigns for sustainable
development and production of advocacy and public awareness
materials. Advocacy and awareness creation in the context
of RCEGN will enhance public awareness and participation
in addressing environmental issues, risks and associated
sustainable development challenges at the local level
in the Greater Nairobi region.
Support is being sought from the Community Development
Trust Fund (CDTF) to assist in implementation of a project
on Advocacy and awareness by the secretariat (KOEE), member
organizations and other institutions of the Greater Nairobi
Regional Center of Expertise. A proposal has been submitted
on the same and hopefully if it goes through, a series
of activities will be enhanced and facilitated.
Capacity building and training: Capacity building and
training program involves conducting capacity building
and training needs assessments, designing capacity building
and training programs for ESD stakeholders, developing
capacity building and training materials for ESD, implementing
training of trainers programmes in ESD for stakeholder
organizations and initiating process-based professional
development programs for ESD for educators and curriculum
developers. The RCEGN has planned for a Leadership-Leanership
training workshop to be held early this year (2008). The
training workshop is to be sponsored with UNESCO and plans
are underway to ensure that the training workshop becomes
successful.
Latest activities
Regional Centre of Expertise Greater Nairobi has recently
engaged in a number of activities, key among them being;
(i) Proposal writing in search of funding: the network
has so far done and submitted a proposal to CDTF on Capacity
Building and Advocacy; a proposal to National AIDS Control
Council on Behavior Change Communication groups besides
other papers presented by Dr. Dorcas Otieno in Yokohama
(Pre-TICAD) and another in Penang’-Malaysia.
(ii) RCE Greater Nairobi, contribution to book publication;
United Nations University is currently publishing a book
on Past experiences on different RCEs and the Network
has done an abstract regarding the same.
Planned activities
(i) Partnership building and community action, facilitating
co-operation between formal and non-formal learning institutions,
civil society and private sector organizations for priority
issues such as pollution, waste management, water and
sanitation, housing, environmental impact assessment,
poverty and income generation.
(ii) Leadership-Leanership Training Workshop; The RCEGN
has planned for a Leadership-Leanership training workshop
to be held early this year (2008). The training workshop
is to be sponsored with UNESCO and plans are underway
to ensure that the training workshop becomes successful.
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