Innovations in Local Sustainability Good Practice from Ethekwini Innovations in Local Sustainability Good Practice from Ethekwini
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Innovations in Local Sustainability Good Practice from eThekwini Innovations in Local Sustainability Good Practice from eThekwini Published by the Corporate Policy Unit eThekwini Municipality, Durban, South Africa First Edition, June 2010 Copyright © eThekwini Municipality 2010. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. MILE Senior Manager: Sogen Moodley Imagine Durban Senior Manager: Bongumusa Zondo Project Manager: Fezile Njokweni Written by: Fezile Njokweni and Amanda Dray Edited by: Matthew Hattingh and Alan Cooper Cover Artwork, Design and Layout: Jon Ivins and Thomas Ferreira Photography: Jon Ivins Should you have any comments on this publication, you are welcome to contact the Municipal Institute of Learning on 27-31-322 4513 or email: [email protected] In keeping with the ethos of a Sustainable City this publication has been printed on recycled paper. ISBN 978-0-620-47411-5 Acknowledgements Writing a case studies book on innovations in There you have it…. you are now ready to read a sustainability in a complex city like ours can be a collection of good practice case studies of innovations daunting task. This is especially the case when you in sustainability that have been drawn from across consider that this was our first major (international) the eThekwini Municipal area. We hope that like us publication. So, writing this book collaboratively has you will draw inspiration from these stories which been a process of genuine discovery and relationship will help enrich your learning journey as we strive to building and we are indebted to many, many people improve the quality of lives of all our citizens in this who have provided invaluable comments on various beautiful city. parts of earlier versions of this publication. In particular we would like to thank the Imagine Durban participants who contributed towards the book with Fezile Njokweni and Amanda Dray all their support and contributions and all members Municipal Institute of Learning (MILE) of the Municipal Institute of Learning (MILE) team eThekwini Municipality who helped put ideas into the current format. Durban, South Africa June 2010 We would also like to thank each of the interviewees who have participated in reflecting and providing material for the associated case studies - without you, there would be no publication. Your commitment to making a difference in our city through your local initiative has truly inspired us, and we are sure it will inspire all our readers too. Each case study acknowledges these individual participants by name. Another big thank you to Thomas Ferreira for his efforts in the desktop publishing of this publication – Thomas you always come to the party! Finally to the leadership of MILE and Imagine Durban (Jacquie Subban, Sogen Moodley, Soobs Moonsammy, Bongumusa Zondo and Margaret McKenzie), thank you for giving us the space to make this publication happen. Acknowledgements Message from Mayor eThekwini Municipality has good reason to be proud in the huge and challenging sphere of consumerism of its achievements. Every year a considerable number and recycling, and also in the realm of options for of Municipal units and organisations operating in the people with disabilities and health challenges. eThekwini area are recognised as thought leaders and win awards for their good practices in working The imagination and commitment reflected in these towards achieving the Millennium Development pages is a challenge to all of us to embrace the Goals. principles of sustainability to ensure a better future, and to act positively to achieve a better future. This admirable publication documenting innovations in urban sustainability is an example of our commitment My sincere appreciation to the dedicated people and to think globally and act locally. It records just some organisations involved in the projects featured in this of the excellent work being done by Municipal units book and those involved in the production of such a and organisations in the eThekwini area and will valuable record. be distributed internationally through our growing number of partners in knowledge. The range of projects undertaken is enormous and I am particularly pleased to see that the Mayor’s Garden has been chosen as a good practice in the Sustainable Livelihoods chapter. We all know the areas of life that His Worship Cllr Obed Mlaba, require a sustainable approach but these innovators Honourable Mayor, are implementing solutions - in the streets with eThekwini Municipality respect to personal safety and transport alternatives, Foreword Over the last few months our cityscape has been contributing to building a more sustainable future will transformed in preparing to host the biggest sporting help inspire and galvanise other activists into similar event on earth, the FIFA World Cup. Right now, action. as I pen this message, the mood across our city, our country is one of jubilation, excitement and I want to take the opportunity to congratulate the anticipation, with the sounds of vuvuzelas, hooting joint MILE and Imagine Durban teams that have spent cars and excited fans in the background. Our city, the last six months researching, compiling and editing like other South African cities has so much to offer a publication that has drawn case studies from the to the continent and indeed to the world. It takes length and breadth of our Municipal area. It is my an international event like the 2010 FIFA World Cup hope that all those who read this publication will be for us to recognize what we have in terms of our enthused to continue the campaign of sustainable city- infrastructure, resources, and most of all, our greatest making not just in this city, Province, country, but all asset - our people. We do not take the time out over our planet. We wish you well in your journey… to stop and acknowledge just how many positive initiatives, projects and programmes are happening in our city – often under the radar, by committed officials and citizens who want to help build and ensure the long term sustainability of our city. Dr Michael Sutcliffe It was against this backdrop, that we made a strategic City Manager, eThekwini Municipality decision in late 2009 to establish a Municipal Institute of Learning (MILE) that will, as part of its mandate, ensure that all innovations in our city will no longer go unnoticed. As part of our emerging Knowledge Management strategy, MILE will facilitate the documentation of all learnings, all examples of good practice by our Municipal practitioners, citizens and partners in civil society with a view to improve future practice, as well as to share key lessons learned with others that may be embarking on similar ventures. It is indeed a privilege for me to sign off on the very first MILE knowledge management product – a publication that documents good practice in the field of innovations in urban sustainability. We know that sustainable development has become something of a mantra now, given recent global events. We hope that the 32 real life stories of local activists that are Contents Acknowledgements Message from Mayor Foreword Introduction 1 KwaMashu Community Advancement Projects (KCap) and the 4 Ekhaya Multi Arts Centre. City Hall Food Garden Project 8 The Corner Café 12 Durban Sings 16 Phoenix Justice and Restoration Programme (JARP) 20 The Ulwazi Programme 24 Working for Ecosystems 28 iThemba Lethu Breast Milk Bank 32 University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts 36 Durban South Skills Development 40 The Birches Pre-Primary Eco-School 44 Umcebo Trust 48 Citizen veggie gardening 52 The Durban Arts Bus 56 eThekwini Municipality’s Green Roof Pilot Project 60 eThekwini Municipality’s Solid Waste Management Programme 64 dala City Walk Initiative 68 The uBuntu Peace Project’s school project 72 iThemba Lethu HIV Prevention Programme 76 Sizakala Customer Service Centres 80 The Association for the Aged: Ikhaya Labadala Multi-Purpose Centre (Amaoti) 84 The Orange Bag Recycling Programme 88 Integrated Water Resource Management 92 Peace Players Internatioal - SA 96 The eThembeni Bicycle Project 100 Giba Organics organic farm 104 Bluff Community Safety Organisation 108 Ethekwini PET plastic products project 112 The Sukuma bus service 116 Umthombo Street Children 120 The Warwick Flyover 124 Warwick Junction Regeneration 127 Conclusion 131 Page 1 Introduction Over the past decade, the eThekwini Municipality has With the adoption of our Long Term Development become known for its innovation and has displayed Plan in the eThekwini Municipality, we felt that an impressive capacity for good practice. Similarly, its there was an urgent need to showcase the efforts citizens and the institutions within the city have led undertaken by ordinary people - “dreamers”, we the way in developing new and innovative responses called them - who not only imagined a new future to challenges that we face collectively as a city. So, but were committed enough to make the agenda when the Municipal Institute of learning (MILE) of local sustainability happen. As you can imagine, partnered with Imagine Durban to begin a process it is one thing to have a long term plan, and quite of documenting good practice stories on local another to actually implement it. We hope through sustainability, drawn from all walks of life within the this publication to demonstrate the power and ability city, we knew that our research would uncover a of citizens to meaningfully participate in long term treasure of good practice gems. sustainable development. We know what you are thinking! Just how do we To promote the Long Term Development Plan of define sustainability and what is good practice? the Municipality, we decided to organise the stories Surely these elusive concepts mean different things around the six themes of eThekwini Municipality’s to different people? Well, for us, we wanted to keep long term plan that was developed through the highly it simple.