Community Participatory Approaches to Climate Justice in Informal Settlements in Nairobi

Background: No one knows the needs of a community more than the community members themselves, a truth championed by social workers across the globe and deeply intertwined in this year’s conference theme of “Strengthening Social Impact through Collaborative Research.” This becomes especially important as social workers in international research seek to challenge the existing power imbalance between the “Global North” and “Global South” and push back against harmful narratives that undermine the expertise of community members. Research continues to demonstrate the successes of co-creating research through community-based participation research (CBPR) principles, yet more research is needed documenting the process of establishing community-collaborative partnerships. The Sauti Mashinani Lab, a multi-country research team, seeks to improve climate justice and health equity in informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya, through authentic collaborative partnerships between multiple stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to explore key takeaways from our collaborative approach thus far.

Methods: This study explores the community-participatory processes utilized by the Sauti Mashinani Lab across multiple studies aimed at investigating women’s health and mental health informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. These include a longitudinal mixed methods study investigating the impacts of climate change on women’s health and mental health and a study focused exploring potential facilitators and barriers to intimate partner violence and mental health screening and intervention in healthcare settings in informal settlements. The study team sought to develop and maintain partnerships at all different levels, including US and Kenyan researchers, government representatives, mental health experts, and community health practitioners. This study is carried out in two phases. Phase 1 includes internal review of partnership practices and initial anecdotal exploration with stakeholders, and Phase 2 includes in-depth semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. In this study, we will report on preliminary findings of Phase 1. Future publications will reflect in depth analysis of partnership practices amongst multiple stakeholders from Phase 2.

Results: Findings reveal key components of partnership utilized in this collaboration. 1.) Collaborative decision-making with all stakeholders on research process ideas and directions (e.g., survey designs, user interfaces, translations); 2.) Community and partner integration through community advisory boards, invitations for trainings/knowledge sharing, and group-based discussions 3.) Bi-directional collaboration with and mentorship support of/from scholars in Kenya 4.) Mentorship for students through the Sauti Mashinani Lab; 5.) Translation of knowledge/knowledge sharing through tailored, multi-stage data dissemination carried out in the community with stakeholders. Preliminary findings from discussions with stakeholders show widespread experiences of bidirectional support and learning. Stakeholders described increased opportunities to link community members with services, the importance of engaging with diverse perspectives, and the potential to expand training and partnership to additional governmental sectors. A common thread throughout the stakeholder discussion is mutual benefit and learning.

Conclusion: Developing and maintaining meaningful partnerships with community stakeholders is paramount in advancing social change; it strengthens our collective impact and leads to more sustainable outcomes. Therefore, in-depth exploration of partnership principles and practices is critical as we continue to engage in multi-country, transdisciplinary, community collaborative work.