Peri-Urban Green Belts: Introduction of Decentralized and Coupled Citizen Science and Nature-Based Sanitation Solutions in the Context of Urban Transformation

Unprecedented famine and rocketing food prices are expected to grow as the emerging shocks continue to reshape our world. Lying at the interface of the resource nexus, the agri-food systems are identified as a primary consumer of global freshwater resources and the main contributor to food security. As a result of external shocks, limitations on human activities have resulted in unexpected disturbances in the global agri-food chain, decreasing the functionality and efficiency of agri-food systems and raising the alarm for a need to transform our food systems. Candidating Peri-urban Green Belts as agents of transformation, this research investigates the potential of adding decentralized and coupled Citizen Science and Nature-Based Sanitation Solutions (CS-NBSS) to cause a transformation in urban and peri-urban contexts. Utilizing existing knowledge from researchers and practitioners in the field, alternative NBSs have been identified which interconnect the WASH sector to the food sector, e.g., evapotranspiration tanks (TEvap). We hypothesize that adding such systems to the existing grey infrastructure can increase food and urban resilience and promote marginalized communities' participation in urban governance. CS and NBS have been prominently highlighted in literature due to their merits in constructing and promoting sustainable attitudes and contexts, causing the underlying systems to behave sustainably. Considering the vital role of governance in steering the technical, economic, social, and environmental dimensions of transformation, a critical question remains on how to go beyond existing public policy research on the participation variable. Current research primarily emphasizes ‘what is (status quo) and what needs to be’ rather than proposing methodological approaches towards the latter. With this objective in mind and focused on the food and WASH sector as primary concerns of peri-urban communities, their local governments, and academia, this project will apply mixed-method research to collaboratively design, implement, monitor, and evaluate CS-NBSS living lab experiences in three case studies, incorporating and assessing the effect of such systems on the participation variable, food, and urban resilience, as well as their potential to cause a transformation.