Digital Storytelling as A Method for Public Participation in Planning for Climate Adaptiaion : A Case Study of Future Yetu in Korogocho, Nairobi

Abstract: Climate change is an ongoing problem, and climate adaptation is high on the agenda. Climate adaptation is a global issue with local impacts, and it benefits from participatory planning. Participatory planning has lots of opportunities, but also some challenges, for example, that it requires time and resources. Getting minority groups involved can also be a challenge. This study aims to investigate the opportunities and challenges with digital storytelling as a method to amplify the voices of the community and create a mutual understanding of climate change and climate adaptation between the citizens, planners, and the county government, using the project Future Yetu as a case study. Interviews were conducted with key persons with different roles in the project, and a survey was sent to the digital storytelling workshop participants. The results show that there are many benefits to using digital storytelling; it can help balance out the inherent power structures in society, it creates greater engagement among the participants, the public can more easily relate and gain an increased understanding of the problems, and it creates a sense of togetherness among the residents. In Future Yetu, it has also led to several implementations, and dialogue with Nairobi City County has been started. Challenges with digital storytelling have also been identified. Access to technology and the ability to use it has proven to be the most common challenge, especially in developing countries. It has also been proved to be challenging to integrate digital storytelling into the regular planning process, mainly due to the personnel required. However, there are opportunities for organizations such as the Hope Raisers Initiative, which already has trained facilitators and the technology needed to offer the process as a service to support the work of the county and the policymakers.