The drive to generate solutions for problems inherent to rapid urbanisation in Mwanza is gaining momentum as Enabel continues the implementation of EU funded Inclusive Green and Smart Cities Project (Inclucities).

In the spirit of fostering home-grown solutions, Inclucities project introduced the concept of Living Lab and co-creation to a galaxy of stakeholders in the fishing and waste management value chains. The group will in turn guide a sustained journey to identify relevant difficulties, develop solutions, test them in real life situations, retest, and perfect the solutions for application.

Co-creation is a collaborative approach where local governments, residents, businesses, and civil society organizations work together to design and manage urban spaces to meet diverse community needs. “The complexity and interconnectedness of opportunities and challenges in fast-growing cities like Mwanza justify the application of co-creation methods to set of co-created solutions,” said Mr. Kikolo Mwakasungula, Inclucities Project Manager.

The workshop provided participants with the necessary tools, methods, and frameworks to effectively collaborate and innovate in urban settings using co-creation methods and interactive approaches.

Through the lens of living lab and co creation, participants of the workshop identified problems in the fishing and solid waste management. While urbanisation spikes demand and prices for fishing products, the sector now contends with overfishing, illegal fishing and pollution. Over the past decade dwindling stock has forced six fish processing factories out of business.

In the context of living lab, fishermen, business persons, solid waste dealers, municipal officials, local leaders, community groups, academics, non-governmental organizations and civil society examined identified and examined specific problems.

Specifically, they picked to work out practical solutions for solid waste pollution on the Lake Victoria and glass bottles in the municipal. Besides working in the workshop, living lab and co creation participants visited live example of living lab at a fishing shore in Kayenze Ndogo, 45 kms from Mwanza central business district.

Organised by OSOBO, Dutch based start up, the living lab goal is developing economically viable electric outboard engines to fishers on Lake Victoria to reduce emissions and improve the lives of fishers. 

Joab Omondi, a coordinator at OSOBO in Mwanza, said that they actively apply living lab frameworks to identify issues as fishers use the battery and the outboard engines.  

“We have improved four versions of the outboard engine, and migrated from lithium rechargeable batteries to sodium batteries. The weight that packs energy in a battery has been cut by half over five years of developing, using and improvements,” said Omondi.

The current model of the outboard engine can work nearly five hours a day for up to seven months without need of maintenance. The sodium battery weighs 48 kg and powers a fishing boat for four hours.

“I’m amazed by the battery that cuts fuel emissions, cheaper than petrol and the quietly powers a loaded boat,” said Bakari Kadabi chairperson of the Federation of Fishermen Association of Lake Victoria.

After this initial session of living lab and co creation, Inclucities implementing partner, SIDO, a government agency that incubates industrial innovation, will coordinate the Living Lab and Co creation in Mwanza to ensure the identified problems and solutions are followed through.

By handling the baton of organising living labs and co creation platform to government institutions, it is expected that Enabel support during the project lifetime will yield convincing results that will incentivise the government to sustain the platform, applying the methods to address different issue.

The ultimate goal is contributing to an inclusive local economy in Mwanza. Meanwhile, different media houses developed stories from listening in the sessions of the living lab. Some of stories were published on nation wide TV, Kiswahili newspapers radio, several blogs.

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