Research on Urban Ecosystem

at

the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture,

Building Construction and City Development

(EiABC), Addis Ababa University

Kumelachew Yeshitela

Chair of Ecosystem Planning and Management

Ethiopian Institute of Architecture. Building Construction and City Development (EiABC), Addis Ababa University

UrBioNet workshop

26-30 January 2016

EiABC• EiABC is an institute of the built

environment• 3000 students and 200 academic

staffs• Three undergraduate programs

– Architecture– Urban and Regional Planning– Construction Management

• Seven graduate programs

– Environmental Planning

– Landscape Architecture

– Housing

– Urban Design and Development

– Architectural heritage Conservation

– PhD Environmental Planning

– PhD Urban and Regional Planning

Graduate and undergraduate courses on•Urban ecosystem•Planning for ecosystem management•Landscape ecology and planning•Urban ecology•Soil, forest and protected area management•Soil bioengineering

RESEARCH

Environmental problems in Addis

Flooding problem in Addis Ababa

• Rainfall in Addis Ababa is usually torrential

• Half of the rain fall within 30 minutes & 90% within 1 hour

Water Resilient Green Citiesin Africa

September 2013 – August 2017www.watergreenafrica.dk

Hypothesis The cities can leapfrog

Urban water resilience can be improved by establishing a strong green infrastructurethat can

- reduce the impact of floods and

- provide day-to-day services to the citizens (such as water supply, food, open space)

Landscape based stormwater management

Leap-frogging activities

Mind-set change of champions Strategies, plans and pilot tests

Act

ivit

ies

• Identify champions and stakeholders on

city, catchment and local level

• Course and envisioning workshop for

professionals becoming champions

• Curriculum development master course

• Involvement of champions in strategy and

plan development

• Design charrettes in pilot communities

• Assessment of feasibility of blue-green structure

management

• Collection of various field data

• Develop strategies for using the landscape for water

management

- City and catchment level strategies

- Pilot community strategies

- 1:1 demonstrations projects

Academic partnershipPARTNERS TOPIC Funding

1 University of Bonn & University of Hannover

Establishment of PhD program in Environmental Planning

DAAD (2010-2013)

2 University of Hannover, Namibian Science and Technology University

Green Infrastructure and Urban Biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa

DAAD (2013-2017)

3 Technical University of Munich NEXUS-Water, Food, Energy DAAD (2013-2017)

4 Technical University of Vienna and University of Klagenfurt

Urban and peri-urban protected area managent

ADC

5 University of Michigan Integrated Urban Water Management

Project being developed

THANK YOU