Project Objectives
The desired needs of this project include:
● Improving traffic flow and multimodal accessibility.
● Enhancing stormwater management to mitigate flooding risks.
● Supporting sustainable development that aligns with village planning goals.
● Supporting future commercial and residential growth through modern infrastructure.
● Maintaining compliance with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR)
regulations.

Contact: UniverCityAlliance@wisc.edu

Our analysis found that many municipalities operate with inconsistent IT capabilities and varying levels of support. There is a large overlap in services and software used across communities, which opens up opportunities to consolidate. A shared IT service provider would allow municipalities to benefit from reduced costs through economies of scale, enhanced cybersecurity from a stronger provider, and 24/7 assistance with IT issues. Our recommendation is a phased rollout of a shared IT consortium, beginning with a shared service desk and IT support to allow municipalities to benefit from fast assistance and to build
trust early on. We recommend that municipalities collaborate to share software and infrastructure they are comfortable with in order to reduce costs. We also recommend setting up a unified governance structure to create accountability and fairness for all municipalities involved.

This report will include insights from stakeholder interviews and assessments, feasibility of shared service implementation, and case studies from successful consortiums. It will also outline a governance model, provider recommendation, and a cost-sharing model. Finally, we will evaluate political risks and funding opportunities for the consortium. All of this will be outlined in a rollout roadmap structuring immediate, short-term, and long-term implementation phases, culminating in our clear recommendation: the municipalities should move forward with forming a shared IT consortium.

Contact: UniverCityAlliance@wisc.edu

This report was completed by Badger Consulting, a student-run group on campus.

To address these challenges, our team held numerous meetings with the Village of DeForest Director of Public Services and Deputy Administrator Judd Blau, along with Community Ambassador Stacey Harmon. In these meetings, Judd and Stacy discussed the primary technologies causing issues that they would like to be resolved. The first main issue is with their cloud file storage service, Dropbox. Staff are often forced to manually delete files and content using this service. Next, the DeForest team would like to utilize a more easily accessible livestream platform that allows for live commenting. The final issue involves their online content management service, OnBase, which poses issues when creating government-related workflows. Our team will dive further into the details of each of these challenges and our potential solutions throughout this report.

Contact: UniverCityAlliance@wisc.edu

Contact: UniverCity Alliance@wisc.edu

UniverCity Alliance contact: UniverCityAlliance@wisc.edu

UniverCity Alliance contact: UniverCityAlliance@wisc.edu

Building on the groundbreaking success of Phase 1 of this work, which established a community-based flood early warning system (CBFEWS) in the Quarry Road West community that saved hundreds of lives during the April 2022 floods which caused unprecedented damage in eThekwini Municipality, Phase 2 of this long-term initiative represents a significant expansion of this work into other informal communities.

At the core of this initiative is the �鶹��Ƶ approach, with the �鶹��Ƶ Durban program serving as a central platform through which students and faculty at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), in partnership with eThekwini Municipality, contribute directly to flood adaptation strategies. A key component of the �鶹��Ƶ Durban program has been the involvement of 52 postgraduate students from UKZN’s School of Built Environment and Development Studies. Through courses like Special Studies B and Environment and Development, these students have contributed vital work, including flood risk mapping and settlement profiling, design of climate communication tools in isiZulu and English, development of practical solutions like flood-resilient bridges, community workshops on disaster preparedness, food gardening with composting and evaluation of innovative sanitation systems.

In parallel, the INACCT (Designing Inclusive African Coastal City Resilience) Resilience project, led by ICLEI Africa in partnership with UKZN, eThekwini Municipality, Eduardo Mondlane University, in Mozambique and the Beira Mozambique local government, builds on this model by emphasizing collaborative urban resilience planning across coastal African cities. More information about the INACCT Resilience project can be found .

Together, these collaborative streams are being integrated through the CBFEWS, with the intention to replicate this approach throughout the city, and potentially in many other African cities too.

This initiative also includes:

1. Expanding the life-saving early warning system to additional vulnerable communities, incorporating new technologies and community training programs to ensure wider participation and shared learning across settlements.

2. Restoring and rehabilitating damaged ecosystems to strengthen food sovereignty.
This includes community food gardens and composting initiatives designed to improve local food security and community well-being.

3. Strengthening ecosystem resilience through Community-Ecosystem-based Adaptation (CEBA). This involves riverbank stabilization efforts using indigenous plant species to prevent land erosion during floods, alongside community-led indigenous tree planting initiatives aimed at reducing urban heat during summer months.

4. Developing a risk profile of vulnerably located settlements in these two cities. In Durban, this will align with and support the City’s existing informal settlement categorization process, where low risk settlements can be upgraded with the provision of services, and high risk settlements can be prioritised for re-settlement.

5. Evaluating and upgrading waste management programs in informal communities, addressing a critical factor that exacerbates flooding when debris clogs natural drainage systems. This includes innovative partnerships with NPOs like Green Corridors and alignment with the national government’s Presidential Employment Programme (PEP) funding that supports Durban’s Incremental Upgrading Strategy.

6. Waste management efforts have also substantially reduced the amount of waste lying around the settlement, which in the past attracted vermin like rats, which in turn attracted highly venomous snake species, like the black mamba, presenting a risk to the community (albeit that these snakes were also providing a service). To respond to that threat, ten community members were trained as snake monitors to identify venomous species which were rescued by a local snake expert. With the removal of solid waste, snakes have become much less of an issue.

Supported by funding from the National Science Foundation (USA), START International, the Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) project, the INACCT Resilience project, and the Wellcome Trust, this multi-phase initiative represents Durban’s long-term commitment to building resilience in its informal settlements.

By addressing early warning systems, ecosystem rehabilitation, waste management, and policy integration, the success in Durban provides a replicable model for cities facing similar climate challenges.

The project’s legacy directs several primary areas for building upon its successes. Upscaling the community-based flood early warning system (CBFEWS) for floods to Durban’s entire high-risk area is a short-term priority capable of saving many lives from future violent weather and climate events.

The emphasis on integrating scientific research with local knowledge has opened new paths for urban resilience planning. With Durban continuing to grapple with the intersection of urbanization, inequality, climate change, and informality, this initiative is a great example of how universities can act as bridges between communities and policymakers. True resilience is rarely ever a product of top-down solutions but more often comes about from coalitions like this one that respects and embraces cross-cultural  experiences and knowledge in the face of shared threats.

Written by: Jonathan Kroeze

In response to the increased costs, the city of River Falls has made several adjustments. They have limited the hours for debris collection, and an attendant has been employed to ensure only residents and employees of River Falls Municipal Utilities can access the site. Not surprisingly, the community is displeased with the current compost site changes. In addition, the land that the site is on is expected to be developed for the future and will no longer be available for use as a compost site.

In order to come up with a solution to the current compost site problem, the city of River Falls is looking for a business plan to relocate the community compost site to another city property. The business plan will include an analysis of current considerations such as demand, expenses, and location in addition to recommendations for the future site including proposed rates, expected revenue, and overall recommendations for the best way to operate a new compost site.

UniverCity Contact Info: UniverCityAlliance@wisc.edu

UniverCity Contact Info: UniverCityAlliance@wisc.edu

This urgency makes it significant of developing recycling methods to address the challenges posed by plastic pollution. A noteworthy initiative in this regard is a startup company located in Los Angeles, known as ByFusion. ByFusion is actively seeking collaboration with the government of Wausau to establish a new facility in this region. The purpose of this report is to assist the Wausau government analyzing the costs and benefits associated with partnering with ByFusion. The aim is to determine the financial feasibility of initiating the ByBlock project in the area.

UniverCity Contact Info: UniverCityAlliance@wisc.edu