A two-day International Conference focused on “Action planning for NAPA implementation” will be held in Dar es Salaam during the third semester of the project.

The aim of the conference is twofold:

• to draw Dar’s public attention to the design exercise aimed at formulating adaptation initiatives (activity 3.4) and to stimulate local stakeholders to participate;
• to foster creative thinking and collaboration among academics, development practitioners, urban decision makers and community based organizations and their networks, on how to fill the gap between planning and implementation that undermines efforts to meet environmental challenges in fast growing African cities.

Ardhi Univeristy will play the leading role in workshop organization and management, and will be supported by Sapienza University in preparing the work plan, indentifying invited speakers and co-chairing work sessions.

Three Committees will be established to fulfill the required duties:

• the Steering Committee, a decision making body, will determine the main technical and strategic guidelines, consisting of members of the WP3 working team and from Dar City Council;
• the Executive Board, comprised of Ardhi staff, will ensure the implementation of guidance issued by the Steering Committee and will be directly involved in the organizational and logistical aspects of the Conference;
• the Scientific Board, consisting of International experts and representatives of potential financing institutions, will advise the Steering Committee on topics to be addressed.

Chairs and speaker groups will include representatives from Tanzania and other EAC/SADC countries, along with people from Italy and other EU countries.

In order to ensure that gender issues will be adequately addressed, at least one gender expert will be included on the Scientific Board, and efforts will be made by the Steering Committee to incorporate a gender perspective into all sessions and conference activities.

Session chairs will be asked to prepare background papers outlining the central theme of their session, the current state of the art, and open research questions. At the end of the Conference, they will also have to edit a short session report containing key results and recommendations. The invited speakers will be asked to prepare a paper to be presented and discussed at one of the Conference’s sessions, and to participate in formulating recommendations.

Conference report and proceedings will be produced and made available for dissemination.