Image from left to right: Villagers of Vila da Gorongosa during mapping exercises. A resident of Vila da Gorongosa and the representative of UN-Habitat (Dinis) show the 30-year vision plan for this Model Village.
A Sustainable Development Vision for 2030 for the Municipality of Vila da Gorongosa was created during a 3-day workshop held this past week.
Development of the plan involves a partnership between the Municipality of Vila da Gorongosa, Gorongosa National Park (GNP) and the UN-Habitat.
The workshop, based on the UN-Habitat’s Participatory Incremental Urban Planning (PIUP) toolbox, was held in Vila da Gorongosa in two phases, one in person and the other one online. During the sessions, participants took into account the various dimensions of sustainable development, the relevant global agendas and national and local strategies and plans.
Due to its morphology and geographic conditions, Mozambique ranks 10th among the countries most vulnerable to disaster risk (World Risk Report 2014). The central area of Mozambique, in particular Sofala Province, has suffered several shocks in the last 5 years. In particular, civil unrest, drought in 2015 and 2016 and finally Cyclone Idai in 2019 directly affected food security and income generation for families living in the province. Cyclone Eloise and Tropical Storm Chalane also affected the same areas between late 2020 and early 2021, posing additional challenges to local government and area communities. In this context, Gorongosa Municipality is one of the main centers in the Gorongosa National Park Buffer Zone and is periodically exposed to these threats.
During his opening speech, the Mayor of the Municipality of Vila da Gorongosa, said the initial plan to turn Vila da Gorongosa into a Model Village is to invest in social infrastructure: schools, hospitals, access roads and environmental protection.
The workshop was a capacity building initiative and a results-oriented activity. The approach was fully participatory, with the involvement of several institutions and partners active in the territory. The Seminar results will enable the development of the Gorongosa Sustainable Development Framework, which will be further consolidated after the event, accompanied by strategic recommendations for planning and sustainable development. The framework will finally be validated with all involved participants.
Expectations for the workshop include:
1: Vila da Gorongosa’s Sustainable Development Vision is defined, agreed and consolidated.
2: The Sustainable Development Wheel is developed in a participatory way (see example by Bahir Dar).
3: The first draft of the Vila da Gorongosa Sustainable Development Framework is developed.