Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; from September 14 to 15, 2022, the Ministry of Urban Planning, Land Affairs and Housing (MUAFH) in collaboration with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the Order of Architects of Burkina Faso (OAB) organized a two-day training on passive cooling as an adaptation strategy to the impacts of climate change. Technicians from the different departments of the Ministry, members of the community of practice and scientific research actors took part in this training as part of the Energy Efficiency and Social Housing Cooling project funded by the Clean Cooling Collaborative.

During two days, more than twenty actors were able to deepen their knowledge on adaptation strategies and innovations in the building and its surroundings to the effects of climate change. These measures consist in the use of passive or neutral cooling technologies at the scale of the built environment and the restoration of natural cooling phenomena at a scale such as that of the neighborhood and the city.

Climate change has the potential to cause and alter natural hazards, which can have negative consequences on human society. Faced with each of these hazards, cities are particularly sensitive. This vulnerability comes from the fact that urban spaces are at the same time a concentration of people, economic and strategic activities.

Critical situations are observed in hot periods with consequences on thermal comfort in indoor and outdoor environments, energy consumption, pollution and more dramatically, the development of heat-related diseases and a high mortality rate. The number of people affected by heat stress would increase by 15 times with a 2°C warming, warns the International Meteorological Office. And unfortunately, Africa is the most affected by the impacts of climate change.

The reduction of this vulnerability requires the implementation, as much as possible, of an urban planning and a built environment adapted to the rise in temperature. The city in all its components (buildings, transport infrastructure and facilities) is at the heart of all measures to mitigate and adapt to the effects of global warming.

The Government of Burkina Faso and development partners have recognized the need to prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change through the development of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and the National Adaptation Plan. In the NDC, the need for energy efficient cooling is considered through the promotion of eco building materials and energy efficiency in both urban and rural housing.

This capacity building workshop for the major institutional actors of the sector and the members of the community of practice, will allow to mitigate the informational barrier faced by this type of sectoral transformation.