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The COMPACT Local Government Collaboration Model is a catalytic tool developed by the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) to foster collaboration among municipal administrations, councillors, and the local community. The model employs a five-step process—Purpose, Making Sense of the Challenge, Vision and Hope, Implementing and Adapting, and Reflection and Learning—to move beyond traditional problem-solving. The model was piloted in 2025 in the Blue Crane Route Local Municipality (focusing on the Pearston water crisis) and the Newcastle Local Municipality (focusing on tuckshop regulation and local economic development). A subsequent train-the-trainer workshop was held in August 2025 in Gauteng to refine facilitation materials and guide representatives from SALGA, PARI, and the pilot municipalities.

COMPACT is a European Union co-funded programme implemented by PARI, SALGA, and Integrity Action to enhance the responsiveness of South African local government. The initiative focuses on deepening democracy by increasing community participation in Integrated Development Planning (IDP) processes, specifically regarding water and sanitation services, and improving the oversight of municipal service delivery across 12 municipalities.

The COMPACT Local Government Collaboration Model is a structured framework and facilitation guide aimed at fostering effective partnership between three key municipal stakeholders: administrators, councillors, and the community. Developed by Distillery and piloted in the Blue Crane Route and Newcastle municipalities, the model addresses a lack of collaboration identified through action research in 12 partner municipalities. The process consists of a preparation phase, a two-day workshop divided into five modules (Orientation, Making Sense of the Challenge, Vision and Hope, Implementing and Adapting, and Reflection and Learning), and a structured follow-up phase spanning 12 months. The guide includes specific facilitation tools such as stakeholder mapping, the Cynefin Framework for problem classification, and various 'energizers' to maintain participant engagement.

The guide provides a comprehensive overview of South Africa's local government system, detailing the roles of the local community, political structures, and administration. It explains the planning, implementation, and oversight cycle—specifically the Integrated Development Plan (IDP), the budget, and the Service Delivery Budget and Implementation Plan (SDBIP)—and offers practical strategies for citizens to hold municipalities accountable. It also covers the legal rights to basic services, housing, and spatial justice, while outlining the mechanisms for reporting misconduct and challenging administrative decisions.

The document details citizen engagement workshops held in 12 South African municipalities as part of the COMPACT project's second phase of action research. With 262 participants, the workshops identified significant failures in the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) participation process and a lack of communication between municipal leadership and communities. These findings are being used to develop a COMPACT Toolbox and individual municipal reports to establish a baseline for improving public participation.

The report analyzes land governance in Engcobo, Eastern Cape, highlighting a conflict between the Engcobo Local Municipality and traditional leaders. While the municipality is mandated by the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA) to oversee land use, it owns less than 1% of the land, most of which is under traditional custodianship. This imbalance leads to disputes over development projects, such as a proposed shopping mall, and boundary demarcations. The study also notes the failure of state-led land restitution and the rise of illegal land occupations due to land shortages and bureaucratic delays.

The Youth Emergency Guide, developed by young South Africans (ages 13-25) in partnership with UNICEF and Youth@SAIIA, is a resource designed to build emergency preparedness and social resilience. It defines key concepts such as hazards, risks, and vulnerability, and provides practical steps for youth to identify local risks, develop personal emergency plans, and create early warning systems. The guide covers specific response strategies for floods, pandemics, storms, civil unrest, fires, and droughts, while emphasizing the importance of reliable information and youth leadership in community resilience and policy advocacy.

The document is a youth-led emergency preparedness guide for South Africans, focusing on identifying risks, creating response plans, and building community resilience against climate-related disasters, health crises, and social unrest.

The Youth Emergency Guide is a youth-led resource designed to empower young South Africans to manage emergencies. It defines key concepts like hazards and social resilience, provides a step-by-step methodology for risk assessment and emergency planning, and offers specific response protocols for floods, wildfires, pandemics, and civil unrest. The guide emphasizes the importance of reliable information, community leadership, and systemic advocacy to prevent future disasters.

The document is a comprehensive emergency preparedness guide for South African youth, focusing on building community resilience against climate-related disasters, health crises, and civil unrest.

The document argues that multi-layered home gardens incorporating trees, shrubs, and crops enhance food security, nutrition, and climate resilience. It identifies key barriers to their development, such as insecure land tenure and water scarcity, and suggests that integrating home gardens into climate finance mechanisms like REDD+ could provide new opportunities for expansion.

The study concludes that human-induced climate change approximately doubled the probability of the April 2022 extreme rainfall event in Eastern South Africa and increased its intensity by 4-8%. While the event had a return time of about 20 years in the current climate, it would have been rarer in a 1.2°C cooler world. The disaster's impact was severely exacerbated by structural vulnerabilities, including the legacy of apartheid spatial planning and the prevalence of informal settlements in high-risk areas.

The document outlines the safeguards and operational frameworks for the GEF 8 'Reimagining National Parks for People and Nature' project in South Africa. It focuses on three specific landscapes: Greater Addo, Greater Kruger (Barberton-Makhonjwa), and Eastern Grasslands. The project aims to conserve 2 million hectares of land while fostering sustainable economic opportunities for local communities, particularly women and youth. The framework provides detailed procedures for environmental and social screening, grievance redress, and the protection of marginalized groups, ensuring compliance with both South African law and WWF's internal safeguard standards.

The document outlines a training program for smallholder livestock farmers in South Africa, focusing on the distinction between weather and climate, the drivers of climate change, and practical adaptation strategies. It provides a structured approach for two workshops designed to help farmers identify climate indicators—such as heat stress in livestock and shifting rainfall patterns—and adopt management practices for water, feed, animal health, and herd size to protect their livelihoods.

The document details the control of four invasive Hakea species in South Africa: H. sericea, H. gibbosa, H. drupacea, and H. salicifolia. It advocates for an integrated approach combining mechanical, chemical, and biological controls, with a heavy emphasis on biological agents to manage inaccessible mountain terrains. It provides specific biological profiles and application guidelines for six agents: the gummosis fungus (Colletotrichum acutatum), seed weevil (Erytenna consputa), seed moth (Carposina autologa), stem-boring beetle (Aphanasium australe), flowerbud weevil (Dicomada rufa), and leaf beetle (Cydmaea binotata).

The document details the management of four invasive hakea species in South Africa, primarily silky hakea, rock hakea, sweet hakea, and willow hakea. It advocates for an integrated control strategy combining mechanical, chemical, and biological methods, with a heavy emphasis on the use of specific biological control agents—including fungi and insects—to reduce seed production and population density, especially in inaccessible mountainous terrain.

The Sustainable Landscape Finance Coalition Survey 1 results indicate that a plurality of conservation stakeholders face significant funding shortages, with 44.44% reporting insufficient financing. Key barriers include a reliance on short-term donor cycles and limited access to diverse funding streams. Respondents emphasized the importance of stakeholder collaboration and the integration of community needs to achieve long-term financial and environmental sustainability.

The document is an educational resource developed by WWF South Africa to teach learners about climate impacts and environmental hazards. It uses a tapestry created by 43 artists from Hamburg, Eastern Cape, to illustrate the vulnerabilities of coastal communities. The four lessons cover topics including litter and pollution, biodiversity loss and poaching, food systems and fossil fuels, and the role of art in spreading climate awareness. The guide includes teacher tips, learner worksheets, and a series of short stories from local residents detailing their experiences with unseasonal weather, declining fish stocks, and climate anxiety.

The document presents the 'Umlibo' tapestry, a 6m x 2m artwork created by 43 artists in Hamburg, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Through personal narratives, it details how climate change manifests as unseasonal rainfall, soil erosion, and declining marine stocks, while highlighting the role of sustainable livelihoods—such as food gardens and art—in building community resilience.

The Youth Climate Champions Training Materials offer a structured, interactive toolkit for trainers to help youth transition from climate awareness to action. The guide is divided into six sessions: turning personal experience into action, creative community engagement, communication strategies, understanding and designing policy, integrating climate action into various professional paths, and exercising agency as active citizens. It utilizes case studies of South African youth activists to illustrate real-world applications of these tools.