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The increasing impacts of climate change instigate the need for adaptation. However, most adaptation initiatives focus on actions by government or businesses, despite growing calls for communities on the frontline of climate risks to be involved in planning and selecting strategies. Here we appraise a pilot process using participatory systems mapping with citizens to identify (1) diverse threat vectors for local climate impacts and (2) context-relevant interventions to protect households and communities while (3) considering synergies and trade-offs with other socially desirable outcomes. We tested the pilot process in communities in the Lower Volta Basin in Ghana, the Assam region in India and Southern England. From participants’ perspectives, the process increased awareness of and preparedness for climate change impacts and raised essential learning points for upscaling citizen-led adaptation approaches. These include understanding multiple outcomes of interventions, barriers and enablers to implementation, and sensitivity of co-design to regional geography and socio-cultural context.

Public participation in the formulation and implementation of development plans is critical for social service delivery and deepening democracy in South Africa. Using the qualitative approach, this study evaluates the challenges of public participation in the integrated development planning process in the City of Johannesburg. The findings showed that a multi-stakeholder approach was adopted in the city's development planning process. However, limited resources, capacities, weak stakeholder mobilisation and engagement of communities affected planning processes and service delivery. Where public participation is ineffective, citizens become disempowered, and their democratic rights and service delivery quality tend to be compromised. With sufficient budgetary allocation, social mobilisation, public sensitisation, and engagement, the city's development plans and capacity to provide social services could be enhanced. The city's management should build stakeholders capacity and solicit their input in development planning. Consensus and collaboration with stakeholders will help the city's plan for sustainable, equitable, and productive development.

Informal economic livelihood is an essential defining characteristic of economic relations within and across African countries. The dominant approach towards Africa's growing informal economies has been the formalising of informal economic livelihoods as catalyst for achieving sustainable local development. However, such approach has only pushed informal actors further deep into informality as they were theorised or created based on the experiences of Europe and not those of Africa. Using the desk review method, this paper revealed the historical trajectories and approaches to formalisation of informal economic activities in Egypt and Mozambique, and the need for these approaches to be carefully rethought and reshaped to accommodate informal livelihoods and sustain local development. Egypt and Mozambique's informal sectors are born out of persistent poverty and unemployment, weak governance and unpredictable socio-economic climate. Attempts by governments and development actors to address the persistent challenges confronting their informal sectors should be in line with conditions existing in both countries.