This is the second report in a series titled ‘UN-Habitat Support to Sustainable Urban Development in Kenya’. The focus of this report is on capacity development activities conducted for the Kenya Municipal Programme, Cluster I and II urban centres, namely: Mombasa, Kitui and Malindi. The report captures the outcomes of a One-Day Learning Session and a Two-Day Rapid Planning Studio conducted for county technical officers and two One-Day Learning Sessions for Members of County Assemblies.

Planning education in Kenya could play a significant role in promoting sustainable urbanisation if technical training and skills development content is framed to suit contemporary demands including mainstreaming the sustainable urban planning principles of the New Urban Agenda. In line with its universal mandate of supporting priorities of member states, UN-Habitat is available to play a meaningful and supportive role in the government-led process of reviewing university planning education

Finance has been identified among the most important barriers for the adoption of green building designs, and is the topic this guide seeks to address. The regional market presently does not provide adequate financial mechanisms and alternative lending products, i.e. green mortgages or preferential loans for sustainable, green and energy efficient buildings, and asset finance for integrated renewable energy networks. International experience with such products can inform how green property…

Building materials play a significant role in sustainable architecture. The choice of materials is crucial from the perspective of both the thermal performance and the environmental impact of the building.

A well-designed building according to its respective climate can respond to the need for thermal comfort. Green building design strategies should address each of the following climatic data: temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, rainfall and wind.

One way of reducing energy consumption in residential and institutional buildings such as schools and hospitals is by use of a tubular biogas digester. Use of biogas eliminates the use of the more expensive electricity and/or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Organic materials are the feedstocks for a biogas system. Some organic materials will digest more readily than others. Restaurants fats, oils and grease; animal manures; wastewater solids; food scraps, and; by-products from food and beverage…

Globally, approximately 1.5 billion people do not have access to electricity, often living far from the electricity grid. Household solar systems and lanterns allow those consumers access to electricity and replace costly, harmful kerosene lamps and candles. While solar lanterns play an important role in curbing kerosene usage and providing light to students, more sophisticated solar systems have been developed in recent years that provide a range of functions to customers – from mobile…

Gasifiers produce wood gas which is a syngas fuel which can be used as a fuel for furnaces, stoves and vehicles in place of petrol, diesel or other fuels. During the production process biomass or other carbon-containing materials are gasified within the oxygen-limited environment of a wood gas generator to produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide. These gases can then be burnt as a fuel within an oxygen rich environment to produce carbon dioxide, water and heat. One of the main uses of wood…

Energy has been described as the missing Millennium Development Goal (MDG), the catalyst without which other goals for issues such as health, education and gender equality cannot be achieved. Studies indicate that access to modern energy services and particularly electricity has a positive effect on local economic development and closely correlates to a country’s UN Human Development Index (UNDP, 2012).