Experts advocate adoption of findings on extreme events

Experts in the environment sector have called for adoption, utilisation and implementation of research findings pertaining to Extreme Events affecting the country.

They made the call in Lagos at a one-day stakeholders meeting titled, ‘A Pan African and Transdisciplinary Lens on the Margins: Tackling the Risks of Extreme Events (PALM-TREES)” aimed at informing stakeholders in the environment sector about research, specifically focusing on the impact of heat waves on urban residents, especially those living in suburban areas.

The meeting’s focus stems from a collaborative research project conducted by the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Lead City University, Ibadan and University of Lagos on Extreme Effects of Heat waves targeted on Lagos and the middle belt regarding the effect of flooding, droughts and heat waves in urban and rural areas.

According to the experts, if adoption and utilisation of some of the research findings are implemented, it will make the work easier for the researchers.

Associate Research Professor, Environment and Physical Infrastructure Policy Department at Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Ibadan, Andrew Onwuemele, said a significant issue has been the limited engagement of stakeholders in the development of many of these outcomes, lamenting that stakeholders often struggle to accept these findings because they were not involved in the process.

“We, as a research institute, have taken a new approach to research design and implementation, where stakeholders are engaged from the beginning of the project, to have a kind of cooperation of knowledge, where both the researcher and stakeholders, people in the margin, and vulnerable people are part of the research process. They own the findings and the issue of adoption and utilisation will become less of a problem because all the key stakeholders are part of the research process,” he said.

Speaking on the project, a professor and pioneer chair, Urban planning and Environmental management, Lead City University, Prof Grace Oloukoi, emphasised that it involved gathering knowledge from the life experiences of local people to understand their perspectives on Extreme Events and what they were experiencing.