In this guest post, Dr Michael Osei Asibey discusses his research, “Extending the dialogue on informal e-waste recycling and nature-based solutions for climate resilience”, on waste and nature-based solutions, carried out during his USF International Fellowship, hosted at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning in Australia under the mentorship of Associate Professor Patrick Brandful Cobbinah.
Before applying to the USF International Fellowship, my research on urban informality and climate resilience had largely been rooted in the Ghanaian context, where rapid urbanisation, political contestations, and fragile ecological systems intersect in complex ways.
While I was aware that informal systems, particularly in waste management, are central to livelihoods in cities like Accra and Kumasi, I had not fully explored their potential to contribute to climate adaptation through ecological approaches. The Fellowship offered me the space, resources, and intellectual community to advance this agenda, and in the process, to situate African urban experiences more centrally within global urban studies debates.
Hosted at the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne, and mentored by Associate Professor Patrick Brandful Cobbinah, my fellowship centred on the theme “Extending the dialogue on informal e-waste recycling and nature-based solutions for climate resilience”. The fellowship culminated in the publication of my co-authored article Dialogues on Nature-Based Solutions and Informal E-Waste Management in the Journal of Environmental Management (Asibey & Cobbinah, 2025). This paper interrogated how NbS, including phytoremediation, constructed wetlands, and green buffer zones, could be adapted to mitigate the socio-ecological risks of informal e-waste recycling while enhancing resilience to climate hazards such as flooding and heat extremes. In doing so, it contributes to repositioning African urban spaces as sites of innovation and experimentation in climate adaptation, rather than solely of deficit and vulnerability.
Beyond this publication, the Fellowship facilitated the development of additional manuscripts addressing the politics of de-green gentrification in informal settlements and the nexus between green space, equity, and environmental justice in Accra. These works extend my efforts to critically engage with the layered social, spatial, and environmental dynamics of African cities, highlighting the importance of justice, equity, and lived experience in urban resilience planning.
The Fellowship also provided significant opportunities for scholarly exchange and public engagement. I delivered guest lectures on themes of informality, climate change, and NbS, and participated in and presented my research at international conferences, including the First Ghana Climate Resilience Workshop and the Conference of Youth on Climate and Environment. These platforms enabled me to contribute to policy-oriented debates and strengthen my capacity to mobilise research for wider audiences. In addition, I co-developed an international research proposal on Informal Urban Futures: Climate Adaptation through Circular and Nature-Based Approaches, further consolidating collaborations initiated during the fellowship.
A particularly important outcome of the fellowship was the establishment of the Sustainable Urban Futures (SUF) Lab at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). Conceived as a hybrid research, innovation, and advocacy platform, SUF-Lab seeks to advance transdisciplinary inquiry into the intersections of informality, climate resilience, and urban planning. It will serve as a platform for mentoring early-career researchers, co-producing knowledge with communities, and promoting South-South-North collaborations.
Reflecting on this journey, the USF International Fellowship has been transformative. It has deepened my conceptual grounding, expanded my methodological repertoire, and elevated the visibility of my scholarship in international debates on urban sustainability.
Perhaps most importantly, it has reinforced my commitment to advancing inclusive, justice-oriented approaches to climate resilience that foreground the perspectives of those most affected by urban precarity. The fellowship has positioned me not only to continue my academic contributions at KNUST but also to serve as a bridge-builder between African cities and global research networks.
In many ways, the fellowship represents not just a milestone but a launching pad. USF, by supporting my research and knowledge mobilisation efforts, has enabled me to contribute to reshaping urban studies from the Global South, challenging dominant narratives, and generating grounded, innovative pathways towards more just, inclusive, and sustainable urban futures.