There is a growing evidence-based concerns pointing to global increase of weather and climate extreme events (WCEE). What decides whether these hazards become a disaster is how the society and humanity prepare and responds to it. Although various researchers have step up efforts through scholarly contributions in response to WCEE. However, the task of utilizing the needed tools, selecting the most suitable approach, and choosing appropriate techniques for WCEE studies can be daunting for researchers. Moreover, the technicality and complexity associated with the wide array of models and methods present additional challenges when it comes to their practical implementationF in disaster applications. This review comprehensively explores four approaches in WCEE studies: statistical analysis, geospatial modeling, MCDA, and AI-based techniques. It evaluates their effectiveness in assessing impacts within WCEE and highlights AI’s (ML and DL’s) superior performance compared to other conventional methods in disaster-related studies.

Going by the current trends of urbanisation in Africa, it becomes necessary to seek for innovative ideas to improve ecology, human health, and well-being. This study explores the potentials of innovation labs as vehicles for collective ideation, team learning, and incubation of sustainable solutions. MR CITY Lab is a design-thinking initiative that experimented on restoring over 15 severely depleted native tree species into the neighbourhoods of Kano City, Nigeria. As a participatory and fun-like lab, the millennials, academics, and communities co-designed and hacked the protocols for the reintroduction of the native trees that some of the neighbourhoods of this crowded city are named after. Based on the breakthroughs recorded in the project, it is imperative that urban planners, policymakers, and other stakeholders embrace living labs as entry points for designing urban ecosystem restoration and back to nature campaigns in cities and towns. The operations of MR CITY Lab reveal that hope is not lost in recreating urban greenery and biophilic functions they provide. Importantly, innovative labs can guide urban areas to achieve some of the targets and indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the New Urban Agenda, and international climate targets such as the Paris Agreement.