The way we learn how cities are made and by whom has significant consequences on how urban equality is pursued
Since 2017, the Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre (SLURC) at Njala University and the practice-based module of the MSc in Environment and Sustainable Development (ESD MSc) at the Bartlett Development Planning Unit (DPU) / University College London (UCL) have formed a learning alliance that aims to co-produce actionable knowledge to support transformative actions towards a socially and environmentally just Freetown. On the ground, our learning alliance works in collaboration with local collectives of the urban poor across the city, the Federation of the Urban and Rural Poor (FEDURP) and partnering organisations working under the "Pull Slum Pan Pipul" (PSPP) programme.
Every year, we are joined by a group of local interns and community facilitators whose capacity and knowledge strengthens the work of the alliance. In 2018/19, the learning alliance brought together 105 people from 35 countries, including staff from SLURC and DPU, ESD MSc students, local interns and community facilitators.
The Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality (KNOW) project supports the educational work of SLURC, of which this co-learning alliance is one component. Our work in KNOW aims to understand how urban practitioners and everyday city-makers learn in different contexts, and how their learning trajectories enable them to promote urban equality.
During our fieldwork in April/May 2019, we interviewed several team-members of the co-learning alliance and asked them a number of questions recorded in this video.
Video and photography by MSc ESD students 2017-2019 and KNOW team, 2019. The interviews were conducted by Julia Wesely and Adriana Allen, April - May 2019. Produced by Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality 2019
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