This session will distill pedagogic experiences developed in a range of urban domains, including activism, advocacy and higher education, to collectively craft a set of pedagogic principles that aspire to guide transformative action in African cities

African cities are learning engines, yet, their pedagogic capacity to activate transformative change is still untapped. This session reflects on transformative pedagogic practices that mobilise learning on forward-thinking ideas and impactful action for just urban development across African cities. Aiming to bridge the gap between social movements, grassroots organisations and progressive academic institutions across urban Africa, this session brings together critical actors in urban pedagogy as a ‘community of practice’ to share their experiences in generating transformative change through intersectional pedagogies. In doing so, participants are invited to reflect collectively on the key pedagogic principles and practices required to support the next generation of urban champions to effect radical change towards urban justice.
Rather than using teaching methods transacted in classrooms as an entry point, this workshop will stimulate thinking through a variety of urban domains, where pedagogies are practiced on the ground through mobilisation, activism, and advocacy. We seek to facilitate learning across these domains to overcome the digital divide and to collectively deliberate on the underlying principles and aspirations that enable these pedagogies to be transformative. Building on this collective reflection, the output of this session will be a Decalogue or set of pedagogic principles to guide pluralistic and transdisciplinary learning processes for the next generation of urban champions in Africa.

Hosted by: “Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality” Programme in partnership with Habitat International Coalition (HIC) and Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre, Ardhi University, and Makerere University, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Uganda, South Africa, Kenya, UK, India

Host: “Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality” Programme in partnership with Habitat International Coalition (HIC) and Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre Ardhi University, and Makerere University

Yaounde, Cameroon; Harare, Zimbabwe; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Freetown, Sierra Leone; Kampala, Uganda; Cape Town, South Africa Nairobi, Kenya; London, United Kingdom; Bangalore, India

Session Summary

This session proved to be a wonderful collaborative project, hosted by the “Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality” Programme in partnership with Habitat International Coalition (HIC), the Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre, Ardhi University, and Makerere University.

Bringing in perspectives from Cameroon, South Africa, Sierra Leone and Kenya, amongst others, the session explored learning practices through three lenses:

1. Activism-related learning practices

2. Learning practices around social mobilization

3. Learning Practices that foreground Policy Change & Advocacy

The session unpacked Activism related learning practices through presentations by Akhona Siswana, of the Development Action Group, who shared learnings and insights from their Active Citizens Training programme, and Daniel Nonze of the Association des Amoureux du Livre pour le Développement Local, who shared about his organization’s fight to protect citizens from unlawful eviction.

Through presentations by Joseph M. Macarthy, Yirah O Conteh, Dr Steve Ouma and Hilary Zhou, participants were able to discover ways of learning about social mobilisation, including the importance of tackling shared issues in a decentralised manner. Participants were also taught about the “Know, Organize, Claim” pedagogical framework used by Dr Steve Ouma to navigate and engage with the eviction crisis in Nairobi.

Aminata Tooli Fall, Diana Lee Smith and Joseph Schechla guided participants through the final section, and shared the importance of human centered approaches when working towards advocacy and policy change. Ultimately panelists centered around the importance of understanding the true impacts of service delivery gaps on human experience, and allowing our responses and approaches to be led by this.