African Cities Workshop

The format: 2022 Workshop
The first workshop, hosted in Nairobi, Kenya from 23-27 May 2022, intends to bring together between 10 and 20 young researchers and urban thought leaders from Nairobi and local surrounds. The workshop is targeted at doctoral, post-doctoral, and early career researchers. The team will spend five days together at the British Institute for Eastern Africa (BIEA) and Mathare Social Justice Centre (MSJC) in Nairobi.

The first workshop will be oriented around three structures:

• Theorise: to locate ourselves in critical urban theory and respond to it from our various African nodes
• Support: to improve our skills in terms of how we do research, write-up and present our findings
• Do: to build synergies between art, activism and (non) academia happening in Nairobi, and other African cities to enrich our discourses

The first three days will focus on theorising and supporting, while the final two days will emphasise doing. We are still in the process of designing the structure, and a tentative programme is presented below:

• Day 1: Introductions to each other + Keynote + Laying the groundwork for subsequent days.
• Day 2: A journey through key theories and debates in urban studies and related fields.
• Day 3: Continuing the journey through key debates and theories in urban studies and related fields.
• Day 4: Student presentations + Visit to MSJC.
• Day 5: Artistic interventions + Reflections on the workshop + Plan for future papers, collaborations and related support…Read more