AAPS news

On 23 and 24 September 2013, UN-Habitat and the University of Nairobi co-hosted a workshop to explore ways of increasing mutual collaboration between UN-Habitat and AAPS members in Kenya, and to create a forum for the schools to formulate how they may promote AAPS objectives in Kenya.

Congratulations to the new Master of Spatial Planning programme staff at the University of Zambia, and particularly to incoming staff member Gilbert Siame, who played an important role in helping to secure a generous Comic Relief grant for a research project on informal settlement upgrading in Lusaka.

AAPS Project Coordinator Dr Nancy Odendaal recently attended the Global Planning Education Association Network (GPEAN) Governing Council meeting, held in Recife (Brazil) from 17 to 19 May 2013. The meeting preceded the Brazilian Planning Schools Association (ANPUR) conference held in the same city.

Another joint AAPS-SDI studio is currently underway in Dar es Salaam, where students from Ardhi University are working with the Centre for Community Initiatives (CCI), local community members and federation leaders on two informal settlement upgrading projects. The targeted settlements are Maganga and Kombo.

From 20 to 21 March 2013, the Association of African Planning Schools (AAPS) took part in the inaugural meeting of the African Urban Research Initiative (AURI), held at the Hilton Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

From 5 to 7 February 2013, a group of AAPS members took part in a workshop meeting on collaborative studio teaching projects in Cape Town, South Africa. The workshop focused on the opportunities, challenges and practicalities of organising planning studios in partnership with local informal communities and NGOs such as Shack/Slum Dwellers International (with whom AAPS has a Memorandum of Understanding).

Over the past few months AAPS Chair Prof Vanessa Watson and Co-Chair Prof Babatunde Agbola have drafted a constitution to guide the structures and functions of the Association. Amongst other things, the document lays out the Association’s mission, purpose and objectives, the relevant roles and responsibilities of office bearers, as well as the processes to be followed in the course of Steering Committee elections.

The December 2012 issue of Alliance Magazine features an article by Sheela Patel, Chair of the international advocacy network Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI).

AAPS Project Coordinator Dr Nancy Odendaal travelled to Durban (South Africa) recently to give input to a Women in Informal Employent: Gloablizing and Organizing (WIEGO) workshop on occupational health and safety and informal work.

The following presentations made at the AAPS 2012 all-schools conference are available for download. Unfortunately some presentations cannot be uploaded due to formatting and size constraints.

See photographs of the proceedings and group dinner of the AAPS 2012 conference, held in Nairobi, below.

See photographs from the AAPS 2012 conference’s field trip to Kibera and Huruma settlements in Nairobi below.

Following the conclusion of the third AAPS all-schools meeting, held in Nairobi from 16 to 18 October 2012, the position of chair of the AAPS Steering Committee is now held by Prof Babatunde Agbola (University of Ibadan). Prof Agbola replaces Prof Vanessa Watson (University of Cape Town), who fulfilled this position with great committment and leadership from 2010 to 2012.

Read the SDI blog reporting on the recently concluded AAPS-SDI collaborative studio projects conducted in Blantyre and Mzuzu, Malawi (reposted from HERE).

We are delighted to announce the 50th member of AAPS: the National University of Lesotho (NUL).

AAPS is delighted to announce another new member: Anambra State University (ANSU) located in Uli, Nigeria.

We are delighted to announce that, as a result of AAPS Chair Professor Vanessa Watson’s recent trip to the Global Planning Education Association Network (GPEAN) committee meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, AAPS can welcome another Francophone member. This is the Institut National d’Aménagement et d’Urbanisme (INAU) located in Rabat, Morocco.

Cities Alliance recently published a short online article introducing the AAPS toolkit for case study research and teaching.

AAPS is pleased to welcome its latest member, University of Malawi, The Polytechnic, located in Blantyre.