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).
To date, AAPS schools and SDI federations have collaborated in the organisation of studio projects in Blantyre, Mzuzu (both in Malawi) and Kampala (Uganda). The University of Cape Town has also implemented studio projects with SDI for the past two years.
On 5 and 6 February, workshop participants attended meetings of the SDI Five Cities Programme, which drew in local communities, SDI federations and municipal officials from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Ghana, South Africa and Uganda. Delegates were taken on tours of the upgraded settlements of Langrug and Mtshini Wam, both located in the wider Cape Town region, where communities have organised around savings schemes and have carried out the ’re-blocking' of their settlements. Participants were also invited to sit-in on meetings of the partnership between the City of Cape Town Municipality and the local SDI affiliate CORC.
On 7 February, AAPS members split into a separate meeting (held at the University of Cape Town) to specifically discuss the modalities and challenges of incorporating partnership-based ‘live studio’ projects into planning curricula. It was agreed that these projects hold great potential for student learning and trans-institutional co-production - but that careful preparatory work and facilitation is required to realise their full potential.
Below are some images of the field trips and meetings:
