The ESRC-funded ISULabaNtu project, one year in
The ESRC-funded ISULabaNtu project – established under the grant Community-led Upgrading for Self-Reliance in South Africa: Integrated Construction and Environmental Management Systems in Informal Settlements – has had a busy year since its launch in February 2016. Working closely with local partners in South Africa, the research team aims to provide communities with the tools and knowledge to lead their own urban development processes.
The publication of the project’s first newsletter outlines their work to date, spanning detailed site assessments, visits to case study areas, participatory action research training, capacity building of community researchers and a range of outreach activities, including presentations at the ISOCARP congress in September and Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador in October. In the next stages of the project, the team plan to build on their current fieldwork, engaging a wider range of stakeholders and undertaking further capacity development among local communities ahead of their creation of an innovative toolkit to support community-led urban upgrading.
The newsletter can be read in full here. An interview with Maria Christina Georgiadou, the UK Principal Investigator, can be read here.