Fostering networks and research-based capacity to challenge exclusionary urban visions and influence urban policies in Freetown
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13133/2532-6562/19212Keywords:
Research-based trainings, research capacity, urban co-productionAbstract
This article offers a critical contribution to the debate on knowledge co-production and research partnerships between researchers from the Global North and South, specifically focusing on urban contexts in Sub-Saharan Africa. The article reflects on the experience of one-week research-based trainings aimed at urban stakeholders, involving fieldwork and implemented by the Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre in Freetown. The article analyses several dimensions of impact, including: the ability to create important cross-sectoral relationships in a context of mistrust among urban stakeholders; grounding research in local knowledge; developing research and teaching capacity; building support and understanding of research in the communities studied; generating a demand for evidence among policymakers; and producing closely actionable knowledge. The approach has created important bridges between knowledge, communities, and policy decisions.
References
Allen A., Koroma B., Osuteye E., Lambert R. (2024). «Resilient or just city-making? Exploring the political space to tackle risk traps in Freetown». In Macarthy J., Koroma B., Rigon A., Apsan Frediani A., Klingel A., Eds., Urban Transformations in Sierra Leone: Knowledge co-production and partnerships for a just city. London: UCL Press, 155-74.
Allen A., Lambert R., Yap C. (2017). Co-learning the city. London: Routledge, 355-67.
Allen A., Wesely J., Blanes P., Brandolini F., Enet M. (2022). «Crafting urban equality through grassroots critical pedagogies: weave, sentipensar, mobilize, reverberate, emancipate». Environment and Urbanization, 34(2): 446-64.
Castán Broto V., Ortiz C., Lipietz B., Osuteye E., Johnson C. (2022). «Co-production outcomes for urban equality: Learning from different trajectories of citizens’ involvement in urban change». Current Research in Environmental Sustainability, 4: 100179.
Cognetti F. (2016). «Ricerca-azione e università. Produzione di conoscenza, inclusività e diritti». Territorio (78): 40-6.
Cognetti F., De Carli B. (2024). «Finding common ground on the threshold: An experiment in critical urban learning». Planning Theory, 23(4): 400-22.
Crosta P. L. (1998). «L’interazione tra università e città come pratica di apprendimento. Quale contributo per le strategie formative?». Archivio di Studi Urbani e Regionali 1(1998): 60-61.
Edwards, R., Alexander C. (2011). «Researching with Peer/Community Researchers Ambivalences and Tensions». In Williams M., Vogt W., Eds., Researching with peer/community researchers ambivalences and tensions. New York: Sage, 269-92. doi: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446268261.n17
Fraisl, D., Haklay M., Hager G., When U., See L. (2025). «Delineating the contours of citizen science: Development of the ECSA characteristics of citizen science». Open Research Europe, 5(128). https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.19411.1
Garnett S. T., Crowley G. M., Hunter-Xenie H., Kozanayi W., Sithole B. (2009). «Transformative Knowledge Transfer Through Empowering and Paying Community Researchers». Biotropica, 41(5): 571-7.
Hecker, S., Haklay M., Bowser A., Makuch Z., Vogel J.(2018). Citizen Science: Innovation in Open Science, Society and Policy. London: UCL Press.
Konee, A., Sullivan M., Senturia K., Chrisman N. J., Ciske S. (2000). «Partnerships. Improving collaboration between researchers and communities». Public Health Reports, 115(2): 243-8.
Levy, C. (2020). «Framing the agenda: What do we mean by ‘partnerships with equivalence’ for the pursuit of urban equality?». Partnerships for Urban Equality. International Engagement Brief #1. London: The Bartlett Development Planning Unit.
Macarthy, J., Koroma B., Rigon A., Apsan Frediani A., Klingel A., Eds., (2024). Urban Transformations in Sierra Leone: Knowledge co-production and partnerships for a just city. London: UCL Press.
Maiter S., Simich L., Jacobson N., Wise J. (2008). «Reciprocity: An ethic for community-based participatory action research». Action Research, 6(3): 305-25.
Mintchev N., Baumann H., Moore H., Rigon A., Dabaj J. (2019). «Towards a shared prosperity: co-designing solutions in Lebanon’s spaces of displacement». Journal of the British Academy, 7(s2): 109-35.
Mintchev N., Baumann H., Moore H., Rigon A., Dabaj J. (2023). «Building Co-designed Infrastructures in Lebanon’s Spaces of Displacement». In Moore H., Davies M., Mintchev N., Woodcraft S., Eds., Rethinking Global Prosperity, London: UCL Press, 127-48.
Mitlin D., Bartlett S. (2018). «Editorial: Co-production – key ideas». Environment and Urbanization, 30(2): 355-66.
Mosavel M., Ahmed R., Daniels D., Simon C. (2011). «Community researchers conducting health disparities research: Ethical and other insights from fieldwork journaling». Social Science & Medicine, 73(1): 145-52.
Myers G. A. (2011). African Cities: Alternative Visions of Urban Theory and Practice. London: Zed.
OECD (2025). Africa’s Urbanisation Dynamics 2025: Planning for Urban Expansion, West African Studies. Paris: OECD Publishing.
Ortiz C., Millan G. (2022). «CRITICAL URBAN PEDAGOGY: Convites as Sites of Southern Urbanism, Solidarity Construction and Urban Learning». International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 46(5): 822-44.
Pieterse E. A., Simone A. M. (2013). Rogue urbanism: emergent African cities: Jacana Media.
Rigon A. (2018). «An analysis of well-being in urban Nigeria». Development in Practice, 28(2): 195-207.
Rigon, A., Abah O. S., Dangoji S., Walker J., Apsan Frediani A. (2015). Well-being and citizenship in urban Nigeria. Urbanisation Research Nigeria. London: UK Aid & ICF International.
Rigon A., Koroma B., Macarthy J., Apsan Frediani A. (2018). «The politics of urban management and planning in African cities». In Binns T., Lynch K., Nel E., Eds., The Routledge handbook of African development, New York: Routledge, 415-25.
Rigon A., Macarthy J., Koroma B., Walker J., Apsan Frediani A. (2017). «Partnering with higher education institutions for social and environmental justice in the global South: lessons from the Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre». DPU News(62).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Andrea Rigon
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
NOTA DI COPYRIGHT
Proposta di licenza Creative Commons
1. Proposta per riviste Open Access
Gli autori che pubblicano su questa rivista accettano le seguenti condizioni:
Gli autori mantengono i diritti sulla loro opera e cedono alla rivista il diritto di prima pubblicazione dell'opera, contemporaneamente licenziata sotto una Licenza Creative Commons - Attribuzione che permette ad altri di condividere l'opera indicando la paternità intellettuale e la prima pubblicazione su questa rivista.
Gli autori possono aderire ad altri accordi di licenza non esclusiva per la distribuzione della versione dell'opera pubblicata (es. depositarla in un archivio istituzionale o pubblicarla in una monografia), a patto di indicare che la prima pubblicazione è avvenuta su questa rivista.
Gli autori possono diffondere la loro opera online (es. in repository istituzionali o nel loro sito web) prima e durante il processo di submission, poiché può portare a scambi produttivi e aumentare le citazioni dell'opera pubblicata (Vedi The Effect of Open Access).
