The Urban Action Innovations Lab (UAL) - a knowledge-based approach for engaging with issues of sustainable urban development challenges. The Urban Action Lab is a pro-active learning environment engaging different individuals from academia, community, private sector and policy domains to stimulate and facilitate action. The UAL is also designed to enhance university education and research on urban challenges in the region. This Lab is developed as a regional hub with Makerere University as the anchor institution expanding in the East African region.
UAL is an opportunity to engage in sustainable urban development, climate change adaptation and urban planning issues faced by the city. The UAL is a space for learning-by-doing aimed at enhancing planning education critically required to meet the challenges. The National Slum Dwellers Federation of Uganda (NSDFU) is a key partner as a community-based organization that will offer entry of students and researchers to the communities.
Vision/Mission
To be a knowledge-based, action oriented Research Lab, engaging a multi stakeholder platforms to stimulate and facilitate action towards sustainable urban development and enhance university education and research on urban challenges
Objectives of UAL
SPACE, PLACE, PLATFORM [ Horizontal & Collaborative Approach ]
- To nurture a collaborative research environment (pooling together skills, resources and intellectual labour) for urban researchers both senior scientists and early career scholars and graduate students
- To incubate and disseminate durable research and policy strategies that promote economic and gender justice and shifts power towards communities on the frontlines of struggle.
- To engage in conversations on mentoring early career scholars and urban scientists in the Global South.
- To attract new partners to the Lab and create new avenues for collaboration.
- To bring and partner with other urban scholars (both national and international), activists, planners,, policy makers, organizations, community groups, civic leaders and communities to:
- make contributions to theory and practice by producing situated, critical and interdisciplinary knowledge
- co-generate evidence and rigorous research to design, test and scale programs (what works) and translate that evidence to unlock the power of communities and policymaking to improve lives, advance economic opportunity and advance the urban agenda.
Annual Activites
The Lab’s annual activities include:
- Faculty sponsored research
- Convenings, Webinars, Seminars A published body of practical case studies, tutorials and lectures by industry leaders and academics
- Student, Industry and Lab fellows are regularly involved in analysing and publishing case studies in public/private partnerships.
- Overseas Practice Engagement with UCL
- Intensive Short Courses – Social Network Analysis, Critical Thinking Skills, Spatial Analysis, Data Analysis with SPSS and ‘R programming’, Conducting Systematic Analyses, Meta Analysis and Bibliometric Analysis; Participatory Action Research,
- Hosting Visiting Scholars