We work on four big issues in African and Latin America cities - informality, mobility, public space, and food. We do this through an approach that is local and action-oriented, one that helps tell and shift the urban story in new and exciting ways and that builds on the power of international exchange.
Our services fall broadly into three areas:
SERVICES
1. Policy and Advocacy
We develop and run campaigns, projects and programs, facilitate urban policy proposals and strategy, and do neighbourhood activations, as well as action-oriented research.
We support both conceptualisation and implementation of project, program, and campaign strategies depending on the need.
We also help develop meaningful citizen engagement practices, such as social auditing or public participation in program development, in both the public sector and civil society.
SERVICES
2. Strategic Storytelling
From conceptualisation through to publication, we help organizations and a range of institutions and foundations to strategically document and build stories into compelling narratives for publication in a range of media.
We work together to map out how potential stories fit into the broader strategy, who the stories are aimed at, and what would be the most effective forms and places for publication as we build them.
SERVICES
3. International Exchange
We design, facilitate and manage international urban exchanges, bringing people together from different cities to partake in experiential learning and practice.
We primarily work on South-South exchange, but also manage exchange across North-South regions as well as within particular regions.
Exchange is not just physical exchange. We also work on cross-regional stories and sharing of experience - such as writing exchanges, online exchanges and others.
Our approach
We work in flexible ways and we're always up for a new area or challenge.
We work to strengthen on-the-ground work that is built on respect for existing practices and connects to people already doing work at the local level.
Our work is experiential and action-oriented, in that we facilitate practical strategies so that initiatives are as far as possible geared towards ‘doing’ and shifting course when needed. To do this, we facilitate a way of working in the Global South in a way that aims to demystify urban initiatives.
We take narrative seriously and work to shift the understanding of big issues and build new stories together with organizations across the globe.
Our work is reflective as we promote honesty when it comes to assessing what is working and what isnt and to do so in constructive ways.
Finally, our work is based on acknowledging the value of global exchange. There is also a lot of value in cross-context learning and engagement. There are in fact many parallels across regions such as Latin America and Africa, and building bridges has a lot of potential.
