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Everything reported below happened during the month of August 2023 😉

📋 Getting ready and kicking-off the training 🚀

Meeting with architects, architecture students and construction professionals 🤝🏽

One of the main objectives of the training program is to bring together around the same table all the profiles and professions involved in architecture, construction and urban development. While in July we organized several meetings with masons, electricians, site managers, plumbers, roofers and carpenters, represented by their local associations, to introduce them to the Innovation Lab and invite them to apply for the training, in August we focused on reaching out to the community of architects, students and contractors in architecture and construction. The 6-month training program will be an opportunity for the trainees, with their different but complementary backgrounds, to exchange their knowledge and create socio-professional networks capable of driving a significant change in favor of the democratization of regenerative architecture knowledge and practices in Sahelian cities.

Fine-tuning the curriculum 🗒️ and gearing up with technological tools 💻🥽

During August, we also worked hard on finalizing the training curriculum. The focus was on diversifying the themes (construction, urban planning, agriculture, insulation, design, local materials, heritage, etc.) and the pedagogical approaches to learning (online training, presential training, masterclasses, group workshops, etc.). The final version of the curriculum includes 7 modules:

• Module 1: Introduction and collaborative work tools: discovering the Kabakoo community, learning to learn, visualizing for success, etc;
• Module 2: Regenerative Architecture Workshop: learning to analyze and co-design regenerative architectures;
• Module 3: Local materials and architectural cultures: discover local Sahelian building materials and endogenous construction techniques, and how to revitalize them;
• Module 4: Learning from heritage: discovering the Sahel's built cultural heritage and how to draw lessons from it for regenerative architecture;
• Module 5: City of tomorrow: reflect on the Sahelian city of tomorrow and its specific urban, economic, social, environmental, cultural, land-related and other characteristics;
• Module 6: Regenerative design & storytelling: telling stories about architecture and regenerative futures in the Sahel;
• Module 7: Regenerative Urban Agriculture: learning how to integrate regenerative agricultural practices into the city and even at the architectural level.

Alongside the finalization of the curriculum, we have been gearing up with the tech tools that will help learners access, create and collaborate on information. Here's a video as we unpack the graphic tablets!

Selection of learners and kick-off of the first workshop 🚀🎯

As planned, we were able to select learners to participate in the cohort during the month of August! 20 learners from various backgrounds (architects, building engineers, masons, site managers, site supervisors, heritage and development students) were invited to take part in the first introductory workshop held on August 31!

During this first meeting, learners were able to get to know each other, familiarize themselves with Kabakoo's co-learning space and chat with some of the cohort's mentors, such as Mamadou Koné, Lassana Cissé and Ousmane Diakité!

For 4 hours, learners were taken on an exciting journey into the world of regenerative and highdigenous architecture. They were able to visit the Great Mosque of Djenné via augmented reality, then see it being 3D printed, visit the virtual museum of Kabakoo via virtual reality, take part in the launch of a drone and, above all, discuss the enormous potential of the training, in particular for the creation of a network of professionals around regenerative architecture in the Sahel and the ongoing transmission of knowledge to ensure the success of the training!

📢 Engaging with the community, building the movement 🛠️

💡 First masterclass of the month : The architectural creativity of Africa's youth

The first masterclass in August was an exciting encounter with a group of architecture students from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria: Abdulhameed YAKUBU, Amina MUSA, Rayyan GARBA and Khadija OYANKI. Forming a harmonious, dynamic and motivated team, they won fifth prize in the International Architectural Ideas Competition organized by the International Union of Architects! The competition invited participants to see the environment as a design resource for innovation, through the use of sustainable materials and innovative design approaches.

This masterclass enabled the community to learn more about what African youth are doing and creating, and to discover architectural and contemporary possibilities and imaginaries designed with earth and local and natural materials.

💡 Second masterclass of the month : Towards Afrocentric and endogenous urban patterns

During this second masterclass, we were pleased to welcome William Ahokpe, urban planner and doctoral student in urban and regional planning at Konya Technical University in Turkey. He introduced us to his current research topic, which revolves around endogenous urban and village forms and models in the secondary medium-sized towns of West Africa.

This meeting was an opportunity to discuss the challenges of growing urbanization in Sahelian and West African cities, while confronting the current urbanization model with the realities on the ground and the specific socio-economic features of these cities, leading to the non-adaptation of these models imported from northern countries to West African cities.

William's main message is the need to return to endogenous urban and village models, imbued with local intelligence and territorial management. This return is conditional on a re-learning of this endangered knowledge. It also requires adaptation to the realities of the 21st century. The Highdigenous approach found enormous resonance during the meeting, particularly thanks to its potential for imagining tomorrow's cities rooted in their territories, developed according to local models and fusing ancestral intelligence with contemporary technology.

The final discussion with the participants was very enriching, and offered the masons, workers and architects present an opportunity to exchange views with William on the cities they build, and the very strong impact their professions have on the way people live.

💡 Third masterclass of the month : Design and architecture in Afro-tropical environments: scalability

The third and final masterclass of August was with Noukpo Jean-Paul HOUNDEFFO, an architect and designer based in Benin. This time, our guest brought us the vision of a professional practitioner of architecture and design.

From product and furniture design, to architecture and urban planning, Noukpo has taken us on a journey where conceptual scales intertwine in favor of ingenious creative solutions adapted to Afro-tropical climatic and cultural contexts. Special emphasis was also accorded to the potential for regeneration through different conceptual scales.

Participants from different backgrounds were able to interact with the architect-designer and discuss the importance of detail in design.

Capitalization of the architectural and heritage works of Mamadou Koné 🔎🧱

During this month, Mamadou Koné, our training's architect "godfather", shared with us extremely important works from projects he has carried out during his career of surveying and rehabilitating heritage sites in Timbuktu, Djenné, Dogon Country, etc. These works contain an enormous amount of knowledge about local architectural and urban cultures in the Sahel.

And since regenerative architecture is also an architecture that regenerates ancestral and endogenous knowledge, we have begun to study these works in detail in order to capitalize on these creations and make them accessible to people interested in exploring regenerative futures in the Sahel.

🤔Challenges

With the launch of the cohort, workshops are held twice a week, with one masterclass per week. Over the next few months, the focus will be on knowledge creation, experimentation and capitalization. Our main challenge is to create continuous interest on the part of learners and the community around this exciting program!

We're also still looking for a plot of land on which to experiment with the students' regenerative architecture prototypes, as well as to build the future Kabakoo Academies eco-campus.

🎉 Upcoming Teasers:

For September, several activities and events are planned, from architecture workshops, heritage workshops, local materials workshops, to masterclasses with international experts, we'll have plenty to tell you next time! Stay tuned!

With Love & Hope from Bamako 💜💛

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