Stakeholder analysis and synergies

Since 2014 master students of the Faculty of Architecture and Arts at Hasselt University collaborate with students from Ardhi University in a parallel design studio envisioning inspiring, positive futures for challenged sites and communities. Here, ideas are crystalized in the design of a series of acupunctural interventions to create connective places for people of all walks of life. The studio's ambitions lie in searching for an architecture that is regenerative and distributive, building upon local (hi)stories, human and natural riches. More information can be found on the website of the masterstudio.

There is a clear synergy between the IUC project and the three ongoing joint PhD's between UHasselt and ARU, funded by the VLIR-UOS Global Minds programme. The PhD topics are; Design Practices and Livelihoods in Informally Produced Commercial Corridor spaces. (A Case of Shekilango Commercial Corridor in Sinza, Dar es Salaam); The Influence of Indigenous Dwelling Practices on Eco-tourism: The Case of Pastoral-Maasai Communities Along National Parks; Green Building Rating Systems: Applicability and Impact on Construction Process in Tanzania. There is thus a clear link with the domains of land-use planning, decent housing and urban transport.

Furthermore, two predoctoral visits were funded through the UHasselt Global Minds programme, offering two ARU staff members the opportunity to prepare a joint PhD proposal. One proposal on the topic “the role of design anthropological approaches in city-making” resulted in a joint PhD application which was awarded in 2018 with internal UHasselt BOF-BILA funding. The second visit on the topic “renewable energy towards sustainable development” took place in January 2020 and the joint PhD application was submitted in August, 2020. There is a clear synergy for both topics with the IUC project.

A linkage can be established with several ICP and ITP programmes funded by VLIR-UOS, e.g.:

• The advanced masters in Development Evaluation and Management, Governance and Development, Globalisation and Development. ARU staff can register for these ICP programmes which include courses on gender & development, qualitative development monitoring and evaluation. Specific courses/units can be offered at ARU and if topics of master dissertations & field research overlap, twinning can be organised between ARU and IOB students.

• The master in Transportation Sciences ("Road Safety in Low & Middle Income Countries") offers a 2-year multidisciplinary master programme with a unique focus and approach to Road Safety in Developing Countries. Students are trained to identify transportation and road safety issues in order to create innovative solutions by using an integrative approach based on three pillars: the individual, the environment and the society. This programme is offered on campus as well as in a distance learning format. In the third semester, a practical internship is included in the curriculum which students can carry out in their home country. More information can be found on this website. Besides the VLIR-UOS ICP Programme, Hasselt University developed a MOOC on ‘Transport systems and transport policy: An introduction’. This free online open course is available on this website. ARU staff can participate in this master programme and the internship can be linked to the IUC programme. In 2019, an ARU professor gave a guest lecture at UHasselt to students in this ICP.

• The master in Sustainable Development and the master of Human Settlements.

Furthermore, a link with certain ITP programmes can also be established, e.g. with the ITP “A Circular Coaching Program Bridging the Sustainability Needs of Entrepreneurs both South & North” (for the economy domain) and the ITP “International Module for Spatial Development Planning” (for the land-use planning domain).