About Urban Action Lab

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

 

The lab team conducts research to identify leverage points for transitioning towards greater urban resilience

 

01

Foster Cooperation & Collaboration

02

Stakeholders Engagement to contribute to public policies

03

Promote Citizens Agency

04

Shared Visions for the Future

Objectives of UAL

  • 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 bring and partner with other urban scholars (both national and international), activists, planners, policymakers, 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.
  • To attract new partners to the Lab and create new avenues for collaboration.