The interdisciplinary SES project (Social Inclusion and Energy Management for informal Urban Settlements) is a transnational partnership involving three Ethiopian Universities (University of Gondar, Mekelle University and Addis Ababa University) and three European Universities (Danube University Krems (Austria); University of Kassel (Germany) and University of Twente (The Netherlands) under the European Commission’s Erasmus+ program, The project will run for three years starting from October, 2017. As part of the primary objective of the project is to generate interdisciplinary knowledge on how to create and enhance inclusive and sustainable urban neighbourhood, the project involves the organization of a national consultative workshop which marks an important milestone in the course towards strengthening Ethiopian and European universities alliance for knowledge and skill on the process of creating inclusive and sustainable urbanization in Ethiopia.
This interactive event will be held in Gondar, Ethiopia on September 29-30, 2017. As per the project document, the University of Gondar (UoG) will take the lead to coordinate this event.

Urbanization in Ethiopia follows similar patterns as in the rest of the majority of the developing world. As the pressure on land and finance available to build decent and affordable housing unit to accommodate the soaring urban population's demand for housing becomes scarce, informality pervades the housing stock. Settlement informality is usually characterized by dwelling and land tenure insecurity, low quality houses and inadequate or lack of infrastructure and basic social services. In addition slums are the most deprived form of settlement characterized by inadequate supply of basic infrastructure and facilities, and are constantly exposed to disease and violence. Local authorities often have restrictive, authoritarian and sometimes negative attitude towards squatters and slum residents. This national consultation meeting will offer a programme of activities allowing open dialogue among relevant stakeholders and HEIs, constructive critique and self-reflection regarding the issue. It will also provide an opportunity to have a field visit on the practices of housing informality and poor urban slum areas in the city of Gondar.

Aims and objectives:

This event will provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of:

1. The need for inclusive for sustainable urbanization aiming to address urban development imbalances

2. The need for participatory slum upgrading by engaging all key urban stakeholders, and

3. Spatial and socio-economic analysis of current informal settlements and slum dwellers, which will initiate students in doing their research in the field.

Program