Description//

The PID studio that I ran from September to November 2017 within the African Design Centre (ADC) research rotations programme in the camps of Kiziba and Kigeme in Rwanda involved three fellows from the ADC based in Kigali, and teams of ten to fifteen refugees in each camp.

The goals of this PID studio were threefold. Firstly, to improve the students’ understanding of forced migration in the Great Lakes region, cultivate their research and participatory skills and foster their creativity in communicating with different audiences and in dealing with complex issues. Secondly, to motivate future collaboration in the region between the schools of architecture, camp managers and refugees within the camps. Finally, to provide refugees with an opportunity to thoroughly comment on my doctoral research, lead a participatory process about issues related to young children’s learning from their own point of view, learn basic design tools and language, and foster their creativity and innovation in order to improve learning environments in their camps.