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Salvaging Hope

A canadian team worked with residents to help them re-think the future of their neighbourhood. Photo: Laval Univeristy's school of architecture

2008-10

In October 2007, André Casault, a professor of architecture at Laval University, led two research colleagues and a dozen graduate students to an impoverished suburb of Dakar, Senegal to carry out an urban planning experiment.

During an intensive three-day workshop in Malika, the Canadian team worked with a broad cross-section of residents to help them re-think the future of their neighbourhood. Participants included farmers and herders, as well as government authorities, women’s group representatives, waste salvagers and recyclers. In addition to laying the groundwork for reconciling many competing interests, the workshop encouraged participants to safeguard the environment, their food and their health more effectively.

IDRC Photo: Normand Blouin

“We had 80 to 100 people all the time, who were staying until six in the evening. We couldn’t solve all the problems in three days, but it was a beginning. It was also a valuable intercultural learning experience for the Canadian students. Their designs gave shape to the ideas put forth by local residents. In this kind of participatory process, everyone has knowledge to share,” says Casault.

Malika, which has about 7 000 inhabitants, certainly has its share of challenges. Humans and animals mix freely within houses, creating health and environmental hazards. Fresh water is in short supply. Meanwhile, urban encroachment and frequent floods are swallowing up precious farmland, which heightens tensions among farmers, livestock herders and other residents. Add to that a 175-hectare dumpsite on the edge of Malika that receives all the household and solid industrial waste from the capital, Dakar — about 475 000 tonnes annually. Despite its toxic nature, the dump is home to hundreds of salvagers and recyclers, and provides work for thousands more.

Tackling challenges

The workshop proposed urban design alternatives that could make the neighbourhood — in all its facets — more productive and environmentally sustainable. Design alternatives include adding a verdant, food-producing layer around the houses to protect them from the sun and improving the control of natural light and ventilation. House design modifications could separate the chickens and goats raised on the property from indoor living spaces. Rooftop gardens could also ease the pressure on farmland and enable families to save money on food and earn income by selling surplus food.

Urban agriculture is becoming a necessity. For several years, the African Institute for Urban Management (IAG U) has researched ways to improve both quality of life and the environment in and around the dumpsite. It has discovered that soil contamination extends 50 metres outside the dump, which means that food grown in traditional gardens is no longer healthy. IAG U was pleased the Laval team’s workshop reinforced rooftop gardens as a viable alternative.

Encouraging this practice will complement IAG U pilot projects that support food security, health and income-generation. These initiatives include establishing a pig-raising cooperative, installing public taps to improve access to drinking water, and setting up a micro-credit system to help improve animal breeding and agricultural practices.

A comprehensive approach

Photo: Laval Univeristy's school of architecture

Both the Laval team’s workshop and IAG U’s research are supported by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), which helped the two groups to connect and draw on each other’s strengths. For its part, IAG U welcomed the Laval team’s comprehensive approach to urban planning. “We’re not so presumptuous to think we can do everything,” says Oumar Cissé, IAG U’s Executive Secretary. “There are so many questions! They have interesting components, such as the rooftop gardens, which we can integrate into our work.”

Casault and Cissé point out that the dumpsite is both a toxic wasteland and a valuable source of employment. “There are 3 500 people who make a living from the dump every day,” Cissé says. “One man collects doll parts, and builds new ones. Another collects stuffing from sofas, washes it and turns it into pillows. These people are very well organized and highly efficient. One of our goals is to develop alternative work for them.”

People: a valuable resource

To that end, IAG U has been encouraging the municipal government to see salvagers and recyclers as a valuable resource. Some could work in the various depots where Dakar residents bring their waste before it is shipped to the dumpsite. The municipality could also segregate waste before hauling it to the dump — this would provide employment and also make life easier for those still working in the dumpsite. Salvagers and recyclers could also play a role in any future recycling program that collects goods before they reach the landfill.

IDRC Photo: Normand Blouin

“It’s a long-term process, and we can’t go in with our own agenda,” says Cissé. “You have to build confidence, and you need a lot of humility. Look at what’s going on in the communities already! People are coming up with their own solutions, and we should support them.”

Casault’s team upholds the same values. In partnership with the community, it hopes to embark on a new phase that will build prototypes for more sustainable houses and train people in urban agriculture techniques. “The research has to continue in a participatory way,” he says. “We are really acting as mediators.”

Adapted from an article first published in the October 2008 issue of Uniworld, published by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada.

Mark Foss is an Ottawa-base writer.

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