Afield Social Development Project Receives Federal Government Funding

A project proposed by Afield co-directors Kai Wood Mah and Patrick Lynn Rivers will be realized with the help of a $74,728 research-creation grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The developmental grant will be used to design and construct two early childhood development (ECD) centre prototypes for the South African context. In addition to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 2030 agenda, the project will be used to understand the ways that grassroots organizations and social movements assert themselves in the shaping of the post-apartheid built environment. This social dynamic will be used to enhance the frequently staid application of evidence-based design.

The research-creation project depends on intense collaboration between Afield and local South African partners. Co-creators include government agencies, NGOs and CSOs, black women entrepreneurs who own and operate early childhood development centres in rural and urban township communities, and the communities in which the centres are located.