Tamale's Inner Urban Ecologies

Cooperating countries: Ghana and Austria

Coordinating institution: University of Applied Arts Vienna, Baerbel Mueller, baerbel.mueller@uni-ak.ac.at

Partner institutions: University of Development Studies

Project duration: 1 September 2023 - 31 August 2025

Abstract:

TAMALE'S INNER-URBAN ECOLOGIES (TIUE) is a collaborative research project investigating the inner urban ecologies of Tamale, one of the fastest-growing cities in West Africa. The research will be conducted by a joint team from the University of Applied Arts Vienna (Angewandte) in Austria, and the University for Development Studies (UDS) - and in partnership with NUKU, the Center for Photographic Research and Practice in Tamale, Ghana.  

The project is based on anthropologist Anna Tsing’s notion of ‘third nature’, understood as the potential for landforms to support multi-species co-habitation communities through an awareness of the lively activities of all beings. Third nature approaches space and life from this position of awareness rather than exploitation. TIUE’s guiding interest is to identify complex spatial, environmental, and socio-economic structures and the characteristics and potentials of such co-habitation spaces, as well as future planning process models. These structures, characteristics and potentials will be researched through three selected sites in the city of Tamale which will serve as case studies.

TIUE’s interdisciplinary approach will encourage more inclusive, multi-species inner urban areas in the near future. The project will establish three interdisciplinary, site-specific (case study) workshops with students of architecture (Angewandte) and various scientific disciplines (UDS), young artists, and relevant members of the Tamale community.

TIUE proposes a work process model that synthesizes different methods of inquiry, bringing together the expertise of the two parties and the external partner: spatial and artistic ([A]FA, Angewandte), scientific and solution-oriented (UDS), and artistic and community-engaged (NUKU). TIUE expands on the already existing collaborative research network developed through Tamale Territories, a joint project realized between November 2020 and April 2023 that investigated the historic Tamale Waterworks & Forest Reserve, a relevant example of an inner-urban periphery.