Berkeley's Nairobi Slum Upgrading Project & UN-HABITAT

Professor Jason Corburn is delighted to report that he and partners from his collaborative slum upgrading project in Nairobi, focused on the Mathare Valley informal settlement, were invited to present at the 23rd Session of the Governing Council of UN-HABITAT, in April 2011.  Our partner organizations include the University of Nairobi, Slum/Shack Dwellers International, Muungano Support Trust (MUST) and Pamoja Trust.  Jason Corburn's project at UC Berkeley was also invited to join The Habitat Partner University Initiative, which aims to promote the cooperation between UN-HABITAT and institutions of higher education, to facilitate exchange and cooperation between and among universities in developing and developed countries, to link UN-HABITAT’s approach on sustainable urbanization with university curricula and to bridge the gap between theory and practice by strengthening knowledge management, training for practitioners, providing policy advise and by preparing students for the needs of cities.