 A four-day urban profiling workshop was conducted in Kingston, Jamaica by UN-HABITAT’s Regional Office for Africa and the Arab States and the Training and Capacity Building Branch, with support from the University of West Indies (UWI).
The Ministry for Water and Housing in Jamaica hosted the workshop, which was officially launched by the Minister of State for Water and Housing, Mr. Clifford Everald Warmington, who is also the President of UN-HABITAT’s Governing Council.
The workshop was attended by 17 participants from Antigua, Barbuda, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as students from the University of Technology and representatives from UN-HABITAT and the University of West-Indies.
Participants were introduced to the main urban profiling themes and tools. They were later divided into small groups, each working on thematic or methodological components, revising, applying and improving the approach and its tools. Participants were also taken on a bus trip through Kingston, in order to see the various settlement types, from slums in the city surrounding to social housing downtown.
On being evaluated, the participants noted that what they liked best about the workshop was that it was interactive and it gave them the chance to share their national and international experiences. They suggested giving more country experiences and examples in the future in order to enrich the training workshop.
One of the key outcomes of the workshop was that participants reflected an understanding of tools, themes and necessary country specific adaptations for the implementation of the urban profiling. There was also the political will from the participating country’s governments to apply participatory approaches and involve a variety of stakeholders.
The purpose of the workshop was to build the capacity of national teams to undertake Urban Profiles independently in various cities to be able to use and adapt methodologies and guidelines at the city, national and regional levels. |
