Prioritizing Partnership: action planning in Nairobi in times of polycrisis

Keywords: Partnership, Polycrisis, Nairobi, Internet, Action Research
Abstract Type: Virtual Paper Abstract

Abstract

What does equity in research mean in practice and are there are approaches to it that leverage contextual knowledge without also engendering extractive relationships? We answer this question through the description of a small-scale ICT/data community-based international development project we co-designed with Kenya-based partners and residents in the informal settlement of Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya. The project launched precisely when travel restrictions began to be imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project installed a community-based wireless internet infrastructure powered by solar panels, creating a wireless network across five public space sites. Four major project partners—ourselves at MIT, Kibera residents, and two Nairobi-based organizations: the Kounkuey Design Initiative and Tunapanda, negotiated the project and our relationships with one another through moments of a global health crisis, political strife, challenging climate moments, and operational difficulties. We found that even more than the importance of the groundedness was the importance of trust and transparency in partnerships. The project’s success in the pandemic challenges the long-held notion that international partners in development projects need to spend time on the ground to ascertain for themselves the viability and progress of projects. Instead, by design, the action research project centered local partners in Kibera.