The manual was created as a part of the Amu Fakhri Yangu: Kawanda La Ustawi project (Amu My Pride: Space for Prosperity), which was implemented from June 2024 to February 2025. The project aimed to promote the role of heritage and community participation in public space activation. In August 2024, we conducted a series of activities that culminated in the activation of Lamu’s main public open space – Mkunguni Square. We focused our efforts on a space that was in principle already functioning well. However, our goal was to explore various ways to engage the community in a process centred on urban heritage, highlighting its values and importance for potential improvements to the space itself. Amu Fakhri yangu - Heritage & Play Over the course of three weeks, we explored urban heritage from the community’s perspective, conducted training in traditional crafts, and discussed the challenges of growth within the context of a World Heritage Site alongside various stakeholders. Prior to engaging in the activation of the public space, we conducted a series of preparatory steps to better understand the needs of the community and the open space. These steps, along with the lessons learned from the process, have been encapsulated in this manual and presented in an exhibition at Lamu Fort. While we dedicate this manual to the community of Lamu, we also hope it serves as a valuable resource for professionals and communities in other areas facing similar challenges. The manual is available free for download in English and in Swahili: Manual - English Manual -Swahili The project Amu Fakhri Yangu is funded by Creative Industries Fund NL ( Stimuleringsfonds) Exhibition launch at Lamu Fort

In 2024, the groundwork for the redevelopment of the Majestic Culture Hub has officially been laid. The finalized Conservation Management Plan (CMP) sets the stage for adaptive-reuse of the cinema that will enhance the building's infrastructure and community amenities. In 2025, we’ll kick off the first phase of construction. We’re currently working on repairs for the roof and concrete, planning climate control systems, and handling structural engineering. Tenders for this initial phase will be released soon, with construction expected to begin later this year. Reading and storytelling events for children in the pop-up space Meanwhile, the Majestic Culture Hub is already active in a pop-up format. Musa Msemembo invites everyone to learn about our plans. We’ve launched exciting collaborations, including a monthly film night for young Zanzibari filmmakers and weekly reading and storytelling events for children, organized with the Zanzibar Renaissance Literary Society. There is also a small library in the space for everyday use.  Film night for young Zanzibari filmmakers The space also hosts community meetings organised in partnership with ZIFF, Busara, and (Re)claim Women Space. With these activities, the Majestic Culture Hub is becoming a key place for culture and community in Zanzibar. We have recently also received delegations from the Dutch goverenment and UNESCO. Stay tuned for more updates! UNESCO delegation visiting the Majestic Culture Hub The economic team of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tanzania visitng Majestic Culture Hub

AAMatters is part of the EU-funded project  P.U.R.E. (Pemba Urban Resilience and Ecosystem-Based Approaches) , a three-year initiative focused on enhancing the safety, inclusivity, resilience, and sustainability of urban areas in northern Pemba through a multi-stakeholder approach. The AAMatters team is dedicated to building capacity among district authorities in integrated urban planning and management while also improving green and public spaces for women and children through a participatory approach. Over the past year, we have conducted several workshops and begun designing playgrounds in various locations. Below is a brief overview of our activities. Workshops with children Community mapping and GIS-trainings As the P.U.R.E. project focuses on the urban environment, AAMatters seeks to engage a diverse range of stakeholders, including local government professionals, authorities, shehas, school leaders, and members of civil society organizations (CSOs), in integrated urban development efforts. Capacity-building activities commenced in June with a training session on urban policies and guidelines for sustainable urban development, conducted in collaboration with Kijani Pemba. This was followed by community mapping sessions designed to familiarize community members with easily accessible digital tools (Kobo Toolbox) and to teach them how to document urban points in the field while identifying challenges and opportunities. In parallel, AAMatters held a series of workshops in June and November focused on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping, aiming to equip participants with foundational and practical skills. Approximately 25 participants from local government attended these workshops, covering key topics such as fundamentals of navigating the GIS interface, importing and layering geographic data for urban analysis, creating basic map outputs to visualize land use, understanding fundamental map keys based on purpose, utilizing open-source platforms like QGIS, processing and visualizing spatial data for urban planning scenarios, and exporting maps for stakeholder presentations. GIS training Upgrade of urban play and recreation areas As part of the project, AAMatters will also improve a number of playgrounds and sports fields. After a pre-selection of sites following discussions with key stakeholders, the AAMatters team conducted a series of participatory workshops with children. The workshops started with a general open call at primary schools to “draw your dream playground.” Following this, three sessions were held in both districts, with an average of 60 participants. These sessions progressed from familiarizing the children with creative skills using playdough and paint to exercising both gross and fine motor skills with clay and building blocks. The last session focused on designing and using maps to draw the site plan of the specific playgrounds and create symbols for design elements. All work was presented and discussed among each other. Upgrade of urban play and recreation areas - workshops Upgrade of urban play and recreation areas - workshops In parallel, discussions with community members and other stakeholders were held on the sites, analyzing the current situation and suggesting wishes and needs for future use. In a closing session, initial conversations about operation and maintenance were conducted. At present, the AAMatters team is working on translating the concepts that resulted from the workshops into draft designs, after which tender procedures and construction will take place later in the year. Stakeholder meetings

On the 13th of November we will have the pleasure to present our project Amu Fakhri Yangu in Amstelkerk, Amsterdam.  ICOMOS Netherlands kicks off its lecture series with a meeting on Heritage based developments in Lamu and Zanzibar . Together with our partners from Lamu and longstanding collaborators from Zanzibar we will be exploring the various facets of heritage and its potential for the transformation of contemporary urban environments.  Joining us for this event are:  Mr. Mohammed Mwenje , the Curator on National Museums of Kenya, Lamu - who will introduce us to Lamu Old Town and share his insights from the Amu Fakhri Yangu project and challenges of community involvement in WHS.  Khwemah Sykes , the office manager for Hifadhi Zanzibar Ltd., a heritage management company based in Stone Town, Zanzibar, spearheading the adaptive re-use of the Majestic Cinema into a Culture Hub.  The event will be moderated by Daan Lavies from ICOMOS Netherlands.  Please note: Registration is required for this event through this link .  Entrance fee: ICOMOS members - free, non-ICOMOS Members - 5 euro Optional: Light meal & drinks before lecture - 15 euro, ICOMOS & non-ICOMOS Members  Event programme:  18.30 Drinks and light meals  19.30 Introductory presentation  Liaison between Stone Town of Zanzibar & Amsterdam - Paul Morel  19h45 Presentation on Lamu - Kenya Lamu My Love: A ground for prosperity - Mohammed Mwenje & Iga Perzyna 20h15 Break 20h30 Presentation on Zanzibar - Tanzania Hifadhi Zanzibar in practice - Khwemah Sykes & Berend van der Lans 21h Q&A 22h End To read more about the Amu Fakhri Yangu project check out our website and LinkedIn .  For more on our collaborations in Zanzibar see: Hifadhi Zanzibar Ltd . Majestic Cinema & Majestic Culture Hub .    The event is co-organised together with Stadsherstel Amsterdam & ICOMOS Netherlands. The project Amu Fakhri Yangu is funded by Creative Industries Fund NL ( Stimuleringsfonds) Workshop in Lamu Old Fort, 2024.

It is with great regret and sorrow that we inform you about the passing of our long-time board member, chairman, friend and mentor Ben Christiaanse. We would like to take this opportunity to express our condolences to Margreet and the rest of his family and thank Ben for all his support. Ben’s over 40 years of banking experience in Europe and Africa was a great asset to our organisation, that it came with Ben’s warmth and kindness was at least as important. Our first encounter with Ben was back in 2008. As a CEO of the National Microfinance Bank in Tanzania, he extended a helping hand for the founding of a modest museum at Mtoni Palace in Zanzibar. From that moment onwards he never shied away from giving us advice. This advice took a structural turn when - in collaboration with Stadsherstel Amsterdam - we got involved in the explorations for the start of a real estate company for monumental properties in Zanzibar. Thanks to his input a group of local investors stepped into this venture that became Hifadhi Zanzibar Ltd. Hifadhi is currently restoring and managing an Omani palace and is soon to start the refurbishment of Majestic Cinema in Stone Town, Zanzibar’s UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2012 Ben became the obvious choice for AAmatters' chairman, once that seat became vacant. He combined a critical look on the feasibility of our plans, budgets and projects with a warm friendship that became stronger every year. His dedication remained uncontested, also after managerial changes and a growing team. Ben will be dearly missed. Ben Christiaanse in one of the pre-shareholders meetings of Hifadhi, Zanzibar in 2014.

On the 14th of October AAMatters will participate in an afternoon dedicated to critical exploration and (re)imagining the future of African cities. The event kicks-off with panel discussions featuring mentors and practitioners from the Building Beyond Programme, followed by an hour long presentation by AAMatters in which we will explore the practicalities and challenges of mapping as a tool of integrated urban development together with Ali Khamis from the planning department in Zanzibar and concludes with a talk by Rem Koolhas revisiting his numerous encounters with the city of Lagos. The programme accompanies the exhibition Water Cities Rotterdam by Kunle Adeyemi and there will be opportunities to view the exhibition between the talks and presentations. The event is ticketed, part 1 and 2 are free. You can sign up for any of the parts here Programme overview: 14:00 – 16:00 hr: Part I: Building Beyond Prescribed Futures 16:00 – 17:00 hr: Part II: Foundations for Future African Cities 17:00 – 18:00 hr: Network drinks and Detour through Water Cities Rotterdam 18:00 – 19:30 hr: Part III: Revisiting Lagos with Rem Koolhaas 19:30 hr: Network drinks and Detour through Water Cities Rotterdam 22:00 hr: End of evening For more information on the individual parts see: Reimagining Future African Cities The event is organised by the Nieuwe Instituut, together with the Prince Claus Fund and the Creative Industries Fund NL and AAMatters. @

AAMatters will be a part of the Mobile Lab Egypt taking place in Cairo. It is a four-day long programme co-curated by May al-Ibrashy, Megawra—Built Environment Collective & Prince Claus Fund, featuring a symposium on the built environment in the context of Africa, visits to cultural sites, an exhibition, workshops and lectures at Tahrir Cultural Centre with cultural practitioners from various disciplines. AAMatters will participate in the public symposium "Rethinking the Built Environment in the African Context: Ethics, Methods and Interdisciplinarity'' taking its cue from the ideas on built environment, education and interdisciplinarity developed by Tahayyuz (an alliance formed by Megawra, 10 Tooba, and Mansour for Architecture and Conservation) and will host a workshop "Mapping Revisited: a critical look at mapping as a methodology for integrated urban development". Both events are open to the public. For more information see: Mobile Lab Egypt Public Symposium, 16th of September 2023 Mobile Lab Egypt Workshops, 18th of September 2023

The Canadian Centre for Architecture has shortlisted sixteen applicants from which eight will be selected for the Mellon Research Project on “Centring Africa: Postcolonial Perspectives on Architecture,” catalysed by the AAM archives donated to CCA in 2016. We are happy to see that the collections of Georg Lippsmeier, Coen Beeker and Kiran Mukerji, previously under the custodianship of AAMatters in Utrecht, will reach a broader audience and contribute to the ongoing research on development of architecture in sub-Saharan African countries after independence. The material was originally donated to Antoni Folkers who as a student worked in the 1980s with Coen Beeker in Ouagadougou and later in the 1990s with Lippsmeier and Mukerji in Dar es Salaam. We wish all the shortlisted candidates a lot of success!

It’s been a long time in the making, but the first conservation plan for the Uganda National Museum is finally available for download. We have been working alongside a fantastic team composed of historians, architects, designers, conservation specialists, museum staff and managers to produce the CMP. The interdisciplinary team behind the project gives a hint of the extent of expertise that goes into the creation of documents like this. The CMP is not only a tool that enables the building owner (or manager) to plan activities in a structured way in order to safeguard the building and harness its potential, but it is also an invaluable record and source of information on its history. In the process of creating the CMP the team: researched the history of the building, investigated changes and developments of the museum, assessed its condition and defined its cultural, social and architectural significance. We are very proud of being a part of this project and look forward to working on other CMPs in the future . The CMP can be downloaded from the Getty Foundation report library. Find out more about the project here.

On the 15th and 16th of February we were at Kigali Community Based Processes forum! The even was co-organised by Enabel, the University of Rwanda and the Ministry of Infrastructure of the Republic of Rwanda and was held in the Faculty of Architecture and Environmental Design of the University of Rwanda. The overall objectives of the Forum were: To Reinforce and widen the community of practice and ownership around the Manifesto. To widen participation from the private sector, academia, development and governmental partners in East Africa. To stimulate the wider application of community-based processes, making interventions more sustainable in both socio-economic and environmental aspects. AAmatters were one of the many and very interesting presentations during this exciting weekend. The presentations and discussion were divided under three main categories: Construction / Community Driven Processes for Climate Responsive Design Urbanism / Upgrading unplanned settlements Space Management / Homegrown solutions If you are curious to see our Forum presentation, you can find it here! Being part of the Forum was a fruitful, interesting and challenging experience. We hope that this exchange of experiences and knowledge will widen the participation from the private sector, academia, development and governmental partners in East Africa. More info here: https://www.climate-design.org/

The proceedings of the Community Based Processes conference in Kigali, Rwanda are out now! Last February AAMatters was part of the Community Based Processes for Climate Responsive Design forum at the University of Rwanda in Kigali, organised by Enabel. The aim of the workshop was to raise awareness around the critical importance of community-driven processes and their potential to drive a positive impact on the local ecosystem in terms of design and construction process for sustainable and long-lasting buildings and environments. The manifesto captures and explores various community-based processes from the design and construction, transition settlements and home grown solutions perspectives. The manifesto highlights best practices and insights of initiatives implemented across the five countries that were represented at the workshop. The book highlights three key messages strongly. The undeniable power of community in shaping its surroundings and as a collective voice showcases positive change, transforming spaces to meet their needs, aspirations and heritage. The indispensable role that communities play in the sustainability and success of any project as the driving force behind initiatives, taking ownership and ensuring longevity. Communities play a pivotal role in an era of climate change through their accumulated wisdom and deep-rooted connections to their places. Being part of the Forum was a fruitful, interesting and challenging experience. Together with the other participants, we hope that this exchange of experiences and knowledge will widen the participation from the private sector, academia, development and governmental partners in East Africa. You can find the full publication visiting our open Library!

On Wednesday April 12 at 7pm, Africadelic, in collaboration with African Architecture Matters, presents the Dutch premiere of Tug of War (Vuta N'Kuvute) in film theatre Kriterion in Amsterdam. This award-winning film about love and resistance in the final years of British colonial rule in Zanzibar received its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and was Tanzania's second Oscar entry ever (and the first in over two decades) – and now you can watch it on the big screen in the Netherlands! With an introduction by Elisabeth Hesemans, who was involved as an actor trainer in the production of the film, and Franka van Marrewijk, who lives and works in Dar es Salaam and is a member of African Architecture Matters, an organisation involved in the redevelopment of Majestic Cinema in Zanzibar, where parts of the film were shot. The evening also serves as a pre-announcement of the Africadelic Festival 2023, which will take place from May 24-31 at various locations across Amsterdam. Africadelic2023 x Kriterion: Tug of War (Vuta N'Kuvute, NL premiere!) Date: Wednesday April 12, 2023 Time: 7pm Venue: Kriterion Title: Vuta N'Kuvute (Tug of War) Director: Amil Shivji Country: Tanzania Year: 2021 Duration: 92 min Language: Swahili Subtitles: English Extra: Introduction by Elisabeth Hesemans and Franka van Marrewijk More info & RSVP: www.facebook.com/events/1386626565473015 Tickets: www.kriterion.nl/films/tug-of-war Trailer here Synopsis Tug of War On the coast of the ancient trading port in the ‘Spice Islands’ of the Indian Ocean, under British protectorate and overseen by the Sultan of Oman, Denge, a young Mswahili revolutionary, fights for a free Zanzibar. Denge and his companions import socialist pamphlets and distribute Swahili translations around the island. They stage uprisings in dance halls and clubs from foreigners to demand political independence. Denge dreams of nothing else, until he meets Yasmin. She is a young Indian-Zanzibarian woman in search of her own forbidden freedoms and she didn't expect to be intrigued by Denge's mysteries… About Africadelic Africadelic is an annual festival on and around International Africa Day (May 25) celebrating the cultural creativity, diversity and community from Africa and the African diaspora. The Africadelic Festival is an ode to the motherland, its cultural riches, and the impact that Afrodescendants, i.e. people of African descent, have on global culture and society. From May 24-31, 2023, the festival offers another week full of concerts, films, talks and other engaging events in Amsterdam. This premiere screening of Tug of War in Kriterion serves as the pre-announcement of the festival in May. See you there!