Nairobi, 3 July 2015 -- UN-Habitat is exploring ways to improve the capacity of Kenyan urban planning schools to enable them to offer better quality education. Towards that end, the agency organised last week a consultative meeting for nine planning schools drawn from the country’s public universities.

The one-day Consultative Forum aimed at identifying a roadmap through which the Planning Schools in Kenya would partner with UN-Habitat to improve Planning education in Kenya. The schools include University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, Technical University of Kenya, Technical University of Mombasa, Eldoret University, Maseno University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology and Egerton University.

At the forum, attended by high level administrators from each of the universities, UN-Habitat and the Urban Planning Schools agreed to collaborate in reviewing and harmonization of the planning schools curricula in Kenya and to organize a national colloquium on improving planning education in Kenya by the end of 2015.

The high level administrators consisting of Heads of Departments and Chairmen of the Planning Schools resolved to enter into a partnership agreement with UN-Habitat through a Memorandum of Understanding that would be signed at a later date and confirmed their commitment to the collaboration.

Planning Education as a support tool for Sustainable Urban Development

The heads thanked UN-Habitat for facilitating the much needed review and harmonization of planning education curricula in Kenya, a process that will ensure quality of urban planning graduates is improved to meet both market needs and the emerging urbanization challenges.

As a way to fast-track the process, the Consultative Forum resolved to organize a joint three-day-workshop in August 2015 bringing together Urban Planning education stakeholders including Commission for Higher Education in Kenya, Ministry of Land Housing and Urban Development, Physical Planners Registration

Board, urban academic experts, Kenya Council of Governors’ Committee on Urban Development, Kenya Institute of Planners, UN-Habitat and UNEP. Improving Planning Education in Kenya is a component of the Support to the Sustainable Urban Development Sector in Kenya Project funded by Embassy of Sweden in Kenya, through the Regional Office for Africa of UN-Habitat.