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Over the last two weeks, the DPU has had the pleasure to welcome and host members of staff from the recently established Sierra Leone Urban Development Centre (SLURC) here in London.  The aim of the Centre is to build the research and capacity of urban stakeholders in Sierra Leone as well as to deliver urban knowledge that is influential and accessible to residents of informal settlements and their organisations. The visit was part of an intensive Knowledge Exchange Programme that was designed and run by DPU staff and PhD students, and which officially ended last Friday 18th March.

The Knowledge Exchange consisted of a series of workshops, seminars, lectures and meetings with like-minded institutions and individuals in the cities of London and Manchester. It has allowed both organisations to share knowledge and experiences that which will feed into the work that is being carried out in Freetown, were the Centre is based. Moreover, different actors and professionals in the urban development field in London have warmly welcomed this working partnership, expressing their interest in future collaborations.

Last week, members of SLURC and the DPU were invited to share their experiences about their ongoing work in Freetown as part of the exchange. In this talk, (DPU) and Joseph Macarthy (SLURC) were joined by representatives of and to reflect on the challenges, potential and lessons learned from their projects as part of Comic Relief's 4-cities Initiative.