The research project “Informal Appropriation of Public Space for Leisure Physical Activity in Lagos and Yaoundé (ALPhA)”, led by the University of Cambridge, in collaboration with the Universities of Lagos and Yaoundé, aims to re-imagine urban space for healthy, safe leisure physical activity in Lagos, Nigeria, and Yaoundé, Cameroon.
As part of this endeavour, following initial workshops in 2021, the project team held two follow on multi-sectoral stakeholders co-design workshops on May 31 and June 7, 2022, in Lagos, Nigeria, and Yaoundé, Cameroon, respectively. The purpose of these workshops were to share study findings and to work with the stakeholders to re-imagine urban public spaces for safe inclusive physical activity.
The workshop was attended, in person and virtually (via zoom), by 32 delegates in Lagos and 43 delegates in Yaoundé, representing organisations from diverse sectors including academia/professional, government, multilateral, non-governmental/civil society and private sector organisations.
Workshop participants gained a better understanding of the relationship between health and public spaces and of the preliminary findings from the ALPhA project. They also shared their perspectives on governance of public spaces informally appropriated for physical activity in Yaoundé and Lagos.
During the workshops, stakeholders undertook a public space re-imagination exercise. They were presented with a selection of public space sites identified by the project that are regularly appropriated for physical activity. Guided by a framework for considering health risks, participants identified strengths of each site (features that were supportive of safe physical activity), site weaknesses (features that posed health risks) and identified opportunities to re-imagine and shape each of those sites to make them more conducive for physical activity.
OUTPUTS
Read the detailed workshop reports for the Lagos and Yaoundé workshops and the accompanying policy brief.
In addition, we invite you to read the assessments and reimaginations of the public spaces appropriated for physical activity conducted by the stakeholders.
