Overview
The Sankofa Dialogue is a new convening co-hosted by the Royal African Society and UrbanBetter, designed to mobilise Africa’s global intellectual capital and imagination in service of healthy, resilient, and hopeful urban futures.
Date: January 28, 2026
Time: 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Location: Brunei Gallery, School of Oriental and African Studies, London. 10 Thornhaugh Street, London WC1H 0XG
About the Event
The inaugural Dialogue marks the public launch of the RAS–UrbanBetter strategic partnership and establishes Sankofa as a new annual flagship platform within the UrbanBetter Academy’s New Coalitions programme.
Rooted in the Ghanaian concept of Sankofa – learning from the past to build the future – the Dialogue brings together leaders across generations, sectors, and geographies. Participants will explore how Africa’s deep histories, alongside historic and contemporary diasporas, can help reimagine existing systems and co-create new pathways for climate-resilient, healthy cities.
The event also marks the launch of the UrbanBetter Academy’s Diaspora Knowledge Hub for Healthy, Hopeful Urban Futures—a new institutional platform dedicated to mobilising diaspora intellectual capital through transnational knowledge diplomacy —and its first initiative, the African Diaspora Intellectual Capital Survey. The Hub is designed to enable sustained collaboration, learning, and action that extends well beyond the Dialogue itself.
Why this Dialogue matters
The Sankofa Dialogue is a foundational moment for UrbanBetter’s Academy and New Coalitions programme. It seeks to:
- Advance new thinking on cities as health and climate infrastructure
- Reframe the African diaspora as a strategic global knowledge and leadership asset
- Build intergenerational, cross-sector coalitions capable of sustained urban transformation
- Lay the groundwork for long-term institutional collaboration, exchange, and policy engagement
Who Should Attend
We warmly invite practitioners, scholars, policymakers, and diaspora leaders who are keen to actively contribute to shaping Africa’s healthy, sustainable urban development to join this moment of dialogue, imagination and co-design of the new Diaspora Knowledge Hub.
What to Expect
The Dialogue — guided by Dr Aliko Ahmed as Compere and Lead convener — will unfold in three connected parts, combining talks and co-design.
Part I: Remembering the future. Hope as infrastructure
The opening session features talks and a panel discussion from diaspora leaders and thinkers who will frame hope as a foundational force for healthy urban transformation, grounding the Dialogue in history and intergenerational knowledge and setting the scene for the rest of the Dialogue.
Opening Speakers
- Ms Arunma Oteh, Royal African Society Chairperson
- Lord Simon Woolley, Principal of Homerton College, Cambridge and Founder and former Director of Operation Black Vote.
- Prof Tolullah Oni, Clinical Professor at the University of Cambridge and Founder/CEO of UrbanBetter.
- Stella Okuzu, Interim CEO, Royal African Society.
Panel Discussion
(Moderator: Dr Gabriel Okello)
- Hafsat Abiola, President of Women in Africa Initiative and co-Founder/co-Lead of Project Dandelion.
- Dr Modi Mwatsama, Head of Capacity and Field Development for Climate and Health at the Wellcome Trust.
- Dr Rose Mutiso, Founder and Executive Director of African Tech Futures Lab, and Co-Founder of Mawazo Institute.
- Samuel Kasumu, co-Founder of Inclusive Boards and former Special Adviser to the UK Prime Minister.
Part II: Transnational knowledge diplomacy for healthy cities
The second part is highly interactive. Participants will engage in facilitated table discussions to collaboratively explore how diaspora leadership, reciprocal knowledge flows, and new coalitions can be organised to shape healthier cities across borders. This session focuses on the co-design of the Diaspora Hub programmes and initiatives.
Part III: Legacy and momentum. From dialogue to action
The final part brings participants together to reflect on tangible next steps. It will focus on translating ideas and relationships into shared commitments, clear pathways for continued engagement, and momentum beyond the Dialogue through the Diaspora Hub.
Join the Dialogue
The Sankofa Dialogue is an invitation to participate in shaping new institutional pathways for Africa’s urban futures, with a focus on health and climate resilience.
Date: 28 January 2026
Location: School of Oriental and African Studies, London. 10 Thornhaugh Street, London WC1H 0XG
Partners
Related resources
- Mobilising Diaspora Intellectual Capital for Africa’s Urban Future – The Sankofa Working Paper (2026)
- Between profit and prevention: Industry, responsibility, and planetary health in practice
- Sankofa Dialogue 2026
- Making the ‘Urban’ Better: Planetary health conversations on building healthy sustainable cities in the era of COVID-19 and beyond…
- ISUH Africa Urban Health Community of Practice
