Urban Data Kosovo
In early October, the Kosovo Architecture Foundation hosted Sarah Williams, Associate Professor and Director of the Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism (LCAU) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on a visit to Pristina, Kosovo. The visit marked the beginning of the “Urban Data Kosovo” joint project that aims to introduce new “spatial mapping” and “urban data” curricula to local architecture schools in Kosovo.
The project team had fruitful meetings with Mr. Liburn Aliu, the Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning; Rector Edmond Hajrizi and Dean Lulzim Beqiri of the UBT College and UBT Architecture School; Rector Bujar Demjaha, Vice-Dean Elisa Nikolla and professor Adelina Tahiri of AAB College and AAB Architecture School; Mr. Avni Kastrati the head of Social Statistics and Census Manager at Kosovo Statistics Agency as well as Mr.Idriz Shala the head of KSA GIS Unit.
Throughout October and November 2021 the project team will continue its meetings with local academic and professional stakeholders to best identify and address their needs during this yearlong project. From December 2021 the project will start local capacity building, that includes an on-campus workshop at the MIT Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism during spring 2022.
This project is supported by a U.S. Embassy Pristina grant and administered by KUSA. The opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of State.
By Bekim Ramku, Director and Curator, Kosovo Architecture Foundation
