Using music as part of the AIR Network to highlight relationships

This case study is part of the SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities which has been developed by the SEI Initiative on City Health and Wellbeing. The Urban Toolbox is a collection of tools, developed within SEI or in coordination with SEI, aimed at supporting planning and decision-making for improving the health, well-being and resilience of city residents and urban systems more broadly.

This case study demonstrates how creative musical approaches can be used to share information.

Summary

One of the mini-projects conducted as part of the AIR Network used creative musical approaches, to focus on “Engaging with Industry” – trying to highlight the relationship between Mukuru residents (Mombasa, Kenya), the neighbouring industrial area on which so many residents depend for their livelihoods, and the pollution that this industry produces. The Engaging with Industry team included rapper Rafat Dehgamba, and together with Mukuru Kings and Suby he made a song called Mazingira, highlighting the issue of air pollution. The video features footage of the Hood2Hood festival, attended by over 1,500 Mukuru residents in September 2018.

The video has been viewed several thousand times, and was promoted by Rafat on local radio, highlighting the air pollution issue. Music has subsequently been used to promote other air quality-related issues in Mukuru, including projects exploring Using music as part of the Tupumue project to raise awareness of lung health | weADAPT