Branches · Mbour, Senegal
CREATES
Research-action for ecological and social transformations
Lasting change must emerge from the territories themselves.
Most development research is designed far from the places it claims to serve. CREATES does the opposite.
I co-founded CREATES - the Research-Action Centre for Ecological and Social Transformations - and built it from the ground up: a transdisciplinary centre in Thiafoura, Mbour department, Senegal. From an idea and a piece of land to a registered organisation, a team, a portfolio of funded projects and a network of international partners.
The conviction behind it is simple: lasting change must emerge from the territories themselves. So we don't design solutions for communities - we design them with them, treating local knowledge as expertise rather than raw material. CREATES brings researchers, communities and practitioners together around action-research that crosses disciplinary lines, weaving natural and social sciences, local knowledge, innovation, art and data.
Research. Action. Transformation.
The stakes
Why the Sahel, why now
The Sahel is on the front line of the climate and food crisis - and home to one of the youngest populations on earth. This is where the questions of our century will be answered, or not.
65%
of Sahel land is degraded
300M
people affected across the region
70%
of the population is under 30
What we work on
Five pillars of transformation
01
Resilient & healthy food systems
Agroecology, nutrition and food sovereignty in a warming Sahel.
02
Land & natural resource governance
Tenure, commons and who gets to decide how land is used.
03
Social & solidarity economy
Local value chains and economic models that keep wealth in the territory.
04
Renewable energy & sustainable infrastructure
Solar, low-carbon building and the physical backbone of rural life.
05
Knowledge policies & arts
Whose knowledge counts - and how art, story and research can shift it. The axis closest to my own practice.
Delivering
Funded projects on the ground
A growing portfolio, backed by Swiss and international development funders - from concept notes to signed grants to field delivery.
Bey Diiwaan
Cultivating territories - an initiative rooting agroecology and culture in local communities.
Funder: Liechtenstein Development Service (LED)
NICE
Nutrition in City Ecosystems - healthy, sustainable food systems for growing urban areas.
Funder: Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC)
TERAL
Territory-based food systems and community-supported agriculture.
Funder: SOR4D / Swiss National Science Foundation
The network
Built with partners
CREATES does not work alone. It sits at the centre of a network linking universities, research institutes, Senegalese civil society and international funders.
Universities
- University of Bern
- University of Geneva
- University of Lausanne
- Swiss TPH
Research institutes
- CIRAD
- INRAE
Civil society
- IPAR
- ENDA Pronat
- DyTAES
- Nitidae
- Mélanzé
Funders
- Swiss National Science Foundation
- Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC)
- Liechtenstein Development Service
Atlas of agroecological initiatives
An interactive mapping platform to document and visualise agroecological initiatives across the Sahel - data as a common good.
atlas.creates.ngo