The DPU MSc ESD/SLURC learning alliance was established in 2017 to support transformative actions towards a socially and environmentally just Freetown. It brings together a number of partners: the DPU practice module of the MSc Environment and Sustainable Development (MSc ESD), the Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre (SLURC), Njala University, the Federation of Rural and Urban Poor (FEDURP) and Centre of Dialogue on Human Settlement and Poverty Alleviation (CODOHSAPA). Moreover, every year, a group of local interns and community facilitators have joined the alliance to strengthen the knowledge production process.

The work of the alliance builds upon numerous action-research projects jointly undertaken by SLURC and DPU, among them:Urban Africa Risk Knowledge (Urban ARK) and Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality (KNOW) and OVERDUE: Tackling the sanitation taboo across urban Africa.