03 Nov 2026
An exchange between South Africa, the Basque Country and Colombia explored how researchers and communities produce knowledge together through collective cooking, memory work and participatory research.
Held on 28 October 2026, “Creating knowledge together: Sociograms, collective cooking and urban transformations in the Global South” was organised by the Human Sciences Research Council’s (HSRC) Human Settlements Hub in collaboration with the Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law, and in partnership with the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and the University of Cape Town (UCT).
At the heart of the discussion was participation: who formulates research questions, whose interpretations count and how communities decide what happens to the knowledge they help produce.
Camilo Umaña shared an initiative at the Oñati Institute in which students contribute objects connected to experiences of war, justice and peacebuilding. The resulting exhibition connects personal narratives with public discussion, while requiring careful attention to emotional support and the risk of harm.
Igor Ahedo placed these methods within sustained participatory processes. Sociograms help identify influential actors and absent voices; their value depends on how communities use them to build shared concerns and influence decisions.
At Casa B in Bogotá’s Belén neighbourhood, cooking and sharing food create opportunities to discuss common problems and develop proposals. Sebastián Torres explained how participants use sociograms to map relationships and jointly interpret their experiences. Rotating cooking, documentation and cleaning tasks helps redistribute responsibilities and challenges the habitual assignment of care work to women.
Drawing on research in Cape Town, Bogotá, Delhi and Jaipur, Suraya Scheba examined relational well-being through youth initiatives and urban commoning. She highlighted how community practices can reshape belonging and dignity while remaining affected by inequality and histories of dispossession.
Participants also addressed the responsibilities of academic collaboration: returning findings to communities, strengthening their capacity to conduct research and sustaining exchanges that respect each territory’s circumstances.
