On Monday, March 3, 2025, a team from Aalto University in Finland, led by Prof. Saija Hollmén, co-lead of the Kumasi Trees Project, paid a courtesy visit to the International Programmes Office at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). The delegation included Doctoral Researcher Meeri Pitkänen, Taru Niskanen, and nine Architecture students from Aalto University.
The purpose of the visit was to finalize preparations for the implementation of the Kumasi Trees Project in collaboration with Prof. Daniel Duah, Dean of the International Programmes Office and project co-lead, along with Dr. Alexander Marful, Senior Lecturer in Architecture and co-lead of the project at KNUST. It also forms part of a studio programme for the Aalto students who are the third cohort following the signing of an MOU between the two universities.
Professor Daniel Duah warmly welcomed the team and expressed enthusiasm in this remarkable collaborative project.
It was announced that the communities of Dichemso and Bremang will be the first among 25 selected areas to serve as pilot sites for Green Urban Interventions. In these communities, students from Aalto and KNUST will work alongside local authorities, community members, and the Manhyia Palace to design and implement the first phase of tree planting and greenery development under the Otumfuo’s Kumasi Trees Project.
The three-week fieldwork will conclude with a Planting Day, graced by the presence of the Asantehene, who will participate in the tree-planting activities. As a gift from the King, the communities will receive trees, greenery, and landscaping, which they will cherish and maintain in his name for generations to come.
Also Present at the meeting were Miss Maame Ama Agyemang Opoku, a Ph.D. Architecture Student at KNUST, Mr. Livingstone Agbenorxevi, the Assistant Collaborations and Partnerships Officer, and Mr. Samuel Sarpong, the Visibility and Communications Officer.
