„Re-Imagining Dadaab: From Refugee Camp to Urban Future”: Exhibition and Panel Discussion on Transforming Protracted Displacement

Dadaab has been „temporary“ for 33 years. Three generations have been born there. Today, 430,000 refugees live in what’s legally designated a camp but functions as a city – without the rights, infrastructure, or opportunities cities provide. Another 150,000 people live in surrounding host communities.

What would it take to transform Dadaab into the city it already is, but isn’t allowed to be? This exhibition presents work from two interconnected initiatives: an international student design studio at ABK Stuttgart, led by Prof. Fabienne Hoelzel and AA Lisa Dautel, and ongoing research at the Chair of Urban Design, directed by Prof. Hoelzel. Together, they offer both visionary proposals and rigorous analysis of protracted displacement.

What You’ll Experience:

• Urban Wheel – Participatory decision-making framework
• Women of Dadaab – 29 testimonies on gendered displacement
• What Next, Dadaab? – Exploring future possibilities
• Perpetual Limbo – The political economy of protracted encampment
• From Camp to City – Dadaab’s urban reality
• Provocations, Not Masterplans – Speculative urban interventions
• Framework to Implementation – Practical tools catalog
• Tools to Context – Strategies for scaling up

The audacious goal? Frameworks for transforming protracted displacement – not just in Dadaab, but anywhere people remain trapped in „temporary“ arrangements that have become permanent.

About the Event

This joint initiative by SIA Geneva Section and the SIA International Network coincides with UNHCR’s Global Refugee Forum Progress Review 2025 (December 15–17, 2025).

Prof. Fabienne Hoelzel will engage with representatives from politics, business, and civil society to discuss emerging challenges in humanitarian aid and possibilities for sustainable urban planning in international crisis zones.

Panel Discussion Topics:

• What comes after the collapse of (American) aid funding?
• What is Switzerland’s role in humanitarian response?
• How can engineers and architects contribute to displacement solutions?
• How can we reinvigorate the nexus between peacebuilding, humanitarian aid, and development cooperation?

Programme

From 6 p.m.
Arrival of participants

6:30 p.m.
Welcome by SIA Geneva Section

6:35 p.m.
Introduction to the topic by Fabienne Hoelzel

6:40–7:15 p.m.
Panel discussion

7:15 p.m.
Questions and discussion

7:30 p.m.
Aperitif

Event without registration.

Join us for an evening of critical dialogue on one of our era’s most pressing challenges.