“One must go out of one’s house to begin learning…” The Kokrobitey Institute provides a unique environment for learning and creative exploration.
Centered on principles of sustainable development in art, design, and technology in the developing world, the institute is involved in ongoing education and studio projects designing learning materials, bags, and fashion accessories made with recycled materials. The Kokrobitey Institute is located in a small fishing village only about 20 miles outside of the capital of Ghana, Accra. Students would
therefore have a place of peace and quiet to focus on their work, while also having easy access to explore the city and see different parts of Ghana as part of their educational experience. The Institute is a meeting ground for international students, artists, and designers interested in environmentally conscious design practices. Studying in Ghana provides a place for students to safely experience what it means to be in a developing nation. Ghana is one of the most stable countries in Africa, and is developing at an exponential rate. The climate is rife with interesting intersections of merging cultures and shifting economies as the global market economy moves in and encounters the local village economies. The rapid growth occurring in Ghana makes it the perfect place to
explore sustainable design practices. A major project at the moment is the GSB (Ghana School Bag) project. The GSB is made from advertising banner (flexi), inner tube from tires, PVC piping, webbing and African fabrics. The bag serves as a symbol for educating the children of Ghana (and the world) about sustainable design and the importance of recycling to maintain a clean and healthy environment. The GSB project is currently collaborating with the Omega schools, a quickly developing school system in Ghana. Since the inception of this project, Kokrobitey has distributed over 27,000 school bags and looks forward to introducing a new GSB product to meet a 2015 distribution goal of 15,000 bags. The local school is functioning as a place to develop a prototype of a curricular model that will be distributed with the bags to the various Omega campuses. The model focuses on health, sanitation, and the environment, but also ties these subjects and projects related to them to other subjects that they will be taught in the classroom, including geography, history, science, and art and design.
