Welcome to the website of the West Africa Built Environment Research Conference

The countries in West Africa (WA) are pushing for socio-economic development.  The construction sector has an important part to play in helping to realise these aspirations.  This necessitates an increased emphasis on research in the built environment, as a key contributor to developing capacity, knowledge and technologies for the sector.

The West Africa Built Environment Research (WABER) conference was initiated in 2008.  The objective is to provide a vehicle to help young built environment researchers in West Africa to develop their research work and skills through constructive face-to-face interaction with their peers and experienced international academics; supply a platform for interaction among more senior academics and an outlet for disseminating their research work; and to serve as a vehicle for developing the built environment field in Africa.

Three conferences have so far been organised, 2009-2011, bringing together ~300 academics, researchers and practitioners from the WA region and elsewhere. More than 180 research papers have been published in the proceedings of three WABER conferences: 2009 (25); 2010 (57) and 2011 (107). These papers offer some robust ideas for addressing some of the challenges facing the construction industry in Africa. They also provide a window into current research priorities and trends and, thus, offer an opportunity to understand the kinds of research work undertaken by built environment researchers in West Africa.  Through WABER, many early-career scholars in West African institutions have been helped to develop their research work and skills. The next WABER conference is scheduled to take place at Abuja, Nigeria on 24-26 July 2012.

The main people currently providing the infrastructure and academic leadership required for developing WABER include: Prof Will Hughes (University of Reading, UK); Dr Roine Leiringer (Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden); Dr Sena Agyepong (Ashesi University College, Ghana); Dr Emmanuel Adu Essah (University of Reading, UK); Dr Chris Harty (University of Reading, UK); Prof George Ofori (National University of Singapore); Mr Samuel Asare-Konadu (A-Kon Consults Ltd) and Dr Samuel Laryea (University of Reading, UK).

Please enquiries and information, please contact:

Dr Samuel Laryea

School of Construction Management and Engineering
University of Reading, PO Box 219, Reading, UK
RG6 6AW
Email: s.laryea@reading.ac.uk
Telephone: 00447949668955 or 00233244618851