Located on a lush and steeply sloping 50-acre site at the University of Nairobi
Kabete campus, the WMI is envisaged as a functional and inspiring hub of
activities in the area of natural resource management and education for sustainable
development. The ‘Green Campus’ will be the home of the Institute
for Peace & Environmental Studies (WMI) of Noble Peace Prize Laureate Prof
Wangari Maathai. The institute is expected to meet stringent sustainability and
conservation criteria, aiming to achieve close to 100% carbon neutrality and
self-suffi ciency.
At the heart of the dhk scheme is the welcoming and dignifi ed democratic
space sheltered by a tensile canopy roof supported on tripod ‘tree-like’ columns
evoking the tree planting work of the GBM and the three legs of the traditional
African stool seen by Maathai as representing ‘democratic space, sustainable
and accountable management and ‘cultures of peace’.