Dr Jill Blau conducts research at Adventist University of Central Africa

As a Visiting Fellow at the Adventist University of Central Africa (AUCA) in Kigali, Dr. Jill Philine Blau is currently expanding her comparative research on urban commoning practices in collaboration with Rwandan scholar and alumni of Friedensau, Dr. Charles Hategekimana. Building on her work with collectives in Berlin, she explores how cooperatives, women’s associations, land- and housing-based initiatives, and community infrastructures in Kigali practice “working togetherness” and reflect on fairness, care, and intersectional justice in their everyday organizing. Through qualitative interviews and longitudinal engagement, the project aims to examine how different forms of commoning shape affective relations, inclusion and exclusion dynamics, and the creation of fair(er) social relationships, contributing to a broader understanding of relational and societal transformation across diverse urban contexts.