As part of our Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning efforts, we conduct annual impact reports on our Seed and Fellows Awards to better understand their impact on each cycle of Awardees and identify areas for improvement.
Building Beyond, developed with Creative Industries Fund NL, brings together artists from across the African continent to explore the built environment through community, creativity, and collaboration. Fellows receive €10,000 to deepen their practice, connect with peers, and imagine new futures.
The Cycle 3 impact report reveals how the Fellowship is shaping artistic growth, fostering cross-cultural exchange, and inspiring early signs of social change—while also highlighting key lessons in supporting diverse creatives across Africa and the Netherlands.
Read the Cycle 3 Building Beyond impact report
As in earlier Cycles, the connections made within the cohort over the course of the year were described by Fellows as one of the most meaningful aspects of Building Beyond. In the first reflection sessions at the mid-point of the programme, architect and urbanist Doha Ibrahim shared that the sense of community within the group had exceeded her expectations
“I did not expect that we would be that close, that we would find this much in common together, and that we would be this much in line with each other’s thinking.”
In both sets of reflection sessions as well as in the reporting, Fellows described how the cohort had become a community, from the intimacy of small conversations on the bus or over food to profoundly emotional bonding moments.
