The conceptual design for the Muni Environmental Education Center imagines buildings, public spaces, nurseries, and experimental agricultural fields for the preservation and wise use of Ghana’s Muni Lagoon. The Center is located in the West African coastal region where native vegetative and hydrological systems are increasingly compromised with unregulated population growth, resulting in housing and agricultural challenges. Through its shared facilities and programs, the Lagoon Center will provide new opportunities for the citizens, raise the profile of the city of Winneba in the region and country, and serve as a model for other communities to meet the goals for coastal environmental stewardship.

Over the last five years, an interdisciplinary collaboration of leaders and stakeholders from Winneba, Ghana and the University of Virginia School of Architecture have collaborated on research, field work, and design studios to address the pressing environmental, social, and economic pressures facing the region. Concept design for the Muni Environmental Education Center brings together the Traditional Authority and people of Winneba, the University of Education Winneba, and the Wildlife Division of the Ghana Forestry Commission to create a place and a presence on the Lagoon. Currently UEW is working to accept ownership of the project to enable fundraising and secure the project’s future.