In Agbogbloshie, a community in Accra, Ghana, people descend on a scrapyard to mine electronic waste for recyclable materials. Without formal training, these urban miners often teach themselves the workings of electronics by taking them apart and putting them together again. Designer and TED Fellow DK Osseo-Asare wondered: What would happen if we connected these self-taught techies with students and young professionals in STEAM fields? The result: a growing maker community where people engage in peer-to-peer, hands-on education, motivated by what they want to create. Learn more about how this African makerspace is pioneering a grassroots circular economy.

DK Osseo-Asare: What a scrapyard in Ghana can teach us about innovation

What a scrapyard in Ghana can teach us about innovation

Agbogbloshie, a place of innovation, not waste, where urban mining extracts more valuable metals from e-waste than ore mining.

In Ghana's Agbogbloshie, a makerspace fosters a circular economy, teaching that remaking and repairing are as vital as creating anew.

Sankofa Innovation in Agbogbloshie: coupling traditional wisdom with modern tech to pioneer a sustainable, grassroots circular economy.