This project aims for ambitious goals in a complex environment. The final shape of this project is not yet set in stone. However, in order to guide our collaboration we have defined the following guiding principles:
- Participatory design This project is not designed from a top-down perspective, but rather involves a wide variety of parties in the planning and design process. This includes the many collaborators during the initial research and planning stages, but also residents or nearby communities that reside near the university's location, who should have a strong say and involvement in the project.
- Pluriversity We believe that there is not a single "best" format for this project. We invite people to contribute conflicting ideas, and to discuss the pros and cons of different approaches. We encourage structures that allow us to try out different methods at the same time, and to appreciate that catering to a diverse population requires diverse approaches.
- Context-specific, but not to a single context Context is hugely important when considering the social and environmental aspects of this project. However, we initially focus on developing a more general framework or process as to how one could set up an Untraceable University. There are two reasons. Firstly, securing a feasible location is expected to take a number of years, and we want to progress with planning while this process takes place. Secondly, we want to make our work replicable. We want other people to consider setting up their own local 'Untraceable University' by sharing the process that we use to evaluate, plan, and co-design this university, so that others can make it context-specific to their location, and we to ours.
- A Global South-first collaboration This project is primarily being driven by collaborators from Southern Africa and Latin America, and the first two potential sites are being identified in South Africa and Colombia. We have expanded our network and warmly welcome partners from other countries. We invite collaborators in the Global North to explore options to define their own 'Untraceable University' context. However, the goal of this project is to maintain a primary presence and participation in the Global South, and to ensure that collaborators from the Global North take our local context in mind when we jointly roll out research or education activities.
- Aim for scale Most of the inspiring examples of alternative approaches that we seek to learn from have shown that they can work at a small scale. It is important to us to keep in mind that this project seeks to inspire cities - not villages. We strongly believe in a phased approach that means we start out small and build from there, but we want to make sure that our collaborators understand that scaling this up to something bigger is what drives us.