Change the economics, not only the activity.
Extractive economies can export raw materials while importing high-value finished goods. DTA works on the missing middle: skills, processing infrastructure, governance and market access.
We build systems that connect extraction → processing → manufacturing → market, with communities participating in decisions about how value is created and retained.
Our operating principle: build capability that can continue when a project, grant or individual ends.
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We're an African innovation and learning platform. We use design thinking, work-based training and human-centred design to turn skills into real income and real careers. We work where it matters most with young people, women and extractive communities.
Two nodes. One institution. Clear accountability.
Copenhagen supports international partnerships, governance and resource mobilisation. Livingstone anchors programme delivery, atelier operations and community relationships.
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Design is the method. Local ownership is the outcome.
We combine human-centred design with work-based learning, technical standards and market thinking. The point is not to create a better workshop in isolation. It is to make the wider system work.
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We work with institutions, technical partners, corporates and practitioners who want to strengthen local industrial and human capacity.