Prof Emmanuel Adinyira calls for collective action during national crisis

The Dean of the Faculty of Built Environment at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Professor Emmanuel Adinyira, has called on Ghanaians to abandon the culture of blaming one another during national crises.

Instead, he called on them to embrace collective action in addressing persistent challenges such as illegal mining and flooding.

He said the country would make greater progress if stakeholders focused on finding solutions rather than assigning fault.

According to Professor Adinyira, the continuous exchange of accusations among institutions and professionals whenever disasters occur has undermined efforts to effectively resolve issues that have continued to affect lives, property and the environment.

He stressed that national development demands cooperation among all sectors of society.

The professor made the remarks on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, during the launch of the Faculty of Built Environment Week Celebration at KNUST.

The week-long programme, held on the theme "Building Bridges: Where Knowledge Meets Practice in the Built Environment", brought together academics, engineers, architects, planners, surveyors, students and industry practitioners to deliberate on challenges facing Ghana's built environment.

Professor Adinyera said one institution or professional body alone could not solve complex national problems, insisting that meaningful progress would only come through collaboration.

"One side cannot solve a national problem, so the blame game will not help the country. We need to shift the conversation from individual lenses to collective lenses," he stated.

Using the recent floods that affected several coastal communities as an example, he noted that public discussions had largely centered on apportioning blame instead of identifying practical measures to prevent future occurrences.

He observed that such an approach only deepens divisions and delays the implementation of effective interventions.

"There were a lot of talks in the media, but you will find that one group is shifting the blame to another. That is not the way out," Professor Adinyira said.

He explained that every stakeholder, including government agencies, professionals, researchers, traditional authorities and the public, has a role to play in addressing the country's environmental and infrastructure challenges.

Professor Adinyira further explained that the Faculty of Built Environment Week was designed to strengthen partnerships between academia and industry by creating a platform for knowledge sharing and practical engagement.

According to him, the expertise of professionals and researchers must be harnessed collectively to influence policies and improve development outcomes.

"The essence of this gathering is to drum home the fact that industry practitioners and academics must see themselves as being together in the same boat to solve the problems," he said, adding that stronger collaboration would produce innovative and sustainable solutions for the country.

Professor Adinyera expressed optimism that greater cooperation among stakeholders would help Ghana address recurring problems more effectively.

"When that goes on well, then we will come together to look at real solutions. Some of the solutions will come from the engineers, others will require lifetime changes and a complete mindset change, and we will need all that to solve the problems," he stated.