International competition for solutions on new technologies for social housing

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International competition for solutions on new technologies for social housing

Mismatches
Policies and regulations
Financing
Urban Design
Promotion and production Technology Self-management Self-promotion Self-construction Favelas/Slums
Ownership and tenure

Main objectives of the project

The General Assembly of the United Nations, declaring 1987 «lnternational Year of Shelter far the Horneless», pointed out to all the nations of the world the need for a renewal of political strategy and for a more effective and efficient participation in the task of improving the quality of the human dwelling. The aims of «lnternational Year of Shelter for the Homeless» are as fallows: • Obtain the active collaboration of government and non-governmental organizations in the search for new rnethods and strategies destined to achieve decent housing and surroundings far the underprivileged. • Ensure that the results and solutions emanating from «lnternational Year» projects be given the widest possible diffusion in all the nations of the world. • Convince all nations of the need to assess the desires, perspectives and priorities of those who lack decent housing and have no hope of obtaining it. • To draw international attention to the fundamental role of housing in the development of a nation. According to this the UIA organized an “lnternational Competition of New Technologies for the Construction of Human Dwellings, the results of which would constitute the Union's contribution to "lnternational Year of Shelter for the Homeless". The UIA received 123 projects for the competition and this document lists those that received a price and those that received mentions.

Date

  • 1987:

Stakeholders

  • Promotor: UIA

Location

Country/Region:

Description

In this competition, participants were expected to address not only the more immediate technological aspects, such as the application of new materials and building components, but also broader issues: the whole concept of housing, for example, or the legal aspects involved in the promotion and financing of domestic building. The competition was open to studies on topics such as new concepts of housing or its organic parts or the different stages in its execution or any other aspect that might have caught the interest of the participants. Energy durability, transport and recycling, ecological aspects, local atmosphere, variety of styles and aesthetics were also taken into account.

Authors:

Building Malaria Prevention

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Building Malaria Prevention

Mismatches Security Functional adequacy Vulnerable groups
Policies and regulations Local policies
Promotion and production Public promotion Participatory processes

Main objectives of the project

Over 1,300 people have benefited from simple home improvements to stop mosquitoes entering their homes in one of Cameroon’s poorest areas, where four in every five children has malaria. With 80% of mosquito bites happening indoors at night, the home was identified as a key area to focus on to reduce the number of people contracting malaria.

Residents have been trained and encouraged to keep mosquitoes out of their homes, meaning they rely less on harmful insecticides and pesticides. They have been trained to plaster cracks in walls, improve sewerage and drainage, build and fit window and door screens, and grow mosquito repellent plants. Alongside this, malaria awareness campaigns have been introduced in nursery school classes and through radio advertising. It is estimated that, so far, the number of mosquitoes has halved in homes which have had these improvements.

Date

  • 2017:

Stakeholders

  • Promotor: World Habitat

Location

Continent: Africa
Country/Region: Cameroon, Yaounde

Description

Project Description

The project seeks to reduce the incidence of malaria by implementing home improvements that reduce the number of mosquitos entering people’s homes. The project is based in Minkoameyos, one of the poorest informal settlements in Cameroon’s capital city Yaoundé where 80% of children were found to have the disease. There have been significant reductions in the incidence of malaria globally, but it is still the biggest killer of children under five in Cameroon. Resistance to antimalarial drugs is increasing alarmingly, which means that drugs can no longer be relied upon to tackle the disease alone. Research has shown that home improvements can significantly reduce the incidence of malaria. A study in 15 Sub-Saharan African countries found that malaria infection rates of 70.6% in traditional housing were reduced to 45.5% for modernised housing. The study found that the home is the most important place for tackling the disease, because 80% of mosquito bites are experienced indoors at night.

The project focused on a number of measures designed to prevent mosquitoes getting into people’s homes. These included:

  • Fitting screens on doors and windows.
  • Closing eaves and gaps in walls and roofs.
  • Ensuring adequate ventilation.
  • Improving sewage and drainage to eliminate mosquito breeding sites.

These improvements were fitted to 219 homes (that housed a total of 1,314 residents). Households in the immediate vicinity of homes where work was completed also benefited indirectly from a reduction in mosquito breeding sites as a result of the interventions. ARCHIVE Global worked specifically with Cameroon’s National Malaria Control Program and the Ministry of Public Health to ensure the government was supportive of the project before work began.

The project also raised awareness of malaria prevention through educating community members on disease prevention and the links between housing and health. Five thousand community members underwent training on disease prevention. A radio campaign on how to keep mosquitos out of homes reached around 55,000 listeners.

This project was implemented by ARCHIVE Global in partnership with Cameroon Coalition against Malaria, the National Malaria    Control Programme and the University of Yaoundé. ARCHIVE Global is an international non-governmental organisation based in New York. They aim to create awareness about the link between poor housing and health issues by carrying out research which influences their practical housing adaptations to improve health. The organisation has a core team of three employees and numerous volunteers. It collaborates with local organisations across the world. ARCHIVE global has active projects in Swaziland, India and Bangladesh. The project in Delhi, India implements sanitation units to reduce water borne and bacterial illnesses such as diarrhoea. In Bangladesh they are building concrete floors to decrease the spread of parasitic pathogens which cause illnesses such as typhoid and hepatitis A and E. They have plans for future projects in Bolivia and Ethiopia. All their projects use both local expertise and resources.

The project was completed in February 2016.

Aims and Objectives

The project’s main objective was to reduce cases of malaria in the most vulnerable households by making simple low cost improvements. A further aim was to find out more about these improvements and encourage their uptake in the wider community.

Participating households were chosen based on their vulnerability to infection, and their willingness to be involved in the work. The risk criteria included having at least one child under the age of five, and more than two adults sleeping in the same room.

The aims of the project were to:

  • Reduce the incidence of malaria amongst the households in the project.
  • Research which housing interventions were most effective in reducing the entry of mosquitos into homes.
  • Train residents to carry out interventions which stop mosquitos entering homes.
  • Raise community awareness about the different types of malaria prevention and the link between better housing and reduced risk of malaria.

Context

According to the World Health Organisation there were 214 million cases and over 50 million deaths caused by malaria globally in 2015. Although there have been significant reductions in recent years, Sub-Saharan Africa continues to carry a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. The disease remains the biggest killer of children under five in Africa. In Cameroon it is responsible for half of all deaths of children under five. Traditionally, malaria has been prevalent in rural areas in Cameroon, but, as cities grow this is changing and the scale and impact of urban malaria is increasing.

Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite that has half its life cycle in people and the other half in mosquitos. Mosquitoes that transmit malaria tend to fall into two categories: indoor feeding and outdoor feeding. Indoor-feeding mosquitoes target people in their homes when they are asleep. Over time these mosquitoes have developed behaviours to more efficiently feed on humans. Their behaviour has measurably changed in recent years as more people live in urban areas. For example these mosquitoes will fly upward when reaching a wall, while most other mosquitoes will fly sideways. Flying upward helps mosquitoes find openings such as windows, cracks around doors or open eaves. Outdoor-feeding mosquitoes are generally less effective and target humans less exclusively.

There was a United Nations Millennium Reduction Goal to halt the spread and reverse the incidence of malaria by 2015. This was successful with a 58% global reduction between 2000 and 2015. The reductions were achieved by preventing transmission and treating those who were infected. The World Health Organization encouraged indoor spraying of insecticides in homes, and increasing the use of insecticide-treated bed nets. Although these worked they also presented risks. Some insecticides are believed to be harmful to people, some may be carcinogenic. The widespread use of insecticides has promoted insecticide resistance amongst mosquitos. There has also been a significant increase in resistance to antimalarial drugs, particularly by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, which causes the deadliest form of the malaria. This means that it is becoming increasingly difficult to reduce malaria further using traditional techniques. There is also evidence that these interventions have not been widely adopted in Cameroon with only 11% of children under five sleeping under mosquito nets and only 1% of these sleeping under insecticide treated nets.

Housing poverty is a big issue in Cameroon. According to the most recent Cameroon housing survey 12.3% of urban households and 39.7% of rural households live on less than US$2 a day. Many vulnerable groups live in poor quality housing. In the country’s capital of Yaoundé, 85% of settlements are considered to be informal. Much of the housing does not comply with national building standards. There are no clear borders between people’s homes, and many do not own the right to the land where they live.

In Minkoameyos, where the project is focused, it was found in 2012 that a staggering 80% of children had malaria demonstrating the urgent need for prevention.

Key Features

The project focused on easy and cheap interventions to ensure they could be replicated in the future without ongoing support from ARCHIVE Global. Each house was surveyed in order to identify the improvements that were needed. A member of each targeted household learned how to mosquito-proof homes. After training, residents were able to carry out some of the improvements themselves, and share this knowledge with their community.

Wider community training included health-related workshops and technical training in health and housing. Five thousand residents received training which showed them how to recognise signs of malaria and how to prevent it through housing improvements. The project reached a further 55,000 people in the wider community through information on malaria reduction in local radio broadcasts. These gave information and advice that sought to raise awareness of malaria and offered people advice on reducing exposure and preventing mosquitos from breeding.

As part of the project ARCHIVE Global published guidelines about how to achieve malaria control through home improvements. This has been distributed to the local community, and has been used in transferring the techniques to other projects.

What impact has it had?

Direct impact is difficult to measure because of the short duration of the project. There was incomplete information about the level of malaria infection before the project started. The project estimates that if home improvements and reduction in mosquito-breeding sites are regularly maintained, a significant reduction in malaria will be measurable in ten years.

The project evaluation has however demonstrated that numbers of mosquitos in people’s homes was reduced by 50%, which significantly reduces the risk of people being infected.

The project’s work with local universities, the Ministry of Public Health and the National Malaria Control Programme means that there is widespread support for and awareness of the project which will help positive impact to continue.

At an international level, governments in Namibia, Swaziland and Gabon and the Clinton Health Access Initiative have all learned from this project when developing their own mosquito-proofing interventions.

How is it funded?

The total cost of the project was slightly under US$500,000. The UBS Optimus Foundation, (a Swiss grant-making foundation dedicated to improving the lives of children worldwide) provided grant funding of US$165,000 per year (2013 – 2016). A grant for construction materials was received from the SELAVIP Foundation which funds housing projects supporting the poorest of the poor around the world.

Why is it innovative?

The project approach combines research into health with practical interventions in housing. Its promotion of housing as a prevention method for dangerous but avoidable diseases is innovative. It is rare to see a project where housing interventions are led by health experts. It demonstrates the potential for other sectors to collaborate on shared problems.

As more and more mosquitos are becoming resistant to pesticides and insecticides, it is becoming increasingly important to find alternative ways to control malaria. Additionally using chemicals poses significant risks to human health from skin irritation and nausea to cancer. This approach offers a solution which avoids the use of chemicals through making changes in the built environment.

The housing improvements used in the approach also last longer compared to other interventions for example spraying walls with chemicals which has to be repeated yearly.

The use of basic techniques and local materials meant that local people could carry out the work themselves and can now more easily maintain their adaptations. Empowering local people to prevent malaria themselves creates lasting impact.

What is the environmental impact?

The projects building interventions tried to use local materials to maximise environmental sustainability. However, some materials were not manufactured locally and had to be imported. Lumber used for doors and window frames was made of pine which is native to the area. Pine is a fast-growing tree which is more sustainable than using hardwood trees. Locally produced compact mud bricks were also used which have low embodied energy (embodied energy is the sum of all the energy required to extract, produce, transport and build any goods or services). The project also used passive design strategies (‘Passive design’ takes advantage of the climate to maintain a comfortable temperature in the home).

Chemical interventions which are most common in malarial prevention are harmful to the environment, including to people and animals. This project used chemical free interventions to break the chain of mosquito feeding, disrupting their reproduction and development. This not only reduces the number of mosquito breeding sites, but also improves the environment in homes.

Is it financially sustainable?

As the project had a defined timescale for grant use there were no additional plans made to achieve longer term financial sustainability after the grant was spent. However, the training and expertise given to residents through the project allowed certain residents to develop enterprises around mosquito-proofing homes. This demonstrates how the approach could potentially create economic opportunities.

ARCHIVE Global has produced evidence that the cost of home improvements can be reduced significantly if they are carried out at scale. Typical interventions cost US$300 to US$500 per unit. Subsequent projects modelled on what was achieved in Cameroon it has been possible to reduce costs of household interventions from US$300 – US$500 to US$30 – US$55 per home making future replications of the project more economic.

Even with reduced costs people on very low incomes would be unable to afford materials for interventions. So, to be repeated, the project would require further grant funding.

What is the social impact?

The project helped communities to understand how to protect themselves from mosquitos entering their home. Following the projects outreach and training community members have been able to fit their own mosquito screens without the support of ARCHIVE Global. This training did not only allow residents to become aware of what interventions were needed, but also gave them the practical building skills to achieve these interventions.

The project allowed communities to come together to work towards a common goal. As well as working on their own homes, residents worked with neighbours and shared their knowledge with other community members. By working with the poorest of the poor, the project reduces social inequalities by reducing the health risks faced by vulnerable groups. The housing improvements carried out by ARCHIVE Global led to a fall in mosquito numbers by 50%, reducing the risk of being bitten.

The wider activities and awareness raising led to significant increases in knowledge within the community. Far more people were trained to understand that blood tests could help to diagnose malaria and that screening windows and doors could help to prevent it.

Barriers

The project faced a number of barriers which were:

  • Coordination: working with multiple other organisations in different contexts was challenging this was overcome as relationships developed.
  • Higher than expected costs: This meant that they could not implement as many educational programmes in primary schools as they wanted. But, they partnered with a technical school as an alternative.
  • Data Collection: the research team struggled to collect information which resulted in delays. It also meant they could not focus on collecting evidence on malaria prevention for children under five.

Authors:

Caño Martín Peña Community Land Trust

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Caño Martín Peña Community Land Trust

Mismatches Security Functional adequacy Vulnerable groups
Urban Design Urban fabrics Segregation
Promotion and production Participatory processes Transformation and adaptation

Main objectives of the project

Date

  • 2015:

Stakeholders

  • Promotor: World Habitat

Location

City: Río Piedras
Country/Region: Puerto Rico, Río Piedras [San Juan]

Description

Project Description

Aims and Objectives

  • Legalise the relationship between more than 2,000 families and the land on which their homes stand.
  • Guarantee affordable and safe housing.
  • Resettle people who lived in high-risk areas in a fair and reasonable way.
  • Improve environmental conditions by developing basic infrastructure and dredging the channel.
  • Ensure ownership and management of the area by the community and for the community.

The Martín Peña Channel was once a waterway that ran through the middle of the Puerto Rican capital San Juan. Impoverished squatters settled on the mangrove swamps along its banks, building more than 5,000 informal homes. The water filled with debris and silt, and with no sewer system, it became highly polluted. With nowhere for water to flow, every time it rained the area flooded, creating a dangerous situation for residents. The government decided that something had to be done and a plan was put in place to dredge the channel and drain the land.  Whilst there were obvious benefits to this plan, a potential consequence was that, with the environmental problems removed, the land (in a prime city location) would soar in value displacing the original residents.

Residents living in informal settlements around a polluted water channel and a government agency (the ENLACE Corporation) established a Fideicomiso – a Community Land Trust or CLT (a model of home ownership that develops and manages affordable housing on behalf of the community. It does this by separating the value of the land and the buildings. Land is held in perpetuity by the community enabling it to remain affordable for local people) was set up with. The government had experienced opposition and delays in previous infrastructure projects and was keen to ensure that residents’ interests were accommodated.

Between 2002 and 2004, the government consulted with communities over dredging the channel and improving the area. The communities were united in wanting to ensure that the works did not displace them. The consultation resulted in a comprehensive Development Plan and Land Use Plan which included dredging and drainage work, and also significantly the transfer of the land to the community. Initially the land was transferred to a government-owned arm’s length company: the ENLACE Corporation, with the intention that it should be transferred back to the community once a CLT had been established.

The process of setting up the CLT involved participatory workshops with the community. These workshops drew up the regulations that would govern the CLT. An Advisory Board and lawyers supported the process so that the ideas put forward by the community could be formalised legally. This period also saw the creation of the Group of Eight Communities (G8), whose role is to check that the Comprehensive Development Plan is followed by the CLT and the Corporation and facilitates communication between them. It is made up of elected representatives from 12 community organisations, increasing their collective power and voice. The Corporation led on land registration.  In 2009, a Board of Trustees was formed, made up of residents, technical and professional advisors, a member of the corporation and representatives of the Government of Puerto Rico and the city of San Juan. The same year, the Corporation transferred 200 acres of land to the CLT.