World Habitat Awards 2020

World Habitat Awards 2020 now is over!

World Habitat Awards 2020, architecture competition, organised in collaboration with UN-Habitat, has been recently opened for entries seeking for practical, innovative and sustainable solutions to current housing issues worldwide.

About Competition

The World Habitat, in collaboration with UN-Habitat, has announced its World Habitat Awards 2020 , architecture competition. The Awards recognizes and highlights innovative, outstanding and sometimes revolutionary housing ideas, projects and programs from across the world.

Organizer encourage entries from all over the world as the World Habitat Awards are given to projects from the global North as well as the South that provide practical and innovative housing solutions.

Whilst the housing element must be a key part of each submission, entrants are encouraged to submit projects and programmes that view the term ‘habitat’ from a broad perspective. Entries are encouraged that also address wider issues, for example: the climate emergency and environmental sustainability; social inclusion and income generation.

Entries to the Awards are encouraged from housing projects and programmes that:

• demonstrate practical, innovative and sustainable solutions to current housing challenges;
• can be transferred or adapted in other countries across the world;
• are already being implemented or are completed i.e. not at design stage or in the very early stages of development;
• view the term habitat from a broad perspective and bring a range of other benefits. Organizer particularly encourage entries from projects and programmes that are addressing the climate emergency.

Other benefits of interest to include are:

• income generation;
• social inclusion;
• community and individual empowerment;
• health benefits;
• capacity building and or education.

Submission guidelines:

You can enter more than one project or programme in the same year.

Entries must detail housing projects and/or programmes that are either completed or in progress. Those that are at design stage only or in the very early stages of development will not be considered. In addition, projects that were completed more than 10 years ago will also not be considered.

Images, plans and/or supporting documents can be submitted via the online application form or by email to info@world-habitat.org.

Entries may be submitted in English, Spanish or French.

All entries are subject to a thorough assessment process and around 10 projects will be evaluated by an independent advisory group of housing experts.

Each entry need to demonstrate a number of different factors:

• Impact - What has your project achieved?
• Innovation - What makes your project different?
• Sustainability - Is your project capable of continuing over the long-term? Or have its impacts sustained after completion? Is it compatible with Sustainable Development Goal – action to combat climate change and its effects?
• Transferability - Can your idea or approach be used to solve similar challenges elsewhere?
• Significance - Are you tackling an issue which is particularly current, urgent or neglected?

Historically the Awards were presented on World Habitat Day, which is organised in October each year by UN-Habitat.

There is no entry fee to participate!