Meet #APHF9 Innovation Awards winners
Outstanding initiatives, programs and solutions that made a difference in improving housing in communities were recognized at the close of the ninth Asia-Pacific Housing Forum.
SUWON, South Korea (Oct. 27, 2023) — Habitat for Humanity, a global non-profit housing organization, concluded its two-day Asia-Pacific Housing Forum 2023 by announcing its Innovation Awards winners.
With over 3,100 applications of inspiring and impactful solutions, three winners were selected among six finalists, in three key categories:
- Policy: Public Sector Housing Solutions;
- Program: Civil Society Housing Impact; and
- Sheltertech: Private Sector Technology.
Winners and finalists in each category of the Innovation Awards congratulating one another.
The Policy category award winner was the City Government of Manila, Philippines, which initiated the Manila Housing Program that encompasses housing, disaster resilience, climate adaptation and social integration by emphasizing mixed-income communities with amenities, preventing poverty concentration and ensuring sustainability.
The Program category was awarded to the Rujak Center for Urban Studies in Indonesia, which provided an innovative approach on redeveloping the Kampung Akuarium settlement through the Kampung Susun Akuarium (Vertical Kampung) program, which stared in 2016. The program employed advocacy, organizing and other tactics with residents, the Jakarta City Poor People’s Network and the Urban Poor Consortium collectively to successfully redevelop the settlement.
Finally, Bandhu, an AI-driven tech platform from India, took the Sheltertech award by connecting India’s blue-collar workers to jobs and affordable housing and making the rural-to-urban migration process more equitable for 300 million Indians.
“We stand on common ground. Each of us present today believes that sustainable, affordable housing should be accessible to everyone, including the people who live in informal settlements and other marginalized and communities that underlined the theme of the ninth Asia-Pacific Housing Forum,” said Luis Noda, Asia-Pacific Vice President, Habitat for Humanity. “These innovative solutions awarded today help to inspire and empower other individuals, organizations and institutions to push the boundaries of imagination and problem-solving so that we can adequately address future housing challenges faced by all communities.”
Up to 200 housing experts from this region and around the world participated in the Asia-Pacific Housing Forum 2023, under the theme of “Enabling Sustainable and Affordable Settlements.” The two-day forum provided a partnership platform for all participants to discuss and debate regional and global housing challenges and formulate possible solutions to provide acceptable and reasonable shelter for all communities in need.
This edition of the Housing Forum is supported by its global gold sponsor Hilti Foundation and other partners: UN-Habitat, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Centre for Urban and Regional Excellence, EU SWITCH-Asia, and the University of New South Wales.