Ha Noi, September 12, 2019 - The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Viet Nam Disaster Management Authority (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), Housing and Real Estate Market Management Agency (Ministry of Construction) announce the rules of the innovative competition entitled "Designing resilient houses - sustainable communities with climate change in the coastal areas”. The competition aims to explore viable designs for resilient homes and communities that can better withstand floods and storms, incorporating innovative solutions, that are culturally and climatically appropriate.

The competition award winners will be selected in mid-November 2019. All submissions will receive a certificate from the organizers.  Six prizes will be awarded for best design work in 3 main categories: low-cost storm resilient housing design; housing with many benefits of climate change adaptation; and climate change resilient village level design that have the ability to withstand natural disasters, storms and floods.

Speaking at the event, Ms. Sitara Syed, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Viet Nam said, “this competition is important in helping raise awareness on the importance of storm resilient housing, and motivating architects, students, and development practitioners to innovate and meaningfully contribute to housing designs in coastal provinces.” “The Competition and its outcomes will also contribute to the design of the Government’s upcoming resilient housing programmes for 28 coastal provinces, which can have long-term impacts in lifting families out of poverty and in ensuring safety and security in light of the more intense and frequent weather events associated with climate change”, she added.

"The most important purpose of this competition is not only to design effective housing for people, but also to consolidate and build a sustainable community," said Mr. Do Thanh. Tung, General Director of Vietnam Institute of Architecture.

Vietnamese citizens regardless of their gender who are working in construction, architecture and Vietnamese students in architecture, planning and civil engineering sectors are welcome to submit entries. The judges of the competition include experts of UNDP Viet Nam, UN-Habitat Viet Nam, Viet Nam Disaster Management Authority and other experts in related fields.

The house is considered the most valuable asset of the local people, but also most vulnerable to climate change. In 2018 alone, more than 31,000 houses were flooded and damaged by natural disasters in Viet Nam.

This competition is an initiative of the project “Improving the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities to climate change related impacts in Viet Nam” supported by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Government of Viet Nam. The competition was organized in the collaboration with the Vietnam Institute of Architecture.

Information about the contest is posted on the page : Click here
and Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/vungvenbienvabiendoikhihau/

More information, please kindly contact:

Phan Huong Giang
Media and Communications Analyst
Climate Change & Environment
United Nations Development Programme
Email: phan.huong.giang@undp.org