The Great Green Wall Initiative GGWI is set for a boost from the International Union of Architects (UIA). This is because the organisation has recognised that the initiative “promises to be a compelling solution not only facing the African Continent but the Global Community, notably Climate Change, Drought, Famine, Conflict, and Migration.”
Therefore the UIA announced that it will launch the GGWI -International Union of Architects Student Single Stage Ideas Competition on April 18, 2022 for all students of architecture and landscape architecture worldwide.
Participants are to provide creative ideas in harmonising shelter that will exude originality and innovation. This UIA Students Competition is driven by inspirational ideas for sustainability, mobility, and opportunity. The prize winners and honorable mentions will be showcased at Egypt COP27.
Tokunbo Omisore, UIA Vice President Region 5 and Past President, Africa Union of Architects made the announcement during a Great Green Wall Initiative Webinar hosted by the UIA held last weekend.
He said, “Creative ideas do not just produce great art in this instance it will produce great wealth of opportunities.”
The webinar featured presentations on contemporary African cultural transformation in extreme environments such as that of the Sahara-Sahel region.
This was part of a series of webinars that explore opportunities and approaches to design that respond to climate change and the making of culture-sensitive productive rural settlements that take into account the need for affordable shelter, resilient dwelling and sustainable liveability in twenty-first-century rurality.
Omisore said, “Can the GGWI belt truly exist without architecture, will there not be habitation within the belt, 8000km long and 16km wide?
On this note, the International Union of Architects GGWI team, spearheaded by region V (African Continent) have developed the theme to Unleash the SDG Potential of the GGWI through Architecture, and add value to the AU, EU and UN supported Initiative, among others.
“This theme will unlock the potential of Africa’s untapped intellectual wealth, nature and architecture, research and development on the use of local materials to ensure affordable developments, especially Housing for sustainability.
“To unlock this, we targeted the future – our students of architecture, lecturers and researchers, the International Union of architects GGWI team led by my good-self adopted coordinators from schools of architecture across the five subregions of the African Continent.”
and then