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Habitat III Conference: Bamboo -‐ a strategic resource for affordable homes and post-‐disaster reconstruction
QUITO, 20th October 2016. Bamboo is a strong, practical and affordable building material that has the potential to deliver safe housing for the world’s poor and play a more strategic role in post-‐disaster prevention and response – according to a group of leading sustainable construction experts.
The case for bamboo will be made at the forthcoming HABITAT III Conference in Quito, Ecuador (October 17-‐20, 2016), a global effort to reinvigorate the commitment to sustainable urbanization. Experts will argue that this strategic and renewable resource can help to meet the world’s housing needs while also contributing to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – specifically SDG 11, which targets the provision of safe and sustainable housing.
A side event organized by the International Network of Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), Base, the Autonomous Consortium of Provincial Governments of Ecuador (CONGOPE), ARUP, the Colombian Association of Earthquake Engineering (AIS), and the International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan, with support from the UN-‐Habitat Housing Unit -‐ titled Bamboo housing for sustainable, resilient urban development and post-‐disaster recovery -‐ will convene participants from Ecuador, Colombia, China, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom to share experiences and discuss how bamboo can be utilized to strengthen community resilience and support post-‐disaster reconstruction – drawing on lessons learned from several contexts and initiatives.
The initiative Base has established an affordable bamboo-‐based housing system and builds annually hundreds of houses in the Philippines for and with urban low-‐income communities– combining disaster resilience, living comfort, and climate change mitigation with value chain and economy building through research, capacity development, and multi-‐stakeholder involvement.
Since 2010 – with funding from the World Bank and Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) – INBAR has also worked with bamboo producers, civil society organizations, the private sector and government partners in Ecuador to build a formalized bamboo construction sector. In 2016, this culminated in Ecuador’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Development admitting bamboo into its national building code. After a recent INBAR-‐led assessment revealed the resilience of bamboo structures during Ecuador’s recent earthquake, the material is now expected to play a significant role in the country’s rehabilitation.
“Communities require a strong, practical and cost-‐effective building material that can deliver secure and affordable housing,” says INBAR’s Director General, Dr. Hans Friederich. “Our experience demonstrates that this largely untapped resource offers a climate-‐smart alternative to other building materials, and is readily available in many low-‐ and middle-‐income countries throughout the tropics and sub-‐tropics, where it grows naturally. Its application has proved to be extremely successful in post-‐disaster situations.”
Bamboo has also been harnessed to rebuild communities in post-‐earthquake Nepal. Thanks to a 15-‐year partnership between INBAR and private sector partners modern bamboo building systems are now mature, they meet ISO standards, and have anti-‐seismic properties. Additionally, bamboo offers an affordable, durable, highly renewable, and rapidly deployable source of building material for affected areas. Current efforts include validation and approval
of a bamboo-‐based school design – bamboo will be used in the construction or upgrading of up to 8000 schools in Nepal over the next three years.
In addition to the side event, INBAR and partners -‐ Arup, the Colombian Association for Earthquake Engineering (AIS), and Base -‐ will launch four publications at UN-‐HABITAT III: an assessment on the structural behavior of bamboo structures during the Ecuador earthquake, which provides recommendations for harnessing bamboo effectively in post-‐earthquake situations; a technical report providing design guidance on engineered Bahareque housing, a proven disaster-‐resilient, affordable housing system; a working paper on a new potential methodology to grade the structural capacity of round culm bamboo; and a methodology for the holistic, multi-‐perspective development of bamboo-‐based construction systems combining technical, social, economic, environmental and governance requirements. ENDS.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The International Network of Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR)
INBAR is a multilateral development organization of 41 member states for the promotion of bamboo and rattan. INBAR plays a unique role in supporting its members to find and demonstrate innovative ways of using bamboo and rattan to protect environments and biodiversity, and alleviate poverty. INBAR connects a global network of partners from the government, private and not-‐for-‐profit sectors to define and implement a global agenda for sustainable development with bamboo and rattan. www.inbar.int
HABITAT III
HABITAT III is the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development to take place in Quito, Ecuador, from 17 to 20 October 2016. In resolution 66/207 and in line with the bi-‐decennial cycle (1976, 1996, and 2016), the United Nations General Assembly decided to convene the Habitat III Conference to reinvigorate the global commitment to sustainable urbanization, to focus on the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, building on the 1996 Habitat Agenda.
INBAR AND BASE SIDE EVENT: Bamboo housing for sustainable, resilient urban development and post-‐disaster recovery
This side event, with opening remarks to be given by UN-‐Habitat Director of Programmes, Mr. Rafael Tuts, includes participants from Colombia, Ecuador, China, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines, to discuss bamboo housing’s potential to support disaster prevention and response in urban areas. The event will be held on Thursday 20th October, 8:00-‐9:00am in room R20, Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana Benjamín Carrión, with the following partners: Autonomous Consortium of Provincial Governments of Ecuador (CONGOPE), ARUP, Colombian Association of Earthquake Engineering (AIS), BASE | Hilti Foundation, and the International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan (ICBR). The United Nations 10 Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP) Adopted at Rio+20, the 10YFP is a global action framework to accelerate the shift towards Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) patterns in both developed and developing countries. The 10YFP generates collective impact through multi-‐stakeholder programmes and partnerships, which develop, replicate and scale up SCP policies and initiatives at all levels. SCP is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, affirmed with the inclusion of a standalone goal (Goal 12) among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The
central role of the 10YFP in achieving this goal is affirmed in a standalone target (12.1). UNEP serves as the 10YFP Secretariat.
For further inquiries, please contact:
• Liu Kewei, INBAR
[email protected], +86 138-‐1142-‐6448
• Gregor Herda, GNSH and UN-‐Habitat Housing Unit [email protected], +254 714 945 573
