Standing Up for Vulnerable Communities in a Climate Challenged World (Song)

Following the disasterous typhoon of Ondoy (Ketsana) which was the worst storm to hit the Philippines in four decades rampage and killed more than 450 people and cost nearly 11 billion pesos ($233 million) in agricultural and infrastructure damage, a group of concerned green architects and designers came together to begin a campaign on climate adaptation. Eighty percent of the City of Manila went under water and more than half loss basic services. What is communities were built with the idea that there will be continuous flooding year after year, with loss of power, drinking water, food suppies, livelihoods and most importantly, an overall evacuation displacement for more than a month disrupting community life, if not health of families living in crowded evacuation centers. It was time to revamp the way low income communities were built, making them more resilient to yearly storms and floodings.

The song recorded was the first ever country initiative to get 50 of the top musicians to sing a song on climate adaptation. For the local governments to begin "acting ahead of time" and planning for the twenty storms, of which five are already destuctive and getting worse) to think about safe structures, and policy for areas that will experience perenial flooding, with as many as five million people in danger.

This will be the theme song of the global competition called "design against the elements" which will be a global design competition for disaster-resilient, affordable villages that can be built in developing countries located in the tropics. This will launch on the 20th of December 2009 and willshall bring together architects both local and international to find solutions to the problem of obsolete residential building designs in the developing world, especially those that constantly face climate change reinforced natural disasters like typhoons, and earthquakes. The top three winning designs will receive $10,000.00, $5,000, $3,000.00 respectively. Gawad Kalinga (GK), one of the largest self-help architecture and community organizing groups in Asia focused on transforming slums into peaceful and productive communities, shall build the winning master plan of 100 houses the City of Taguig. The village shall stand as the first green and disaster-resistant community in the Philippines. The Philippine Green Council (PhilGBC) shall compile the most innovative, resourceful and environmentally sustainable designs in a publication that shall serve as an encyclopedia of solutions that shall be shared with civil society organizations, local governments, and other groups that seek to respond to the problem of adaptability in the climate-challenged developing world.

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Nonprofits & Activism

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• Philippines

[peoplestandup]

Very Nice!