The United Nations has designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day, and this year we aim to raise awareness and create an open dialogue about paving the way to a sustainable future.
On World Habitat Day, Wild Safari Guide joins the United Nations and numerous other organizations around the world, including Habitat for Humanity, in raising awareness and educating individuals and communities to take action on the current global housing crisis.
The purpose of World Habitat Day is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, as well as on the basic human right to adequate shelter. Furthermore, World Habitat Day is intended to remind the world that the road to a sustainable future is paved by us. We have the power to mould the future of our towns and cities and work towards sustainable development in the 21st century.
Sustainable development policies ensure adequate shelter for all. The theme of this World Habitat Day, as stated by the South African government, ‘will focus on promoting all levels of government and all relevant stakeholders to reflect on how to implement concrete initiatives to ensure adequate and affordable housing in the context of the implementation of the New Urban Agenda at all levels, as well as the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals’.
For more information on how to get involved, visit Habitat for Humanity.
Paving the Way to a Sustainable Future
With the swelling of populations across the globe, believed to rise to as high as nine billion people in the next 20 years, the world may be facing a new crisis. For many countries around the globe, housing and sustainable development have become a hot topic, with governments having to face this pressing issue imminently. The availability of material to meet the demands of constructing millions or billions of new homes to provide adequate shelter for an ever-increasing population has become an issue.
There has been a strong emphasis on the need to source materials as efficiently as possible and push government policies and thoughts to a more sustainable future for housing and development. As we move forward with these important factors in mind, companies and organizations are encouraged to maximize their efforts with recyclable materials, reduce carbon emissions along the way, and prioritize the use of natural resources where available.
Over the next 20 years, countries will more than likely avoid price hikes and sourcing problems if they implement these concrete initiatives to ensure a sustainable future with adequate and affordable housing for growing populations.
