World Habitat Day is held on the first Monday of October and launches Urban October. The day centers around the global observance, which is held in a different country each year with keynote speakers and roundtable discussions focused on a specific theme. World Habitat Day was first celebrated in 1986 in Nairobi, Kenya, with the theme ‘Shelter is my right’.
UN-Habitat, the United Nations agency focusing on sustainable urbanization, has launched nominations for its prestigious 2023 Scroll of Honour Award. Nominations are open from 20 March to 20 June 2023.
The UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award, launched in 1989, recognizes individuals and institutions that have made outstanding contributions to urban development, including improving the quality of urban life for all and provision of adequate, affordable, and accessible housing.
Up to five winners will be selected. The winners will receive their awards at the global observance of World Habitat Day on 2 October 2023.
In selecting the winners, UN-Habitat will consider best practices, initiatives, and innovative solutions contributing to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 11. Attention will be given to how initiatives, practices, or individuals align with the topic of World Habitat Day 2023. The day’s theme is Resilient urban economies: cities as drivers of growth and recovery. Cities play a major role in economic development and recovery after crises, be they pandemics, natural disasters, or conflicts.
Third parties must make nominations through online submission in English. The guidelines for submitting nominations can be found here.
Those eligible to be nominated include national, regional, and local governments, inter-governmental organizations or agencies, civil society, the private sector, architectural bureaus, design companies, individual architects or designers, real estate developers or construction businesses, academic institutions, foundations, multilateral agencies, media, and individuals.
Nominations will close on 20 June 2023. The UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award nominees will be notified from mid-July 2023 about the outcome of the selection.
For more information, visit here or contact unhabitat-whd@un.org.
Information on the previous World Habitat Day celebrations is available here.
Please feel free to contact us on our email address: unhabitat-whd@un.org