The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) World Congress in collaboration with the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) has held the IFLA Africa 8th Symposium under the theme of Emergent Interaction.
Speaking at the event, Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development Cabinet Secretary (CS) Mr. Zachariah Njeru said that the selected theme recognizes the undeniable truth that the world is changing rapidly, where the climate is shifting and urbanization is accelerating and the time for action is now upon us to work together to save the planet.
“To address this issue, my Ministry has been working tirelessly on the Affordable Housing Programme, an initiative that calls for massive collaboration across the many sectors,” stated Njeru.
Additionally, the CS introduced some further interventions including Housing, Policy Framework, Infrastructure Development, Financial Inclusion, and Cost.
“The Government remains committed to putting in place strong measures to mitigate the effects of climate change and there is a need for investment in climate-smart practices and nature conservation with the aim of accelerating global sustainability and sustainable development,” he added.
Further, Njeru maintained that Architects must collaborate with Landscape Architects to create sustainable urban development, Engineers and Construction Project Managers must integrate green technologies and materials into their projects, while Quantity Surveyors and town planners must prioritize resilience and inclusivity in urban development.
At the same time, the Swedish Ambassador to Kenya, Caroline Vicini lauded the efforts made by the built environment professionals of both countries to learn from each other and discuss climate change.
“It is important to build smart, healthy, and efficient cities where people can integrate, communicate, and move freely. Landscape architecture plays an important role in shaping sustainable development,” noted Vicini.
Concurrently, Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) President Florence Nyole said that AAK has been at the forefront of working towards reducing the impact of urbanization and the resultant Climate Change in Kenya.
“We have a homegrown Green Building Rating tool that is focused on rating buildings based on our local context called the Safari Green Building Index (SGBI). With this tool, we are advocating for its use in projects within Kenya to ensure that our work as built environment professionals meets the international standards using local criteria,” urged Nyole.
She pointed out that they have also launched several programs such as the Grow-A-Classroom Programme with the aim to increase Kenya’s tree cover within the existing large parcels of land occupied by public schools and these trees will be harvested sustainably and used to build classrooms for the growing population in the country.
“We have worked with the Konquey Design Initiative and developed a tool for ensuring that infrastructure in informal settlements is done with the people. The tool, dubbed 3IF (Integrated and Inclusive Infrastructure) is aimed at guiding professionals to work with communities when designing and installing projects to ensure that the voice of the user is heard and incorporated in the design,” she said.
By Michael Omondi
