Ashoka
Build Change: Rethinking Housing After The Crisis
Elizabeth Hausler started Build Change in 2004 to make safe, disaster-resistant houses the new norm across the world. In the years since, she and her team of civil engineers have responded to dozens of natural disasters, arriving after the immediate crisis clears to support local builders and help them rebuild in new ways, using reinforced structures that will withstand future earthquakes and hurricanes. We called Elizabeth to check what challenges and opportunities she sees at this juncture, in the midst of a different kind of global crisis.
Ashoka insight
The pandemic is raising water and sanitation aspects of housing. We may want to think of resilient housing in even broader terms, to include a functioning toilet and sink, enough space and light and air circulation, a roof that doesn’t leak, a different interior configuration so there’s space for a sick person to recover without infecting the rest of the household.