Presentation of the ESSEC Grand Prizes for the City of Solidarity and Responsible Real Estate
The winners of the second edition of the ESSEC Grand Prizes for the City of Solidarity and Responsible Real Estate were announced on 21 September 2020 at a ceremony held at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal in Paris.
As in the first edition (2019), UCLG Africa is among the partners of the event alongside the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF), the Federation of Real Estate and Property Companies (FSIF), the Métropole du Grand Paris (MGP), the Pavillon de l’Arsenal, the Abbé Pierre Foundation, Housing Europe, the Sustainable Building Plan, Solidarités Nouvelles pour le Logement (SNL) and Uniopss.
About sixty applications were registered in the 5 competing categories and 7 trophies were awarded, including special jury prizes.
The African City of Solidarity and Sustainability Prize was awarded for the initiative: Rural reintegration by the ASA: urban exodus, solution to rural exodus. ASA is a Malagasy association that offers homeless or at-risk families in Antananarivo a path to reintegration into agriculture. The rural reintegration project consists of training homeless Malagasy families in agriculture over a period of three years, enabling them to migrate to rural areas 300 km west of the capital. These new farmers become self-sufficient and become owners of their homes and land within a few years.
The jury particularly appreciated this project for its impact on the population of the slums of Antananarivo, its long-term vision of accompanying the beneficiaries through professional training for a sustainable solution over time (More details on the project here).
Other projects nominated in the category were: Sustainable waste management in the city of Lomé through selective sorting and recycling presented by African Science and Technology for Sustainable Development, Support Project for Housing Reconstruction in the Suburbs of Dakar, Senegal, presented by URBASEN and FSH, Manguissa Eco Neighborhood presented by Messibat International, Ecodome Maroc presented by Youness Ouazri and Program Ecocollect, presented by RED PLAST.
The winners of the other categories are:
Grand Paris Prize for Urban Innovation: Weco, a project led by the Quatorze association in Metz, Triel-sur-Seine and Montreuil ( More info)
Hospital City Award: Lodgings for a new form of social housing for homeless families, a project led by the Samu Social de Paris et Galia (More info)
Responsible and Innovative Housing Award: Living in the Beguinage, a project led by the Vivr’Alliance Group, France Béguinages and the Association Vivre en Béguinage (More Info)
Solidarity Financing and Sustainable City Award: Solifap, the solidarity investment company that fights for better housing (More info)
Special Jury Prize: Day care and therapeutic apartments for autistic children and young adults by the Association Le Silence des Justes by Quartus Résidentiel. (More Info)
Special Jury Mention: (Special Mention exceptionally awarded by the jury to a candidate to salute all of their solidarity actions): awarded to Julien Beller, architect. (More Info).
Consult the presentation brochure for details of the winners.
