Water Institute member Elizabeth English was awarded first place in the sustainable products category of the Architecture MasterPrize Product Design Award for her Buoyant Foundation Project of which she is the founder and director.
Her research, Vulnerable in Vietnam, will be showcased at Expo 2020 Dubai’s Global Best Practice Programme, ‘Small Steps, Big Leaps’, Solutions for Sustainable Impact.
The
Global
Best
Practice
Programme
is
using
Expo
2020
Dubai’s
platform
to
“shine
a
light
on
projects
that
are
providing
real
solutions
to
the
world's
biggest
challenges,
in
line
with
the
globally-sourced
Sustainable
Development
Goals,
with
a
view
to
expanding
them
elsewhere.”
Projects
spotlighted
at
the
Expo
will
be
on
display
before
an
anticipated
25
million
guests
during
the
Expo’s
six-month
run
from
October
2020
to
April
2021.
Dr.
English's
Buoyant
Foundation
Project
has
developed
a
low-cost
flood
risk
reduction
and
climate
change
adaptation
strategy
for
retrofitting
homes
in
vulnerable
communities.
The
system
as
applied
in
rural
Vietnam
uses
recycled
buoyancy
elements
and
other
locally
available,
cost-effective
components.
The
retrofitted
homes
float
passively
during
flooding
while
remaining
grounded
under
ordinary
conditions.
This
allows
households
to
remain
safely
in
place
during
floods,
without
damage.
The
earth-friendly
approach
works
in
synchrony
with
natural
flood
cycles,
rather
than
trying
to
control
the
forces
of
nature.
Read
more
on
the
Global
Best
Practices
Program
site
here.
