i • Damage and risks: PCR Tool 3, Learning from Disasters
• Planning : PCR Tool 7, Planning with the People
National level learning should focus on housing
policies and strategies developed by central
government, and the legal framework, which
includes laws, codes, standards and regulations
with respect to, e.g., land, planning, housing
design, construction, materials and disaster
resistance.
Where can you get the information from?
• Relevant Ministries such as Public Works,
Housing, Land & Infrastructure, and their key
departments’ dealing with building codes, land,
statistics.
• Project evaluations and housing or construction
sector studies done by national, international
agencies, research institutes, World Bank and
other financial and development institutes.
Housing finance institutions.
• Specific successful housing projects and
programmes. These can be found through
publications promoted by Universities, NGOs
and the Boards of Architects/Engineers
and other sources for built environment
professionals. (chambers of commence, both
public and private sectors)
i • Web-based resources : PCR Tool 2. PCR Resources.
International level learning can help to fill gaps of
knowledge in a given location or country.
Where can you get the information from?
• Handbooks such as Shelter after Disaster,
Strategies for transitional settlement and
reconstruction, lists six reconstruction options
for non-displaced people, and 16 methods of
assistance. It is possible to find information
and examples of good practice on virtually all of
those within the housing sector worldwide.
• Networking within the ‘housing community of
practice’ and Internet data collection.
• Best Practice Databases of awarded schemes
that encourage agencies to disseminate
examples of good practice.
i • Web-based resources : PCR Tool 2. PCR Resources.
• UN-Habitat’s Best Practice and Local Leadership Programme/ Dubai Best Practice awards;
see: http://www.bestpractices.org.
• Building and Social Housing Foundation: World Habitat Awards,
see: http://www.worldhabitatawards.org
• Aga Khan Award for Architecture; see: http://www.akdn.org/architecture
What to learn from the housing sector?
In PCR Tool 1: People-Centred Reconstruction,
an Introduction, we set out a list of 23 Guiding
Principles for PCR. Many of those principles also
apply to regular housing, and we can therefore
often find knowledge and examples of good
practice of them about them as well as examples
of good practice in the housing sector, that could
be transferred to reconstruction. Some of those
principles have been treated in detail in other tools;
below, we therefore focus more on principles that
have less attention elsewhere.
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