Announcement of the Winners of the 7th Cycle of the DIABP

Dubai International Award for Best Practices 2008: 12 Winners Announced

An independent jury of five international experts met in Dubai on 12 – 13 November, 2008 to select the 12 winners for the seventh cycle of the Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment (DIABP).

The selection was made from a list of 48 initiatives, which had been short-listed out of nearly 500 submissions by the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) which met in Dubai last month. The winners were all deemed to have made outstanding contributions to improving the quality of life in cities and communities.

The International Jury comprised of Ms. Banashree Banerjee, Urban Management Consultant from India, Dr. Beacon Mbiba, Rural and Urban Planner from Zimbabwe, Dr. Paolo Saldiva, Professor at the University of Sao Paolo, Brazil, Eng. Abdulla Mohammed Rafia, Assistant Director-General of Dubai Municipality for Environment and Public Health Services, and Dr. Roberto Ottolenghi, Urban Development and Management Consultant from Italy. 

The 12 Winners were announced during a Press Conference held on 13th November, 2008 and attended by H.E. Eng. Hussain Nasser Lootah, Chairman of the DIABP Board of Trustees and the Acting Director General of Dubai Municipality, Mrs. Wandia Seaforth, UN-HABITAT Best Practices Programme and Mrs. Banashree Banerjee, Chair of the International Jury. 

During the Press Conference, Eng. Lootah emphasized that the Jury based their decisions on criteria of tangible impact, partnership, and sustainability and also took into account considerations of leadership and community empowerment, gender equality and social inclusion, and innovations that can be replicated.

Afterwards, the Chair of the Jury, Mrs. Banashree Banerjee announced the winners for the 7th cycle, 10 for the Best Practices category and 2 for Best Practice Transfers and congratulated the following:

1. APROCOBU (Association for the Promotion of Cooperative Stores for Production, Selling and Supplying in Burundi, Bujumbura, Burundi
2. Involving Indigenous People in Forest Management in Decision Making, Pokola, Republic of the Congo
3. Micro-Gardens in Dakar, Dakar, Senegal
4. Marianhill Landfill Conservancy, Durban, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
5. The New Qingpu Practice – Sustainable Construction of Ecology and Humanity, Shanghai, The People's Republic of China
6. Integrated People-Driven Reconstruction in Post-Tsunami Aceh, Jakarta, Indonesia
7. Spanish Network of Cities for the Climate, Madrid, Spain
8. Heartfelt Houses – The Pilot Project: Housing Consolidation and Environmental Recovery of the "Juan Bobo" Stream Basin Areas, Medellin, Colombia
9. From Discontent to Collective Action: A Social Movement that Protected Balandra Bay, A Social and Natural Icon in Northwest Mexico, Baja California Sur, Mexico
10. Partnership in Opportunities for Empowerment Through Technology in the Americas – POETA, The Americas.

DIABP Best Practices Transfers are:

11. The Palestinian Housing Council, Ramallah, Palestine
12. Water and Sanitation Extension Program (WASEP), Karachi, Pakistan.