Awareness-raising to the technical concept of the Nubian Vault, as a sustainable and low-carbon solution

A Roof – To kick-start the Nubian Vault market in West Africa in order to allow the construction of adapted low-carbon housing and the on-site training of skilled NV masons A Nubian Vault construction uses local skills and labour and renewable materials (earth, rocks, water, etc.) for sustainable low cost homes and other buildings. The activities are implemented by AVN's local teams and their partners. They will set up awareness-raising and advocacy campaigns for the three target groups: (a) rural and semi-rural populations (b) urban populations, interested in the benefits brought by the NV (passive energy efficiency, possibility to add on a storey with no additional cost, use of the terraced roof, reduction of urban sprawl), and (c) institutional and development actors for community buildings. This awareness and advocacy campaign will create a demand for NV constructions that AVN will accompany, in particular in the relation between masons and their clients. AVN sends a qualified mason to a village to agree with the client on means and needs for the desired construction, as well as to initiate the training of local apprentices on the construction-site itself. The NV construction technique is passed on by qualified and independent masons to their apprentices, in a form of on-site compagnonnage. The first Nubian Vaults that are built have a significant demonstration effect in terms of promoting AVN's approach as well as the masons themselves. Result 1.1: Rural and urban populations are sensitised to/have better awareness of the Nubian Vault concept and have access to durable, ecological, economical and low-carbon housing. AVN follows a real popularisation methodology: its objective is to create a network of regional teams (AVN and collaborating partners) in order to progressively cover the relevant areas of the 5 countries. This market "kick-starting" method is implemented in rural and urban zones, for a clientele stemming from a mainly informal economy. In the long term, AVN's ambition is to retreat from the zones in which the market has been sufficiently densified. Result 1.2: Political and development actors are sensitised to the NV concept in order to create a demand for NV buildings, allowing the construction of institutional and community buildings that are durable, ecological, economical and low-carbon. Today, nearly no construction proposals for human habitat are adapted to social and economic local realities, nor to the issues of comfort, sustainability and the consequences of climate change. Construction project owners must therefore be sensitised, so that they may adopt new construction practices through community constructions, taking into account their pre-existing needs. These owners, coming from a formal economy standpoint, have the essential task to impulse the implication of artisans, businesses and other actors of the appropriate housing sector (architects, control offices, etc.) and to lay the bases for the institutionalisation of this sector (by the construction of replicable examples). AVN accompanies this emerging formal market by supporting the relationship between construction owners and artisans and businesses, and through construction management support actions.