In 2025, Development Workshop Angola promoted the University Design Competition for Sustainable Housing, an initiative aligned with the objectives of the Angolan Cities Urban Redevelopment and Conversion Project (SONA). The competition was officially launched on July 6, 2025, with the overall objective of identifying three conceptual projects for affordable sustainable housing, with the potential for accessibility for Angolan families and aligned with the principles of urban sustainability advocated by SONA.
Stages of the selection process
The University Design Competition for Sustainable Housing took place in several stages to ensure transparency, technical rigor, and broad national participation. Open to all Angolan universities, it allowed up to three teams per institution. After registration, a technical screening was conducted, approving 65 groups who then participated in a two-week remote theoretical training on key competition themes. Following this, the groups completed an online assessment, from which 15 finalists were pre-selected and announced on September 1, 2025. These finalists developed and submitted their final projects on October 6, 2025, which were subsequently evaluated by a multidisciplinary jury based on criteria of sustainability, innovation, technical feasibility, and social impact.
Awards ceremony
The final stage of the competition consisted of the Winners’ Presentation Ceremony, intended for the public dissemination of the three winning projects, with the presence of government, institutional, academic, and technical partner representatives. During the event, the finalist projects were presented, highlighting their creativity, feasibility, and alignment with the sustainability principles of the SONA Project. After the presentations, the final ranking was announced, awarding the groups Linhas de Terra (1st place), Horizonte Sustentável (2nd place), and M2R (3rd place). The financial prizes, funded by Kixicrédito, included cash prizes and a professional internship for the winning team. The ceremony marked the closing of the competition and reinforced the role of higher education and cooperation between academia, the public and private sectors in the development of sustainable housing solutions.
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TERMS OF REFERENCE, TEACHING MATERIALS and PRESENTATIONS FROM COMPETITORS