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Mission Statement In the Secretary-General’s 1998 Report the initiation of the rights-based approach to development was described: “ . . .not simply in terms of human needs, or of developmental requirements, but in terms of society's obligation to respond to the inalienable rights of individuals. It empowers people to demand justice as a right, not as charity, and gives communities a moral basis from which to claim international assistance where needed.” This expands on the UN Declaration on the Right to Development (1986). As an approach it is not only about addressing, through legal channels, violations of rights, it is about actively promoting rights by changing its programmatic framework. As a result, the means of assessing development changes. Those architects wishing to work in this sector need to be aware of how that programmatic framework changes and how it is assessed. Fundamentally, the rights-based approach is about the relationships between 'rights-holders' and 'duty-bearers'. For the former the focus is on empowerment and participation. For the latter the focus is on transparency, legislation and accountability. Among the issues that must be considered in shifting to a rights-based approach are: Working within recalcitrant states. Recognizing the costs of entitlements. Can states afford them? These issues are progressive and often states can begin by addressing entitlements through changing obstructive legislation. Architects too should be aware of obstructive legislation, particularly as it relates to planning and building The setting of standards - with globalization, those standards, beginning with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, have been agreed upon internationally and promoted actively by the United Nations. Education - this is particularly necessary for the actors in development - architects, engineers, planners, developers, contractors and so on. Access to information - communities not only need to be aware of their rights, but they need to understand how they can exercise them through design and development. Meaningful participation requires access to information - not just about rights but about the nature of development. This is also a key to citizenship. The rights-based approach to development makes it quite clear that there are other instruments, in addition Unfortunately, while the UN agencies are fully committed to the implementation of the rights-based approach (as difficult as that has proved to be), the broader development sector – consulting planners, architects and engineers, for example – have little understanding of the relationship between these UN policies and documents and the work that they do in the field. Indeed, this is true of many NGOs in the field as well. The Centre for Architecture and Human Rights was conceived to begin the process of narrowing that gap between rights and development by taking these ideas into architectural forums, and, through the presentation of papers and examples, through ongoing discussion, as well as through education and research, demonstrate how the profession can implement this approach to development.
THE PROBLEM In the 20 year period between the Stockholm conference and the Rio conference, the environment became a mainstream issue in both the teaching and the practice of architecture, working its way into the curriculum and into many aspects of practice. This has not been the case with human rights. It has been viewed as solely within the domain of law and, as such, outside the immediate program interests of the profession. To mainstream rights into the development sector, the consulting design professions must be reached in much the same way that the environmental movement reached them. The problems can be summarized as follows: · The issue of human rights and its relationship to development is simply not on the agenda of the profession. It is neither taught in the architecture schools nor practiced in the field. To move that agenda forward means addressing this problem directly. · Awareness of human rights documents, while thorough in development circles of UN agencies, remains negligible in the private sector, and to some extent remains negligible with the NGOs as well.. Without some solid connections between these documents and the work in the field – without awareness – there is little chance of implementation in the field. Obviously that awareness is much more thorough in development circles of UN agencies, but in the private sector it remains negligible. · The language of human rights is not easy to implement in development circles. We need to see these concepts illustrated in more concrete ways. Among those rights that relate directly to development are: * Housing (UD 25) * Self-determination (DRD 1.2) * Participation (DRD 2.3, 8.2) * Expression (CRC 13.1, 31.2) * Information (CRC 17) * Education (CRC 28, 29) However, from the language to the implementation, the development side loses something in the abstractions of legal language. Concepts need to be illustrated in more concrete ways.
A SOLUTION CAHR has developed three strategies for addressing these problems: · Short term: a series of lectures in architecture schools and architecture conferences on the relationship the profession and human rights. This will take place between April and July 2005. · Medium term: An international symposium on architecture and human rights to be held in Bangkok in April 2006 · Long term: the expansion of the rights-based approach into the curriculum of schools, into the continuing education programs of architectural institutions, and into the field. The would be done through formal and informal education programs, through research and through monitoring of national and municipal development policies and regulations. All three of these strategies have been expanded and outlined in separate proposals, available upon request.
OBJECTIVES The objects of the Centre are to raise the profile of the issues that relate development with rights (supporting the mainstreaming of the UN rights-based approach to development) through: · Education * By promoting the inclusion of human rights issues in the curriculum of all architecture schools; * By assisting architecture, planning and engineering schools in developing a curriculum that supports a rights-based approach to development; * By promoting the inclusion of human rights in architectural practice, and developing recommendations to their representative institutions for the implementation of rights-based approaches in development, in part through courses in continuing professional development; * By developing and implementing training programs for field workers; and, * By developing built environment programs for children. · Research * By holding regular symposia on the relationship between design and human rights; * By expanding on the relationship between human rights law and development practice (e.g., the right to participation and the implementation of that in planning and architecture); * By developing and expanding the role of architecture in disaster recovery, in particular as it relates to rights and development; and, * By the publication and distribution of documents related to design and human rights. · Monitoring * By monitoring legislation affecting the built environment for its support or obstruction of human rights; and, * By working with government bodies in the development of built environment legislation that supports and improves. · Advocacy * By assisting vulnerable communities in developing effective alternatives to evictions; * By improving the access of vulnerable communities to information and design skills; * By supporting communities in developing more effective participation in development; and, * By developing and supporting networks of individuals and organizations that can provide such information and services to communities.
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CURRENT ACTIVITIES: |
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COURSES: |
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BUILDING: |
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· Unfolding School (upcoming) · Portable School (operating) |
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WRITING: |
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Just completed: · “Surviving the Second Tsunami: land rights in the face of buffer zones, land grabs, and development” (2010), in Lizarralde, G., Davidson, C., and Johnson, C. (eds.), Rebuilding after disasters: From emergency to sustainability, Taylor & Francis. · “Rendered Invisible: Urban Planning, Cultural Heritage, and Human Rights” (forthcoming), in Logan, W., Nic Craith, M., and Langfield, M. (eds.)Cultural Diversity, Heritage and Human Rights, Routledge. For April 2010: · "Architecture & Human Rights" (forthcoming) in Cushman, Thomas (ed.), Handbook of Human Rights, Routledge. |
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TEACHING |
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Professional Degree Programme (with KMUTT) · Studio – Community Design · Architecture and Human Rights · Ethics for Design Professionals · Housing · Professional Practice · Environmental Psychology · Human Impacts on the Environment
Continuing Professional Development: · Architecture and Human Rights (AIBC, for May 2010) · Migrant Construction Workers: Architectural Responses in the International Arena (AIBC, 2009) · The Portable School (MADE, 2009) · Right to the City (RAIC, 2006) · The Role of Architecture in Post-Disaster Development (RAIC, 2005) |
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CAHR 2010: |
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10 KEY PROJECTS: |
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· International Studio (Phnom Penh) · Kids & the Built Environment 1 · Kids & the Built Environment 2 · Portable School · Training Programmes · Continuing Professional Development · Migrant Construction Workers study · Symposium 2010 · Urban Codes & Human Rights · Construction contracts and Human Rights |
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CONTACT: |
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CAHR International 464 Stannard Avenue,
CAHR in Thailand 231/2 South Sathorn Road, |
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IN THE NEWS: |
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· Executive Director, Graeme Bristol interviewed in architectureBC, January 2010 · Executive Director, Graeme Bristol interviewed by Bangkok Post, August 2009 · Portable School on Thai Channel 9 and Executive Director Graeme Bristol interviewed. · Executive Director, Graeme Bristol interviewed by Radio Nederlands |
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· March— Bangkok: The homeless of Sanam Luang (with KMUTT) · May—Vancouver : Lecture at AGM of AIBC · Jun—Completion of Draft, ‘Architecture and Human Rights’ · October—Bangkok |