The World Habitat Awards were established in 1985 by the Building and Social Housing Foundation as part of its contribution to the United Nations International Year of Shelter for the Homeless.

Two awards are given annually to projects from the global North as well as the South that provide practical and innovative solutions to current housing needs and problems.

Every year an award of £10,000 is presented to each of the two winners at the annual United Nations global celebration of World Habitat Day. Travel and accommodation costs are also met for one representative of each winning project to attend the awards ceremony.

Prize
In addition to international recognition for their work, winning projects receive an award of £10,000 (ten thousand pounds sterling) and an individually designed silver trophy. Travel and accommodation costs are also met for one representative of each winning project to attend the Awards ceremony.

Projects are sought that:

Demonstrate practical, innovative and sustainable solutions to current housing issues faced by countries of the North as well as the South.
Can be transferred or adapted for use as appropriate.
View the term habitat from a broad perspective and bring other benefits as well, for example, energy or water saving, income generation, social inclusion, community and individual empowerment, capacity building and education.

Entry Procedure
The World Habitat Awards competition has a two-stage entry process:

Stage I submissions need only comprise a concise summary of all aspects of the project. From these preliminary submissions, ten to twelve projects are selected by an Assessment Committee to go forward to Stage II of the competition.

Stage II submissions are evaluated by an independent advisory group before being put to a panel of international judges, which include the Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and the Rector of the United Nations University. Evaluation visits are carried out to some of the projects prior to the final judging.

All Stage I submissions must be received by 1st November 2010.

Timetable
1st November 2010 Deadline for receipt of Stage I submissions

1st December 2010 Notification of results for Stage I submissions

1st February 2011 Deadline for receipt of entries selected for Stage II submission

February - July 2011 Evaluation of Stage II submissions

August 2011 Announcement of winners of the World Habitat Award

3rd October 2011 Presentation of the Awards on World Habitat Day