Welcome to follow the journey of Team Ponto de Encontro in the Sustainable Global Technologies Studio course 2023 provided by Aalto University!
For the next four months, the team consisting of five multidisciplinary students from Aalto will be collaborating with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in order to create safe and integrative living conditions for Venezuelan refugees living in Boa Vista, Brazil.
Why?
Since the beginning of 2015, around 6 million people have left Venezuela due to the unstable political situation and hyperinflation that have led to a collapsing economy and shortages in basic goods such as food and medicine (UNHCR, 2022). During this time, around 780 thousand Venezuelan refugees and migrants have entered Brazil. Those who enter Brazil through the northern border are mainly transported to Boa Vista, the capital of the northern state Roraima.
What?
This project is continuation of the project completed by Aalto University students in collaboration with the UNHCR in the spring of 2022, in which the goal was to increase the wellbeing of Venezuelan refugees at the refugee shelters. This year the collaboration will be aimed at the next steps of the displacement response: to support the Venezuelan refugees out of the camps and help them integrate into the local community in Boa Vista.
How?
The project will be carried out through participatory approaches together with refugees, locals, UNHCR and other supporting organizations in the planning of new solutions that support sustainable development, create comfortable and safe living environments as well as communal spaces intended to bring the locals and refugees together, by the means of urban planning and architecture.
Who?
The student team consists of five multidisciplinary students from Aalto University, mentored by Kristjana Adalgeirsdottir, a researcher and an expert in humanitarian architecture.
Meeri Pitkänen, master’s thesis worker in Landscape Architecture, specializing in the utilization of urban space as part of integration.
Siiri Hänninen, master’s thesis worker in Architecture, specializing in the experiences of urban space, trying to find new meaningful ways to work as an architect in the era of climate change.
Iiris Nieminen, first year master student in Water and Environmental engineering, specializing in water resources and passionate about development connected to water.
Vilma Torkkeli, master’s thesis worker International Design Business Management, specializing in sustainability management and global development.
Roosa Laakso, first year master student in Creative Sustainability specialized in the UN SDGs and passionate about sustainable city infrastructure.
Team Ponto