GOOD PRACTICE FROM ARGENTINA
Plug-in, a social project to improve substandard housing by using discarded materials
More than eight million Argentinian families live in precarious conditions, with low income and limited housing options. Plug-in Social was established in 2013, with the aim of helping to reduce the housing deficit and provide sustainable housing to low-income communities. Its pillars are collaborative work, renewable energy, recycling, and design.
By teaching about renewable energy and the reuse of materials, the project equips substandard homes with various devices( solar collectors, shower modules) in order to improve their basic conditions. The residents are expected to participate in a learning process by attending a two-day workshop. Here, students, professionals, enthusiasts, and local residents collaborate, utilizing industrial and / or household waste to build“ modules”— parts of houses that are self-sustainable in terms of energy. This provides vulnerable families with access to housing solutions that are environmentally friendly and meet basic needs such as access to water, sanitary hot water, sewage treatment, electricity, and gas.