Escuela Saludable y Ecologica

Project Location: Lima, Peru

Project Partners: UW Department of Global Health, the UW Dept of Landscape Arch., the Universidad de San Marcos and the Fogarty International Scholars program

Project Description:

More than a third of Lima’s 9 million occupants live in slums. The conditions of the built environment, ecological degradation, and human health in these communities are inextricably linked and local, regional and global environmental burdens are increasingly borne by the urban poor.

Among the worse impacts: I) Lack of improved sanitation contaminates soils and ground and surface waters leading to increased incidence of dysentery. II) Stressed water resources contribute to deficient water supplies and hygiene related illnesses. III) Volatile food prices contribute to widespread malnutrition. IV) Overcrowding and insufficient pollution and dust control contribute to the spread of respiratory illnesses V) lack of public green space contributes to depression and antisocial behaviors. VI) Lack of durable housing and occupation of precarious sites increases the exposure of slum dwellers to climate related illnesses and natural disasters such as landslides and earthquakes. VII) Lack of income generating opportunities lead to conditions of extreme poverty.

By 2050, Lima’s population is expected to increase to 16 million, the city’s primary water supply, the Andean glaciers, will melt as a result of climate change and the regions few remaining ecologically functional landscapes will become scarce. The hardships that the city’s slum dwellers face will become increasingly acute.

In response to these challenges, Architects Without Borders Seattle has undertaken the Escuela Ecologica Saludable Initiative in collaboration with the University of Washington and the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Grounded in Lomas de Zapallall, an urban slum of 27,000 in northern Lima, the initiative integrates design activism, interdisciplinary research and education. It involves the design and implementation of ecologically intelligent interventions in community infrastructure, related capacity building programs and the monitoring and evaluation of their environmental, economic and human health impacts.

In July, August and September of this year, AWB-Seattle helped to design and construct a 600 SM park at the Pitagoras School. The project built upon the efforts of AWB volunteers over the past three years and incorporated 8 UW students who participated as part of an International Exploration Seminar. The park’s design provides vital access between the school’s central gathering area and the primary school, green space in an otherwise barren desert landscape and areas for students to relax and play. Constructed from local stone, nurturing more than 200 shrubs, trees and other plants and incorporating an innovative wastewater irrigation system, the project improves human wellbeing and ecological health while addressing Lima’s looming water crisis.

The project relied heavily upon community investment and served as a platform for community mobilization at an impressive scale. Its design was conceived and crafted through a series of participatory design workshops involving students, parents and teachers. More than 300 parents graded the site with shovels and wheelbarrows, laid stone to form pathways at platforms and planted trees. The park was constructed in 2 weeks.

AWB-Seattle looks forward to continuing our efforts as part of the Escuela Saludable y Ecological Initiative. Several projects are currently underway;
• New classrooms will provide a durable healthy environment for secondary students to pursue their studies.
• A school-based community health center will provide essential medical services currently unavailable in the area.
It is our hope that over time, successful projects at will improve living conditions, health and ecological resilience at the Pitagorus School and serve as a model for projects in the broader community of Lomas de Zapallal and urban slums worldwide.