Floating houses: community-based flood resilience innovations in Bangladesh

Every year 20% of the land mass and 30 million inhabitants in Bangladesh are exposed to flooding. Climate change is enhancing the intensity and frequency of floods which further exacerbates challenges such as livelihoods, poverty and gender relations. This project is co-developed and tested a flood resilient home to provide social, food, water and energy security for vulnerable families living in the flood prone areas of Bangladesh.

The project was built on the principles of sustainability and introduced the concept of "home" as a platform to build resilience. The location was selected from nationwide hazard risk calculation, and the project was carried out in consultation with a community-based organization, local power groups and local government. This local-scale project received national and international recognition as an innovative concept for flood resilient communities, winning the prestigious United Nations RISK Award, sponsored by Munich Re. Foundation, in 2019.

External team members

Ioan Fazey (former member of staff)

Centre for Climatic Change and Environmental Research (Bangladesh)

SustainaMatrix (US)