Armand N. Camhol receives his diploma from IHS Director Kees van Rooijen
Armand N. Camhol, university researcher at the UP Population Institute, recently took a three month course on housing and urban development management at the Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (EUR), the Netherlands.
Armand attended the three-month “International Course on Housing and Urban Development” at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS), EUR from January 3- March 29, 2019 with fellowship funding from the Orange Knowledge Programme of the Dutch government.
The three-month course is composed of one specialization of 15 ECTS (European credit transfer system) which participants select from an array of choices namely urban planning, environment and climate change, urban infrastructure finance, land governance, urban competitiveness, and housing & social justice. Armand chose the last which is on Urban Housing, Equity & Social Justice (UHES).
Presenting the Integrated Action Plan for Afrikaanderwijk neighborhood, Rotterdam
This specialization focuses on the role of policies and institutional frameworks in terms of meeting the needs of people- especially low income- on quality housing. The United Nations and other international organizations see housing as a basic need and a universal human right and thus should be affordable, accessible, adequate, acceptable, and adaptable especially in the era of human-expedited global warming. Throughout the specialization period, academicians and practitioners from within the EUR and UN Habitat, the main partner for the course, as well as other universities and organizations working in Africa, Asia, and Latin America presented lectures and exercises on housing theory and practice. Field visits and excursions across the Netherlands also broadened participants’ view of social housing practices. Armand successfully steered his group of professionals from Africa, Asia and Latin America to achieve the highest grade among four groups in this specialization.
With IHS Director Kees (extreme left) and classmates from Brazil and Nepal
Aside from the specialization, Armand also took part in the other requirement for the course, the action planning exercise for the Afrikaanderwijk neighborhood in Rotterdam, a low-income area beset by socio-economic issues. With other professionals from diverse origins and backgrounds, he led the Public Spaces group in crafting a proposal which was viewed by advisors as the leading one, edging out the two other groups. He was also key in integrating the action plans of the three groups.
In June 2018, Armand also attended a three-week executive course on climate change adaptation in the same institution.
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