04
QUALITY EDUCATION

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to creating sustainable development. In addition to improving quality of life, access to inclusive education can help equip locals with the tools required to develop innovative solutions to the world’s greatest problems.

Over 265 million children are currently out of school and 22% of them are of primary school age. Additionally, even the children who are attending schools are lacking basic skills in reading and math. In the past decade, major progress has been made towards increasing access to education at all levels and increasing enrollment rates in schools, particularly for women and girls. Basic literacy skills have improved tremendously, yet bolder efforts are needed to make even greater strides for achieving universal education goals. For example, the world has achieved equality in primary education between girls and boys, but few countries have achieved that target at all levels of education.

The reasons for lack of quality education are due to lack of adequately trained teachers, poor conditions of schools and equity issues related to opportunities provided to rural children. For quality education to be provided to the children of impoverished families, investment is needed in educational scholarships, teacher training workshops, school building and improvement of water and electricity access to schools.

THIS GOAL AND ARCHITECTURE

Schools and educational spaces are a crucial part of our investment in the future.

Whether in a refugee camp, in the slums or in Silicon Valley, access to schools and to education is defining the future of our children. Schools, universities and other educational institutions all require an architecture that enables a productive learning environment. But architecture also has a role to play in creating affordable, accessible and inclusive educational solutions for communities with limited resources for conventional buildings or limited access to an existing school system. Examples of this can be found in designs that enable study at night, such as solar-powered reading lamps for off-grid rural areas, in movable classrooms for the children of migrant workers and in school facilities for minorities.

Furthermore, the built environment can provide training opportunities regarding the sustainable performance of buildings, settlements and urban areas for both users and craftsmen. In development, as well as in use, buildings and communal facilities can interact with and promote a sustainable culture of usage.

On the level of primary education, an increased focus on knowledge regarding sustainable design and crafts will be key in building the future sustainable development.

CASE STUDIES Frederiksbjerg School, Denmark

CASES

Menu
Skip to content