Over the next three days, three consecutive public town hall meetings will open a channel for community input on the draft designs of climate-resilient housing units developed under Saint Lucia’s landmark Green Affordable Housing Project (GAH).
First launched in 2021 by the Government of Saint Lucia, the GAH initiative was created to address a critical gap: making sustainable, climate-adapted housing accessible and affordable for the country’s low- and middle-income households. To advance this goal, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) has partnered with two leading global climate and development bodies—the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF)—to support the government in mobilizing $7.5 million in funding for a flagship pilot project.
Under this pilot, 450 fully green-certified, climate-resilient homes will be constructed in the Balata district of Castries, the island nation’s capital. The planned residential units are designed to withstand the extreme weather events that threaten small island developing states like Saint Lucia, with proposed features including integrated rainwater harvesting systems, on-site solar energy generation, energy-efficient LED lighting, and hurricane-resistant building infrastructure. If the pilot is successfully completed, an estimated 1,800 local Saint Lucians stand to gain safe, sustainable affordable housing through the initiative.
To ensure the project aligns with the needs of the community that will ultimately call these developments home, organizers have scheduled three town hall sessions across different regions of the country, each designed to accommodate local attendees. The first session, set for Monday, April 20, will be a virtual gathering open to stakeholders in the Castries area, running from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The following day, Tuesday, April 21, an in-person meeting will be held at the Human Resource Development Centre in Gros Islet from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The third and final session will take place on Wednesday, April 22 at Babonneau Secondary School, running from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
During these public sessions, project teams will present the finalized proposed community layouts and housing designs, then open the floor to collect feedback and suggestions from residents, future prospective homeowners, and other local stakeholders. In an official statement, GGGI emphasized that public input is a core part of the project’s development process: the feedback collected will be integrated into final design adjustments to ensure the completed housing solutions directly reflect the needs and priorities of the people who will live in them, while also advancing the country’s broader goals for inclusive, sustainable national development.