Latin American Fair and Sustainable Housing Certificate

In 2024-2025 Weatherizers Without Borders, in collaboration with FOVISEE Foundation , national universities, and public institutions in Latin America, implemented the first edition of the Latin American Fair and Sustainable Housing Certificate.

This training initiative reached over 150 public officials from 69 cities across Argentina and Chile, organized into five geographic regions.
It was designed as an institutional capacity-building tool to address the qualitative housing deficit through both technical and social approaches.

1. Territorial Reach: 69 Cities and a Growing Regional Network

One of the program’s most distinctive features was its broad territorial implementation, surpassing the original goal of 50 cities. A total of 69 municipalities participated, from Argentina (La Plata, Mercedes, Mar del Plata, Mendoza, San Luis, Tucumán, among others) and Chile (Santiago, Viña del Mar, Concepción, Chillán, Coyhaique, Antofagasta).

This diversity enabled us to discuss, contextualize, and apply the program’s contents across different urban, geographical, and climatic realities, strengthening a truly regional network for sustainable homes.

2. Participant Feedback and Learning Community

Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive. They described the experience as “enriching in every way”, “extremely well organized”, and praised the “dedication and empathy” of our teaching and technical teams.

Many highlighted the hands-on nature of the program and the opportunity to build lasting professional connections. Through these exchanges, we built a regional learning community that continues to collaborate beyond the course itself.

3. Blended Learning: Online and In-Person Components

The certificate combined two complementary formats:

• An asynchronous virtual stage through FOVISEE’s Online Campus, including thematic modules, discussion forums, interactive materials, and applied exercises.
• A face-to-face stage with three two-day sessions held in Mercedes and Bariloche. During these meetings, participants conducted real-life home diagnostics using technical and social methodologies -such as blower door tests, infrared thermography, and structured family interviews- while engaging directly with local communities.

This first edition also featured a unique international exchange with students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) during the Bariloche sessions, enriching the learning experience with global perspectives.

4. Core Contents and Methodological Focus

The certificate addressed several key dimensions of the qualitative housing deficit:

• Thermal and energy performance of homes.
• Indoor air quality and invisible pollutants (CO, mold, particulate matter).
• Technical and social diagnostics tailored to territorial contexts.
• Proper housing use and the role of educational tools accompanying every improvement.
• Design of evidence-based public policy proposals adapted to local realities.

Our curriculum followed an interdisciplinary approach, integrating architecture, engineering, social sciences, and public policy, reflecting WWB’s and FOVISEE’s shared vision of housing as a right, a system, and a space for well-being.

5. Results and Strategic Value

Key outcomes of this first edition include:

• Participation of more than 150 officials and professionals.
• Development of a replicable methodology for diagnosing and improving housing conditions in vulnerable contexts.
• Consolidation of a program that bridges technical, social, and policy dimensions, with clear potential for regional scaling.

Looking Ahead

Encouraged by the success of this first edition, we are already preparing the next cohort, which will integrate participants’ feedback, expand in-person components, and tailor case studies to regional priorities.

For us at Weatherizers Without Borders, in collaboration with FOVISEE Foundation, this certificate represents much more than a training program: it is a platform to strengthen public capacities, promote evidence-based housing policy, and advance the right to safe, healthy, and sustainable homes across Latin America.