Kathmandu, March 25, 2014 –   Four day long “Orientation Training on Sustainable Housing for Policy Makers” was inaugurated in capital Kathmandu today with the aim of interacting with the decision makers for promoting Green Homes in Nepal. The four day long training has been organized by UN-Habitat and its partners for raising awareness   on sustainable housing services and technologies that are currently being practiced at national as  well as international level and also to exchange idea from the European experience of the green  and sustainable technologies. Speaking during the inaugural session Chief Guest of the program Mr. Kishor Thapa, Secretary at the Ministry of Urban Development highlighted the importance of new technology as well as the old traditional technology of Nepal that were actually the traditional Green technologies. “Our technology should be continually improved, the traditional technology should be made more efficient with the new ones,” Thapa said. He added that the technology of Green Homes should be taken to the ground level such that there is wide social acceptance of it as that is where the real change will begin. He also informed about building an administrative hub soon at Babarmahal that will be using all the green technology and the concept of the green homes. Likewise, Mr. Suresh Prakash Acharya, Joint Secretary at the ministry of Urban development said that the concept of Green Homes brings the notion that it is only environment friendly but in actual it goes beyond it as it deals more with human life style, health. “We had this technology for ages and these are really beneficial we have to move towards the green technology that we have been using for the ages,” Acharya added. Senior Program Officer at the European Union, Mr. Ranjan Prakash Shrestha also highlighted the importance of the Green Homes and praised the step of Green Homes in promoting sustainable housing and promoting Green Economy in Nepal. The keynote speaker at the workshop, Dr. Ogenis M. Brilhante fromInstitute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, Netherlands shared the concept of Green Homes in the European context and highlighted the importance of the need of the to share his views on Green Homes. Giving his remarks on the occasion, Mr. Shambhu KC, Director General from DUDBC revealed that the department has been promoting the concept of the Green Homes and its technology and has also produced “Green Technology Directives”. Also speaking at the occasion, Habitat Program Manager and team leader of the Green Homes Project, Mr. PS Joshi briefed about the concept of the Green Homes project and also highlighted the importance of the green technology in the Nepali context. Green Homes or Sustainable Housing is an approach that includes household systems that reduce pressure on natural resources and carbon emissions, thus resulting in human wellbeing, social equity, and green economy. The project is funded by European Union and implemented by UN Habitat and its partners. The program works on the ground, with producers and consumers, mainly among Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and consumer groups in Asia to achieve this objective.