Innovative housing solution addresses seven UN Sustainable Development Goals
Kuponya Innovations, a social enterprise project from Enactus Wilfrid Laurier University, has won the 2025 Alterna Savings Sustainable Development Goals Project Accelerator Best Project Award. This innovative initiative tackles the housing shortage in northern communities through a creative, scalable solution.
The team’s unique ‘house-in-a-box’ solution offers affordable, future-proof housing and addresses seven of the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The housing kit contains innovative materials that can be rapidly assembled by local labourers using their assembly guide and training program, creating opportunities for the local community to build marketable skills for employment.
“Empowering communities through innovative social enterprise is a proven formula for sustainable change,” said Kim Moseley, VP of Marketing, Product and Communications for Alterna Savings. “Kuponya Innovations exemplifies the transformative impact we aim to support through our SDG Project Accelerator. Their ingenious approach addresses the critical housing shortage while creating meaningful skills development opportunities – this is exactly what good in banking can achieve when we invest in student-led innovation.”
New this year, the Alterna Savings SDG Project Accelerator supports Ontario-based Enactus teams in identifying, creating, and delivering innovative social enterprises that address at least one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Six projects received $2,500 grants, impacting over 3,000 individuals and driving positive change in their communities through groundbreaking social enterprises.
The seven UN SDGs that Kuponya Innovations addresses are: SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, SDG 13: Climate Action, and SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.
More information about the Alterna Savings SDG and other Project Accelerators for 2024-2025 can be found here.