The Holcim Awards competition is the principal initiative of the Holcim Foundation and celebrates innovative, future-oriented and tangible sustainable construction projects including global Gold prize winner for 2009 - "River remediation and urban development scheme", Fez, Morocco.

It is the mission of the Holcim Foundation to select and support initiatives that combine sustainable construction solutions with architectural excellence and enhanced quality of life beyond technical solutions. The Holcim Foundation therefore encourages sustainable responses to the technological, environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural issues affecting building and construction.

The primary objective of the Holcim Foundation is the non-commercial promotion and development of sustainable construction at national, regional, and global levels. Utilizing the global reach of the Holcim Group, the Holcim Foundation accelerates progress towards sustainable construction, encouraging initiatives in support of sustainable approaches to the provision of housing and infrastructure in developing and industrialized nations alike. The Holcim Foundation seeks to unite diverse global expertise and increase awareness of the critical role of the built environment in sustainability. Promoting best practice, pioneering fresh solutions, and inspiring young architects, engineers, planners, developers and contractors to adopt sustainable parameters for all their building projects are just a few of its ambitious objectives.

The Holcim Foundation's objectives are being implemented by:

• supporting sustainable construction in the scientific field, among experts in the construction sector, business and society;
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• awarding innovative, future-oriented and tangible sustainable construction projects from around the globe;
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• organizing seminars or symposiums on the topic of sustainable construction at the professional/academic level; and,
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• providing appropriate financial support to enable the realization of outstanding construction projects, particularly for the benefit of disadvantaged communities.