GerHub website

uncommon solutions to common problems

We work towards finding innovative and creative solutions to some of the most pressing issues in the ger areas of Mongolia.

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Our Approach

We partner with top universities and institutions globally and locally in the fields of architecture, design, engineering, and education.

Who We Are

GerHub is a mission-driven organization that seeks to find innovative and creative solutions to the most pressing issues in the ger areas of Mongolia. We achieve this by collaborating with the brightest minds in the fields of architecture, design, urban planning, education, and engineering to develop efficient, low-cost products and services for ger area residents. GerHub strives to launch communities into action and empower residents to become innovators and creative problem solvers.

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Where We Work

We work in the ger areas of Ulaanbaatar city. The capital city of Ulaanbaatar is home to almost half of Mongolia’s total population of 3 million. Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital in the world, with temperatures frequently dipping below -40°C (-40°F) in the winter. Ulaanbaatar is composed of two distinct urban forms, the centrally located, planned apartment areas and the semi-formal, unplanned ‘ger areas’ that encircle the city. Of the close to 1.5 million residents of Ulaanbaatar, 60% live in the ger areas. ‘Ger’ is the Mongolian word for the round tent-like nomadic dwelling. The ger areas are composed of both traditional gers and self-built detached houses, but the main identifying factor for the ger areas is that none of the households are connected to the core infrastructure of central heating, running water, or plumbing. Over the past 25 years, Ulaanbaatar’s population has more than doubled due to the rapid rate of migration of former nomadic herders into the city. For a country that has maintained a nomadic herding culture for centuries, living in an urban environment is a brand new phenomenon that presents infrastructural, political, and social problems.

Our Projects

Dandelion

Dandelion is our first health project dedicated to improving access to comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) as well as reliable information to girls and women of reproductive age residing in the ger areas of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. As one of the ten Joint Innovation Challenge winners Dandelion successfully piloted its first mobile clinic in the 31st and 43rd khoroos of Songinokhairkhan district in the winter-spring period of 2023 with funding and support from UNFPA.

Ger Innovation Hub

The Ger Innovation Hub (GIH) is a first-of-its-kind community space in one of the largest ger areas of UB. GIH strives to foster a sense of community and belonging while fulfilling the residents’ basic needs to play, learn, work, and further solve their daily challenges. Designed by Rural Urban Framework (RUF), an award-winning architectural design research center of the Hong Kong University, the community space is inspiring and unique in design that demonstrates energy efficiency.

Let's Read

GerHub is implementing Let's Read project to promote reading for young children between ages of 0 and 5, and help parents and caregivers use children’s books as critical tools in actively contributing to early childhood development of their young children. If adults spend only 15 minutes a day reading together with young children, it significantly boosts cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral skills that are essential for pre-primary school-aged children.

Gerude

In partnership with Nexon Foundation, we are proudly implementing our flagship Gerude – Education for Innovation Program. We aim to provide meaningful personal development opportunities for high schoolers, and help nurture the next generation of creative problem solvers and innovators!

Young ChangeMaker

Our annual Young ChangeMaker Award (YCMA) program is a personal development grant for rising junior and senior year university students to carry out an independent project in Mongolia. This fast-paced summer program aims to tap into the potential of future change makers by assisting students in better preparing for their future careers and lives while also allowing them to pursue their passions and contribute to society.

Plot improvement

There is immense potential to create value in plots and ger areas benefitting the households as well as the community as a whole. Mobilizing communities and ger area residents through creative content, GerHub, published a video series on home improvement in partnership with the Asia Foundation among other partners to inspire ger area residents to improve their living spaces for a better quality of life.

Community Project

The Community Project is a fresh initiative to raise awareness about the importance of community space in the ger areas and other parts of UB and generate revenue to cover some of the operating cost of our community space – Ger Innovation Hub. We design and produce new, relevant, trendy pieces for the youth partnering with different communities as the project title stands for. These collaborations also highlight the opportunities and challenges of various communities thriving in Mongolia.