An international contest is trying to stir interest in the plight of homeless people around the world -- by asking entrants to design an indigent 'shelter in a cart'.

Organized by the Milan-based web site designboom, the contest asks for shelter designs based on the shopping carts urban homeless use to wheel around their possessions.

Victoria, B.C. homeless advocate Mark Dusseault, who convinced the magazine to host the contest after a year of lobbying, says it touches on an issue close to his heart.

"Certainly in my heart of hearts I believe that housing is a basic human right for everyone," he told CTV's Canada AM early Wednesday.

As for critics who dismiss such portable shelters as band-aid solutions at best, Dusseault says they are missing the mark.

But he admits that a rousing conversation -- not necessarily prototypes -- would make the contest a success.

"I'm really not sure that any of the designs that are submitted and actually juried will ever really come to fruition," he said. "But it will again stimulate and provoke people into talking about the issue."

Despite his relatively modest expectations, Dusseault says some of the designs for low-cost, portable housing may nevertheless prove useful.

B.C. bike-trailer designer Tony Hoar, for example, has already been approached about adapting his towable shelter to be used as ambulances in developing countries.

And in the meantime, a homeless couple has been making good use of 73-year-old former professional cyclist's prototype.

"They've been using it probably for about the past six weeks," Dusseault said. "It's kind of the perfect vehicle for them ... They go around around collecting recyclables and that's how they support themselves."

As for long-term solutions, Dusseault says they'll take a concerted effort to find.

"I think we really have to look at our sense of fairness and what we think our citizens here in Canada have the rights to."