Housing for all: time for Europe to deliver

On Tuesday, January 26th FEPS hosted the workshop ‘Concrete Actions for Social and Affordable Housing in the EU’ in the framework for Progressives’ week for affordable and sustainable housing.

Building on the publication “Concrete actions for Social and Affordable Housing in the EU”, by Sergio Nasarre, Milan Ftacnik, Nuria Lambea Llop and Liga Rasnaca; experts and policymakers discussed actionable points for local, regional and European actions to enhance access to a decent, inclusive and sustainable place to live.

Among our prominent speakers, Tom Copley, Deputy Mayor Housing & Residential Development of London, Michaela Kauer, Co-coordinator of the EU Urban Agenda Housing Partnership and director of the Brussels Liaison Office of the City of Vienna, Sergio Nasarre Aznar, Full Professor of Civil Law and Director of the UNESCO Housing Chair at the University Rovira i Virgili, Milan Ftáčnik, Chairman of the Smart Solutions and Innovation Council, Former mayor of Bratislava, Bálint Misetics, Senior Policy Advisor at The Municipality of Budapest, Laura Colini, senior policy expert at EU Urban Innovative Actions and URBACT, researcher co-founder of TSR urban social research, Sónia Alves, Research fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon and Nuria Lambea Llop, Postdoctoral researcher at the UNESCO Housing Chair of the University Rovira i Virgili joined the discussions.

Agenda

The lack of affordable housing is affecting more than 80 million people in Europe. The COVID-19 pandemic made the situation even worse, with an increasing number of people struggling to pay their rent or energy bill. But what comes just at the surface has longer structural reasons, rooted in more profound housing inequalities and which risk jeopardising the very essence of our society.

Housing is a human right that must be guaranteed to everybody. Leaving no one behind means, first of all, leaving no one without a roof over their head.

For a socially just and sustainable recovery, we need to make sure that every citizen benefits from decent, affordable and sustainable housing.

Progressive cities and regions have already put in place innovative solutions that can inspire further action on the ground. At the same time, we need a proper European framework.

The workshop will be part of a whole week of online debates and a movie projection dedicated to this important topic, organised by the Party of European Socialists (PES) at the Committee of the Regions, in cooperation with the Socialist and Democrats Group in the European Parliament (S&D Group), the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), the Party of European Socialists (PES) and the City of Vienna. A bunch of speakers will share their experiences from different angles and come up with progressive ideas on the way forward.

Be part of it! Together let’s make sure that everyone has a place to call home.

Registration & more info