We organize and collaborate with more than 10 activities during the 3 days of the main international social housing congress

During the celebration of the meeting, the official delivery of the silver World Habitat award will be held Sostre Cívic

A Sostre Cívic we are honored to participate in different activities within the quarter International Festival of Social Housing (ISHF for its acronym in English) which is celebrated this year in Barcelona. This festival, recognized worldwide, aims to promote innovative and sustainable solutions in the field of social housing. It is the most important social housing congress in Europe, the objective of which is to promote the debate around public policies in this matter and to address the multiple challenges that the sector must face in order to guarantee the right to housing

This event organized by Housing Europe and Barcelona City Council will take place on June 7, 8 and 9 at the city's Congress Center, and expects to receive between 1.500 and 2.000 attendees from around the world, including professionals, academics, activists and other key players in the field of social housing. To participate for free you must register for the festival before May 29.

Since Sostre Cívic it will be the second time we will be present at the ISHF, after our participation in last year's edition in Helsinki (Finland). We therefore join other international organizations and housing experts to share knowledge, ideas and projects that promote inclusion and the right to decent housing for all. Our aim is not only to provide a roof, but also to promote social inclusion and improve the environmental impact of housing in a climate resilient manner. We see our participation in the ISHF as an opportunity to connect internationally with other agents of change and strengthen strategies to deal with the housing emergency.

Among the activities that will be held that week, will be the official ceremony of the World Habitat international awards given by UN-Habitat (the agency of the United Nations for Human Settlements). The winners of this contest were announced in January this year, and Sostre Cívic it was among the four awarded, recognized with the Silver category for the global north. The Jury of the awards highlighted the political work of transformation around the right to housing that it does Sostre Cívic "offering an affordable, sustainable and ethical alternative to traditional models of ownership and renting, and challenging what it means for people to have a roof". The official award ceremony will take place on June 7 at 12.30 in room 5 of the Palau de Congressos de Barcelona, ​​and the winner of this year's gold award, the Scottish social enterprise Homes for Good, will participate, with the one where we will share a debate on affordable housing and the prevention of homelessness with the municipal program against evictions of Barcelona City Council (which also received a special recognition from World Habitat), and the Habitat3 Foundation (awarded with the Gold category of the awards in 2019).

But beyond the awards, in the official program of the ISHF, Sostre Cívic we have organized and been invited to various activities to highlight their work and contribution to the promotion of affordable and inclusive housing. All activities will be in English and simultaneous translation is not guaranteed in most of them. 

Some of the most relevant activities in which we participate:

• Collaborative housing and innovative care practices: international exchange
  Tuesday, June 6 from 9 a.m. to 18 p.mLleialtat Santsenca. More information here
  This day, outside the official program and organized by the University of Bristol, aims to share European research, practices and experiences on the intersections of innovation between Collaborative Housing, care and ageing. There will be simultaneous translation throughout the day.

• World Habitat Awards: Affordable housing and prevention of homelessness.
  Wednesday 7 June, 12.40 pm at the Palau de Congressos de Barcelona.
  Introducing the four World Habitat Award winners, recognized for their remarkable and inspiring work in preventing homelessness and providing permanent and sustainable homes for low-income family units. The winner of the 2023 WHA Gold Awards, Scottish social enterprise Homes for Good, will receive the trophy; he will present his award-winning model and participate in a debate with WHA award-winners who are based in Barcelona: Sostre Cívic, SIPHO municipal program, and Habitat3.
  

• The power of life together: No one wants to grow old alone
  Wednesday 7 June 15.30pm IMHAB – Sala Pilar Florensa
  We will share the experience of our cooperative housing projects for the elderly with the Dutch entity ZorgSaamWonen, which has already launched several co-housing projects/cooperatives for the elderly.

• Mass renovation of affordable housing: Industrial and social innovations
  Wednesday 7 June 15.30pm Urbanism - Barcelona City Council - Sala Barcelona
  In this seminar, organized by Housing Europe, Greenflex and RE-DWELL MSCA ITN, we will share our climate and energy transition strategy with other international practitioners and researchers to address the challenges and opportunities related to the sustainable management of affordable housing.
  

• Cooperative housing models and frameworks for environmental and social sustainability. How do emerging and established cooperative and shared housing models enable the transition to a more socially and environmentally sustainable society? What strategies do emerging cooperative movements apply to remove barriers and influence legal reforms? We will exchange ideas and solutions, with theInternational Alliance of Housing Cooperatives and the Italian cooperative "Casae Cooperativa Sociale per l'Abitare", among other experiences from the Netherlands, Austria and Germany.
  Wednesday, June 7, 17.00 p.m. at the Industrial School (Building 25 – Classroom S-6)

• Towards a European Network of Emerging Community-led Cooperative Housing Organizations. Currently, cooperative housing initiatives are emerging in different countries with diverse traditions. The aim of the meeting is to deepen how common goals can be achieved at a European level, despite the fact that in each country or region the problems are marked by local circumstances.
  Thursday 8 June 15.30 at the Francesca Bonnemaison Space

• Guided tours. We will organize guided tours of our emblematic projects in Barcelona: Princesa49, in the Rivera neighborhood; La Balma, in Poblenou; i Cirerers, in Roquetes. A unique opportunity that has had a great reception (all the places for the visits were sold out in a few hours) to make our projects known closely to international agents. 

• Collaborative housing international dinner. Networking dinner for people interested in and committed to cooperative/collaborative housing who participate in the ISHF, organized by the housing sector of the XES and urbaMonde (representing the CoHabitat Network).
  Thursday 8 June from 20.00 to 23.00 at Nau Bostik. (Tickets and more information coming soon)

• Financial facilitators of new housing cooperatives in pioneering contexts. This workshop explores how ethical and long-term financial instruments can become facilitators for the development of new, rent-based, equity-limited housing cooperatives. We focus on contexts where these cooperatives are not very widespread and the financial and institutional frameworks are limiting. We will review the cases of Catalonia and Central and South-Eastern Europe (together with MOBA Housing SCE) and the ethical finance cooperatives Coop57 (Catalonia) and ZEF (Croatia).
  Friday 9 June at 9.00 am at the Palau de Congressos de Barcelona.

• Launch of the European network of 'Community Land Trust'. Community Land Trusts (CLTs) are non-profit organizations that acquire and hold land ownership with the aim of maintaining access to housing for disadvantaged communities and ensuring its long-term sustainability. There are 300 organizations like these in Europe that are now taking the step to create a stable international network to scale the model. We will learn about the experiences of England and Wales and we will also share the case of the ESAL agreement promoted by Barcelona City Council with cooperatives and foundations, as well as our local CLT experience.
  Friday 9 June at 10.40 am at the Palau de Congressos de Barcelona

For more information on the activities of Sostre Cívic within the International Social Housing Festival, visit the event's official website at socialhousingfestival.eu/ca/ In addition, you can follow the updates on the social networks of Sostre Cívic or write to us at info@sostrecivic.cat