Barcelona will continue to be a protagonist in terms of housing in the international arena in 2023. The Catalan capital will host the fourth edition of the International Social Housing Festival (ISHF), which will take place from June 7 to 9 and on which Barcelona City Council and Housing Europe, the European federation of public, cooperative, and social housing, are already working together. Barcelona will pick up the baton from Helsinki 2022, most recently, as well as the first editions held in Amsterdam 2017 and Lyon 2019.
Currently, many cities around the world are facing challenges that require a complex, consensual and multi-skilled response, such as the renovation of housing from an ethical and environmental perspective; the expansion of the public housing stock; immediate attention to the housing emergency suffered by many families; and access to housing for young people, among many others.
A panorama that, despite all the obstacles, forces us to reconfigure housing systems to make them more egalitarian, sustainable, and resilient. And, in this sense, the public sector has to develop a decisive role for a better future, after the setback it has suffered in recent years in terms of regulation and provision of housing, in favor of the private market.
A major challenge where ISHF 2023 wants to play a leading role, and where lessons to be learned from public housing policies in countries with both advanced housing systems and others with emerging models will be analyzed, debated, and proposed. And, to do so, the event will be attended by experts and professionals from Europe, Asia, Latin America, and North America.
An opportunity to be heard
The ISHF is a collaborative process that draws on the initiative and participation of many different actors. Therefore, until January 24, the call for proposals to organize events within the ISHF itself is open, whether promoted individually or together with other partners. Once submitted, the Technical Secretariat of the organizing body will review each proposal to find the ideal format and space, while contacting organizations that have made similar proposals in case they want to collaborate.
The choice of Barcelona as the venue for the ISHF 2023 is in addition to the trajectory developed this year, where it hosted the European Network for Housing Research (ENHR) from August 30 to September 2 and, more recently, the Barcelona Housing and Rehabilitation Forum (FHAR), on November 28 and 29.
For more information on this new international event, you can consult the ISHF website, follow the official account on Facebook and Twitter, where the hashtag #ISHF2023 is already visible, as well as subscribe to the newsletter so as not to miss any news.