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Governments, the private Sector and NGOs to discuss in Berlin means to address Europe’s housing crisis

As Europe’s housing crisis continues to deepen, Europe’s leading government officials, private sector representatives and NGOs will seek new solutions at the 3rd Europe Housing Forum, 18-20 November 2015 in Berlin.  They will address the region’s three most critical housing issues—affordability, sustainability and liveability—and ultimately help set Europe’s future housing agenda. 


Some of the discussions will focus on:
•    Reversing the trend that makes housing unaffordable making it impossible for people unable to get on the property ladder
•    Increasing social housing stocks which are running well below 10 percent of the current needs forcing citizens to live in inadequate housing or emigrate to find a home for the families
•    Addressing the deteriorating, low quality pre-fabricated Soviet-era housing in eastern and central Europe which experts consider to be a ‘time bomb’ that will affect both residents and each country’s economic growth.

Leilani Fahra, UN Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing, will kick off the program and speak on the need for housing as a basic human right as well as speak about the impact of the Middle East refugee crisis.  Her global view will be complemented by Prof. Dr. Ing. Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, Permanent Secretary for Building and Housing, Urban Development and Environment, Berlin, who led the team that has kept Berlin one of the most affordable and livable cities in Europe.


Other notable speakers include Dr. Jan Mischke, who helped author McKinsey’s global study on affordable housing and Judit Torokne Rozsa, who is charged with setting up and delivering the EU Urban Agenda.  Dr Gunther Bachmann and Maurits Groen will speak on sustainability and developing sustainable cities. And, Michal Olszewski, Warsaw’s deputy mayor and world-renown architect Alireza Sagharchi talk about how the cities of the future are being created.


Co-organized by UN-Habitat, UNDP, UNECE, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and Habitat for Humanity International, the forum will also feature a series of moderated workshops on the key issues with speakers from national governments, microfinance organizations, housing policy leaders, and the media.


The forum will include discussion on the implementation of the Geneva UN Charter on Sustainable Housing, which was endorsed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on 16 April 2015 and information on the preparations to the 76th session of the UNECE Committee on Housing and Land Management, which will take place on 14 and 15 December 2015.


For further information, please visit: http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=41078#/
Or contact:
Gulnara Roll
Head, Housing and Land Management Unit
Email: [email protected]
Tel:  +41 (0) 22 917 22 57

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