International seminar on Housing First brought together experts and civil servants

The Housing First Europe Hub organized an international seminar in February in Helsinki for experts and civil servants working on housing and social issues. The aim of the event was to discuss and share information on how to solve homelessness.

Finnish Housing First on the focus

The seminar participants gained a broad overview of the Finnish Housing First model through presentations by Finnish experts, including Juha Kaakinen, the CEO of the Y Foundation and expert Peter Fredriksson, who explained how homelessness has been reduced in Finland. The key factor has been the close co-operation between different actors. In addition, Jarmo Lindén, director the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (ARA), explained how the ARA-based subsidy scheme allows affordable housing to be built. Participants also worked in various workshops around the topic of the Housing First to identify common obstacles and challenges they face to developing and delivering Housing First with a key focus on how the Housing First Europe Hub can empower cities and provide practical resources in transitioning to Housing First.

For further information, please review the presentations:

Presentation Juha Kaakinen

Presentation Jarmo Linden

 

 

 

Related articles

  • Transforming Homelessness Solutions in Spain: Community-Centred Approaches, Social Policy Transformation, and Deinstitutionalisation

    The opportunity presented by the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience fund in the framework of the Next Generation EU Funds included among its lever policies an initiative called a...

    Check it out here

    Blog

  • WHAT ABOUT ME? – The first Housing First pilot project in Croatia

    Croatia is a nation of property owners, with a very small social rental sector in major cities and without a national requirement to provide general social housing. According to...

    Check it out here

    Blog

  • “arriving home“ – How strategic alliances boost Housing First in Austria- Emine Özkan, Gerhard Schützinger

    Out of a state-funded project aimed at minimizing the rise of homelessness during current crises, Austrian NGOs have established a model with the potential to end homelessness in the...

    Check it out here

    Blog