On 17th August 2024, during the DASH team secondment in Serbia, the Association for Innovative Forms of Housing and Living (INWOLE) and the Association of Urban Planners of Serbia (SUPA) organized a field trip and tour of Novi Sad, in which all the DASH team members participated. During the field trip, DASH member Petar Atanacković explained the city’s urban history. The day ended with a visit to the youth center CK13.
On August 8, DASH partner Cooperativa Integral Minga met with KO GRADI GRAD at the Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijić” SANU. The meeting centered on the establishment and operation of housing cooperatives, highlighting our shared commitment to addressing pressing challenges such as housing shortages and community development. The participants explored transformative, community-led solutions rooted in grassroots efforts; discussed recent legislative reforms in Portugal that promise to create a more supportive environment for next-generation housing cooperatives; and identified a common challenge: the lack of financial mechanisms to support community-based housing projects.
In June 2024, DASH members Brankica Jelić and Dejan Žvković visited Tübingen (Germany), to learn more about the dynamics of the rental sector from the perspective of the resident population, with a special focus on beneficiaries from the refugee and immigrant population. Their hosts in Tübingen were DASH members Axel Burkhardt (Commissioner for housing and accessibility) and Julia Hartmann (Commissioner for housing and accessibility), with whom we exchanged practical experiences in the field of affordable housing.
During the spring of 2024, PhD student Rikke Sundstrup went on a secondment to Belgrade, Serbia, where she was hosted by Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijic” SANU. The insights this provided into affordable housing in Serbia gave her new perspectives on the contextual challenges of, and universal objectives for, affordable housing.
In October 2024, DASH member Marco Allegra presented a paper on local housing strategies (co-authored with Caterina di Giovanni, ICS-ULisboa) at the 5th International Congress on Housing in the Lusophone Space (CIHEL), which took place in Lisbon on October 2-4.
As announced in the previous newsletter, the DASH Thematic Workshop took place on 9 April 2024 at ICS-UL. This year's theme was "The role of the private sector in delivering below-market rent options". Keynote speakers included Nuno Travasso from DARQ - Coimbra University, who talked about access to the rental market in Portugal – specifically the affordable rent programme; and Patricia Canelas from Oxford University, who presented her findings on the governance of affordable housing through PPPs – specifically the limits of private/public dichotomies. If you missed it, check out their contributions on YouTube.
From October to December 2023, Sonia Alves and Pedro Moura Ferreira conducted secondments in Serbia as part of the DASH project. This provided opportunities for joint discussions among Portuguese and Serbian researchers and practitioners about the provision of social housing within the two countries’ different social environments and historical contexts.
