About PusH

Summer Schools on "Precarious Housing in Europe"

In July 2022, two international Summer Schools took place in Venice and Sofia as part of the Erasmus+ funded Strategic Partnership "PusH - Precarious Housing in Europe". Students from our consortium were invited to work interactively on one of the most relevant social challenges of our time and to discuss it with experts and other students. Participation was free of charge and costs for travel, accommodation and stay were supported by project funds. The Summer School were open to students of BA, MA and PhD levels.

Background

The economic and financial crisis of 2008 led to wage cuts and rising unemployment in many places, while the global banking crisis and the bursting of the Real estate bubble were accompanied by forced evictions, especially in Southern Europe. Ongoing austerity programs have further cut the supply of affordable housing. With the influx of refugees, among others, the situation has worsened in many European cities. In the absence of short-term policy solutions, there is evidence that many affected people rely on informal forms of housing. These include temporary tent cities, overcrowded housing, or housing built without the necessary permits or legal right to use the land.

Contents and dates

Especially migrants and ethnic minorities often live in precarious housing conditions in Europe. This hits refugees and the particularly discriminated group of Roma the hardest. The latter live in their countries of origin predominantly in informal, isolated dwellings, without connection to the public infrastructure and contact to other population groups. The two Summer Schools each focused on one group and the structural conditions that have contributed to the precaritization of their housing conditions.

Both summer schools involved a mixture of workshops and lectures as well as field trips allowing participants to meet with affected communities and engage with local stakeholders. In addition to the lectures, group work, and field trips planned for both events, students were welcome to present and engage in their own projects (e.g., qualifying papers) if they wished. The working language was English. 

Check this site to get more impressions from the Summer School in Venice.

Check this site to get more impressions from the Summer School in Sofia.