Housing Forum Europe and Central Asia

The Housing Forum Europe & Central Asia is a biennial gathering that brings together leading professionals committed to the cause of sustainable housing. It offers a platform for exchange, mutual learning and exploration of best practices in the housing sector. Building on the foundations of the first event, the 2013 forum will expand on the four main themes: regulatory frameworks, housing solutions, housing vulnerabilities and housing and human development.

Every two years, at this Forum,  leading professionals meet to exchange information and explore best practices in sustainable housing for Europe and Central Asia.  The 2013 forum will explore four main themes: regulatory frameworks, housing solutions, housing vulnerabilities and human development. Much of the Forum will be centred around break-out sessions organized by housing experts from Governments, the private sector and international organizations. 

 The Housing Forum is hosted by the UN Economic Commission for Europe in cooperation with Habitat for Humanity International, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and the United Nations Development Programme.

 It is important to register if you wish to participate in the Housing Forum.  More information, including instructions for registration, is available on the forum website.

 Below are information about hub sessions organized with the direct invovlement of our UNECE Commitee on Housing and Land Management members, which give an idea of the session content.

 Formalizing the informal - The challenges of legalization

The purpose of the session is to exchange experiences between different countries and organizations in addressing the challenge of informal settlements.  The session will seek to answer questions such as: Who are the winners and losers from legalization, and how can win-win solutions be made possible? When can legalization be an efficient and effective solution? Are there socially and economically feasible alternatives to legalization?  How can we make sure that vulnerable groups benefit from legalization or regularization programmes?

From housing management to better energy performance

This session will focus on the importance of effective multi-family housing stock management as pre-requisite for energy efficiency investments.

As a consequence of rapid privatization in transition countries, the regulatory framework for the management and maintenance of multi-family housing blocks was often not established. Even today, the effective management of multi-family housing blocks remains a challenge in many countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. However, such decision-making structures are a pre-condition for financing the building's maintenance, from a small repair like changing a light bulb to a major repair like the retrofit of a building’s roof and envelope to improve energy efficiency.

We will discuss the role of home owners' associations and private management companies and look closer into the role of different actors involved in housing stock management. Also, we will try to identify lessons learnt from countries who made this transition.

 Building safer homes in safer places: approaches to preventing risks from industrial sites to housing and land

Natural and human-generated disasters have resulted in large-scale damage to housing across the ECE region and present very important challenges to the work of governments. This calls for a common effort from member States to develop disaster risk prevention measures through building safer houses in safer places.

 This seminar will discuss the following questions: Which targets could be established in the draft Strategy that would support efforts of the governments to prevent risks to the population from industrial sites?  Which international rules and recommendations on safety and land use should be considered while developing and implementing policies and planning practices at the national level in ECE countries? How should they be incorporated in national legislation?