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EFL Conference 2018: Future Housing Challenges for European Cities for Inclusive Transformation

by | Mar 14, 2019

The EFL autumn conference in Milan was once again a huge success, due to the fantastic hospitality of Fondazione Housing Sociale and all enthusiastic attendees. With more than 100 participants spread over two conference days, it was the most visited EFL conference since its official establishment in 2018. Besides an impressive program, we also celebrated our tenth anniversary.
The kick-off of the conference took place in the evening of 6 November after an architectural walk in the center of Milan. During a closed aperitif with host Ordine degli Architetti di Milano, Deputy mayor of Milan, Mr Pierfrancesco Maran, opened the event together with, Paolo Mazzoleni (FOAM) and Joost Nieuwenhuijzen, managing director of EFL.
The first conference day on November 7 brought a pallet of lectures, panel discussions, a site visit and the official presentation of the book “Affordable Housing Governance and Finance”. The official welcome was provided by Ben Pluijmers, chairman of EFL and moderator of the first conference day and by Mr. Sergio Urbani, general director of Fondazione Cariplo .

The morning addresses were provided  by Dr. Orna Rosenfeld (Sciences Po) about the housing challenges faced in the global North, followed by Lisbon city Council Rui Bochman Franco about the housing situation in Lisbon. New ideas and solutions to counter the housing shortage by the construction industry were provided by Christophe Sykes, managing director of Construction Products Europe.  A more detailed insight in Italian housing policies was provided by a panel consisting of Giordana Ferri (FHS), Luca Talluri (Federcasa), Rosanna Zaccaria (Legacoop Abitanti) and Alessandro Maggioni (Confcooperative).

After the lunch, chief editor Dr. Gerard van Bortel (TU Delft) of the ‘book project’  thanked all authors for this great achievement within the EFL context. The book was then reviewed by a panel of housing experts. These included among others Sorcha Edwards, Secretary General of Housing Europe and Professor Gabriele Pasqui of the Politecnico di Milano. During dinner, both Sorcha Edwards and Ben Pluijmers discussed the merits of 10 years of EFL and the significance of international cooperation in the housing industry.

During the second conference day on 8 November the topic group leaders presented their progress and plans for 2019. After three interactive workshops on “Architecture and Construction”, “Place Making” and “Interntional Financing”, we arrived at concluding words by Ulrik Brock Hoffmeyer, the next host of the spring conference in Copenhagen, May 2019. 

Member info: all presentations can be downloaded via the EFL Digital Library. You need your password for the member area to login.

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