In a time marked by wars on the continent, rising living costs and growing social tension, housing policy sits at the centre of Europe’s social contract.
It is against this backdrop that Housing Europe’s Annual Conference will gather housing leaders, policymakers and practitioners on 5 June (9:30–13:00) in Trieste, Italy to explore how Europe can build better housing systems by learning from one another.
Organised by the voice of public, cooperative, and social housing providers, Housing Europe in close collaboration with the Italian public housing federation, Federcasa, and the country’s oldest public housing authority, ATER Trieste, the event will focus on practical solutions that can travel across borders, from West to East and back again, while addressing the structural imbalances that continue to shape housing systems across Europe.
Public, cooperative, and social housing leaders are already working together on how to rebuild housing in Ukraine, exploring ways to establish revolving funds for sustainable investment, and sharing strategies to bring vacant homes back into use and to boost inclusion and quality of life in neighbourhoods. These exchanges reveal that Europe’s housing future will increasingly depend on shared knowledge, solidarity and cooperation.
The gathering in Trieste will be a moment to reconnect housing policy with its deeper purpose to empower people, strengthen communities and restore confidence in the future.
If Europe is to respond to the housing crisis, it will need more than plans and programmes, it will require leadership, hope and the determination to do better and faster with a social heart.
5 June 2026 from 9:30 to 13:00 CET in Trieste, Teatro Verdi (Ridotto Room)
PROGRAMME
09:00 – 09:30 Coffee & registration
09:30 – 09:35 Welcome to Trieste
Cristina Amirante
Regional Councillor for Infrastructure and the Environment – Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia
09:35 – 10:00 The ingredients of a brighter housing future
Marco Corradi
President of Housing Europe
Roberto Dipiazza
Mayor of Trieste
Marco Buttieri
President of FEDERCASA
Daniele Mosetti
President of ATER Trieste
10:00 – 10:25 Keynote address (online conversation)
Irene Tinagli
MEP S&D, Chair of the HOUS Committee
10:25 – 10:50 Rebuilding a country and a housing system
Vadym Boychenko
de jure Mayor of Mariupol, Ukraine
Andres Jaadla
Chairman of the Estonian Union of Cooperative Housing Associations (EKYL)
Adam Czerniak
Deputy President of the Polish National Real Estate Resource
10:50 – 11:15 Accelerating housing delivery and recovering empty homes with the community in mind
Liesbeth Spies
President of the Dutch Association of Housing Corporations (Aedes)
Črtomir Remec
Director at Housing Fund of the Republic of Slovenia
Giovanni Paglia
Regional Councillor for Housing Policies, Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy
11:15 – 11:40 Social housing and cooperative models crossing borders
Bernd Riessland
Scientific advisor for the Austrian Federation of Limited-Profit Housing Associations (GBV)
Donal Mc Manus
CEO of the Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH)
José María Escolastico Sanchez
Vice President of the Spanish Social Housing Association (AVS)
11:40 – 12:05 Shielding tenants from the energy crisis and reducing CO2 through renovation and local energy production
Özgür Öner
Director of the EU representation of the German Federation of Real Estate and Housing Associations (GdW)
Remy Vasseur
Engineer in Environment and Energy at the French Union of Social Housing (USH)
Claudio Del Pero
Associate Professor at Politecnico di Milano
12:05 – 12:30 The investments that lock in affordability for decades
Tanguy Desrousseaux
Director of the Housing, Cities & Regions Department, European Investment Bank (EIB)
Bent Madsen
CEO of B.L., the Danish Federation of Non-profit Housing Providers
Niks Balinskis
Senior Officer in Housing policy department, Ministry of Economics of Latvia
12:30 – 12:55 The politics of housing attention and how a European Affordable Housing Plan can sustain focus
Jouni Parkkonen,
CEO of the Association for the Promotion of Affordable Rental Housing (KOVA)
Daniel Ryšávka
Director of the State Investment Promotion Fund (SFPI) in the Czech Republic
Matthew Baldwin
Head of Housing Task Force (online)
12:55 – 13:00 Closing reflections from West to East
Sorcha Edwards
Secretary General of Housing Europe