Benoit Wanzoul sat in the driving seat of Wallonie Logement (SWL) in a very particular moment – in the middle of a world pandemic and in a period when Belgium had one single mission – to cope with COVID-19. Add to this that recently, Belgium broke its own record for the longest period without government, for already over 600 days. Even if the circumstances are extraordinary, securing affordable homes for the most vulnerable remains the main priority.

On July 1st, two HOUSEFUL co-creation workshops took place for the Demo building 4 in Vienna. This workshop was organized by Neues Leben and moderated online by WE&B. Housing Europe participated and was joined by Austrian HOUSEFUL partners. A wide-range representation of various interest groups could be achieved, among them Housing Europe member GBV and other practitioners within the housing sector, from researchers to local architects and financiers. The session aimed at detecting the chances, accelerators and obstacles for circular housing in the Viennese context.

The first workshop of the HOUSEFUL project on Circular Economy in the residential sector in Catalonia took place the 9th of March at the Departament de Territori i Sostenibilitat de la Generalitat de Catalunya and was hosted by L’Agència de l’Habitatge de Catalunya. In the workshop other project partners participated including LEITAT, AIGUASOL, HOUSING EUROPE, ITEC, and WE&B. The workshop was followed up by a co-creation session with the aim to produce a joint action plan for the provision of social support evolving around the project at Bloc dels Mestres, Sabadell.