17th European Research Conference on Home­less­ness

Juha Kaakinen, Finland, is an experienced and passionate developer of innovative housing solutions to homeless people and social housing. After 9 years as the CEO  of Y-Foundation, Juha Kaakinen retired last year. Before, he worked in public administration of the City of Helsinki and as the CEO of Social Development Ltd, a company devoted to developing social and health services for cities and municipalities. He has also worked as a programme leader of a national programme to end long-term homelessness, and as a researcher and a consultant. He is internationally known as an advocate of Housing First policy. He is a Master of Arts from the University of Helsinki.

Starting from 1.4.2023, Juha Kaakinen has been invited as a Professor of Practice in the faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Tampere. Download the presentation here.

Koen Hermans, Belgium is Associate Professor of Social Work and Social Policy at the Centre for    Sociological Research, KU Leuven. He is also project leader at LUCAS, Centre for Care Research and  Consultancy. His research focuses on the care and support for vulnerable and underserved populations in society, such as homeless persons, persons with disability and youngsters with complex needs. He was the coordinator of the COST Action on ‘Measuring homelessness in Europe’ (2016-2020). In Belgium, he is responsible for the development and organization of local and regional homelessness counts. Download the presentation here.

Magdalena Mostowska, Poland is a sociologist, lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies at the University of Warsaw. She has completed several research projects on migrants, as well as women homelessness in Poland, the EU and the US. She is co-chair of the European Network for Housing Research Working Group on Welfare Policy, Homelessness and Social Exclusion (WELPHASE). Download the presentation here.

Michelle Norris, Ireland is Professor of Social Policy and Director of the Geary Institute for Public Policy at University College Dublin, Ireland. Her teaching and research interests focus on housing policy and urban regeneration, particularly on the provision management, financing of social housing in Europe and the regeneration of social housing estates and inner urban areas. She has strong links with policy makers in Ireland and internationally. Having served as a board member of various Irish government agencies working on provision of affordable housing for over 10 years, in 2021 she was appointed by the Minister for Housing to the commission set up to examine the long-term future of housing in Ireland. She was awarded the Irish Research Council's research impact award in 2021. Download the presentation here.

Klara Lehner, AT: Women, Homelessness, COVID-19: An Empirical Study on the Situation of Homeless Women in Vienna

Naïké Garny, BE: What Does the Reception of Homeless, Migrant Women Mean from an Intersectional Perspective? The Case of The Sisters’ House

Mattia Mansueto, BE: Housing First for Youth as an Opportunity for Social Justice among Young People

Marie Cecile Kotyk, CA: Seeing in Colour: A Framework to Address Anti-Black Racism in Housing and Homelessness

Shauna Perez, CA: When I Can’t Help, I Suffer: Moral Distress in Service Providers Working with Individuals Experiencing Homelessness

Vera Kovács, Kata Ámon, HU: Supporting Homeless Women in Budapest: State-Funded Services and the Housing First Approach of From Street to Homes Association

Franca Viganò, IT: The Italian Approach to Health and Homelessness. Perspectives on Policies and Services during the Pandemic

Karolina Gajda, PL: The Importance of Place Attachment in (Not) Getting out of Homelessness

Sarah McNeill, UK: Barriers and facilitators to health care access for women experiencing homelessness in Northern Ireland

Verena Löffler, DE: Basic income and homelessness: improving the situation of the least advantaged