Our home – the place where we now work and play, celebrate holidays and relax might seem to us to be always the same, just as we left it this morning. At the same time, we also know that housing is developing as we are speaking. Isn’t that a fascinating paradox? Housing renovation is now on nearly all political agendas, seen as a way to achieve climate goals, improve people’s lives and boost the economy. Innovative solutions and models are coming from different corners of Europe. We see the advancement, but we also see the global health pandemic as a constant reminder of a further deepening housing crisis.

With so much going on, we might need a second pair of eyes to see the spectrum of achievements and challenges in the sector. Welcome to the podcast of Housing Europe, the European federation of public, cooperative and social housing providers. This episode is dedicated to the ‘Housing 2030’ joint international initiative of Housing Europe, UN-Habitat and UNECE.

The guest of ‘Making a house a home’ today is one of the Housing 2030 researchers - Dr Holger Wallbaum – a Professor of Sustainable building at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden and an internationally recognised expert in the field of various kinds of sustainability assessments of buildings, road infrastructures, districts and cities. Being a frequent member of evaluation committees of several EU member state research councils and the Research and Innovation programme of the EU, he knows what innovating to face the new frontiers is.

We can continue the conversation during the next Housing 2030 digital conference 'Climate change, environmental and health impacts on housing affordability' which will be held on 10th November and will host an excellent line up of speakers.

You can find all information about the event on our website www.housingeurope.eu.

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Let’s kick off the discussion with Holger Wallbaum together.