16th European Research Conference on Homelessness
Bergamo, 22nd-23rd September 2022
University of Bergamo, Italy
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FEANTSA’s European Observatory on Homelessness, the University of Bergamo and fio.PSD are pleased to announce the 16th European Research Conference on Homelessness in Bergamo, Italy on September 22nd and 23rd, 2022. This is Europe’s leading research conference on homelessness and will explore recent evidence on the broad theme of homelessness and housing exclusion from across Europe and elsewhere. We are planning to hold the conference in person while responding to applicable COVID-19 related restrictions. Simultaneous interpretation from English to Italian will be available in the plenary sessions. Early career researchers are also invited to present their research activities.
Programme overview
Seminar Abstracts & Speaker Bios
Chairs of the sessions
Keynote speakers
Enrica Morlicchio holds a PhD in Sociology of Innovation Processes at the Federico II University of Naples, Italy. She is currently Full Professor of Economic Sociology in the Department of Social Studies of the University of Naples Federico II and Chief-editor of the Journal “Sociologia del Lavoro”. She has been national and local coordinator of several research on urban poverty and social exclusion, gender issues and immigration. From 2005 to 2015 she was member of the National commission for the evaluation of social inequality (scientific coordinator Chiara Saraceno). Her recent publications include C.Saraceno, D.Benassi, E. Morlicchio C.Saraceno, D.Benassi, E. Morlicchio, Poverty in Italy, Features and drivers in a European perspective, Policy Press, Bristol, 2020; Sociologia della povertà, Bologna, il Mulino, 2020. Her work has been translated into English, Hungarian and Spanish.
The Stigma of Being Poor: Labelling and Regulating the Homeless
Dennis Culhane, USA is a social science researcher with primary expertise in the area of homelessness and assisted housing policy. His work has contributed to efforts to address the housing and support needs of people experiencing housing emergencies and long-term homelessness. Most recently, Culhane’s research has focused on using linked administrative data to gain a better understanding about the service utilization patterns of vulnerable populations, including youth exiting foster care and/or juvenile justice, as well as the individuals aged 55 and older who are experiencing homelessness. His research also focuses on homelessness among veterans. From July 2009 – June 2018 he served as Director of Research at the National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans, an initiative of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He also co-directs Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy (AISP), an initiative that promotes the development, use, and innovation of integrated data systems by states and localities for policy analysis and systems reform.
Chris Pierson, UK is Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of Nottingham. In a career spanning four decades, he has held visiting posts at the University of California, Johns Hopkins University, the Australian National University, the University of Auckland and the Hansewissenshaftskolleg. He has two main research interests: the dynamics of the contemporary welfare state and the very long history of the idea of private property. He is editor of The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State (2010, 2021), sole author of three editions of Beyond the Welfare State? (2006) and of three volumes of Just Property (2013, 2016, 2020). His most recent book, The Next Welfare State? UK Welfare after COVID-19 (Policy Press, 2021) is a wide-ranging interrogation of the shape of social policy in Britain after the pandemic and of the possibilities for a new ‘strategy of equality’.
Cristina Avonto has been the president of fio.PSD president since 2015, and she is President of the Cooperativa Sociale Progetto Tenda di Torino, a cooperative she founded in 1999, that is an experimental laboratory of a social model for innovative actions, working for and with women and investing into the development of equality policies. She holds a degree in psychology (Turin) and has an MA in psycho-social analysis (Milan). For ten years she has worked with immigrant women and children victims of trafficking, political refugees, homeless women and women in extreme poverty, and women victims of domestic violence. She is actively involved in several national and international networks that deal with integration policies and overcoming discrimination.
Results of the Consensus Conference in Italy
Planned Schedule
The conference will be held on Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd of September 2022. If COVID-19 restrictions allow, optional field visits may be planned for Thursday morning. The conference dinner will be held on Thursday evening in the Courtyard of Aula Magna Sant’Agostino at 20:30.
Seminar Session 1
Seminar 1: Homelessness in Times of COVID-19 (Floor -1, Room 7)
Chair: Masa Filipovic-Hrast, SI
Ruth Owen, BE: COVID-19 response & Homelessness in the EU
Roberta Bova, IT: The Homeless Population during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Inequities, Practices of Social Resilience and Social Reintegration Strategies
Joan Uribe, ES: Homelessness, Pandemic and Public Policies
Seminar 2: Criminal Justice and Homelessness (1) (Floor -1, Room 8)
Chair: Nóra Teller, HU
Tamara Walsh, AU: Criminalisation of Homelessness in Australia: A National Study
Pia Justesen, DK: Begging in Denmark - Criminalization and its discriminatory Effect
Seminar 3: Housing First (1) (Floor -1, Room 9)
Chair: Volker Busch-Geerstema, DE
Ignacio Eissmann, Isabel Lacalle and Felipe Estay, Chile: Supported Housing Program: Approach to the first results of the Chilean experience of adaptation of the Housing First Model
Eszter Somogyi, Nóra Katona, Vera Horváth, HU: Evaluation of ESF Funded Housing First Programme in Hungary
Giuliana Costa, IT: Cohabitation as an Ingredient of Italian Housing First Italian Projects
Seminar 4: Exiting Institutions (Floor -1, Room 10)
Chair: Mike Allen, IE
John Cowman, IE: Accommodation Type Pre and Post Admission for Inpatients with Unmet Housing Needs in an Irish Mental Health Acute Inpatient Unit
Luca Decembrotto, IT: Homeless People, Prison, and De-institutionalization: Access to Alternative Measures to Detention in Italy
Seminar 5: Homelessness Research in Switzerland (Floor -2, Room 11)
Chair: Freek Spinnewijn, BE
Jörg Dittmann, CH: Extent, Profile, and Explanation of Homelessness in Eight of Switzerland's Largest Cities
Matthias Drilling, CH: Geography Matters: Results of a Quantitative Survey on Cantonal and Municipal Policies to Combat Homelessness
Sabrina Roduit and Zsolt Temesváry, CH: Vulnerabilities and Resources of Central and Eastern European Homeless People Living in Geneva and Zurich
Seminar Session 2
Seminar 6: Digital Technologies and Homelessness (Floor -1, Room 7)
Chair: Eoin O’Sullivan, IE
Marco Heinrich & Frank Sowa, DE: Homelessness & Digitalization: On the (digital) Needs of Homeless People and the Potentials and Risks of Digital Support Options
Vera Klocke, DE: „This Phone is Like a Friend to Me.“ Appropriation Processes of Smartphones by Homeless People in Berlin
David Lowis, DE: Digital Inclusion of Homeless People in Berlin: Assessing the Current State and Evaluating Smartphone Distributions as a Policy Tool
Seminar 7: Criminal Justice (2) (Floor -1, Room 8)
Chair: Nicholas Pleace, UK
Molly Bishop and Sarah Paul, UK: The Challenges and Opportunities to Move to Strengths Based Working from Deficit Based Assessment to Prevent Homelessness from Custody in England
Hannah Browne Gott, UK: Making Violence Visible: An Exploration of Linked Homelessness and Police Data
Seminar 8: Housing First (2) (Floor -1, Room 9)
Chair: Lars Benjaminsen, DK
Susanne Gerull, DE: ”..you now have the possibility to create your own life again" Successes of the two Housing-FirstProjects in Berlin/Germany
Catarina Ferreira, Crisitian Merendeiro, Americo Nave, PT: A Practical Example of a Housing-First Response in Portugal: 9 Years of Implementation
Seminar 9: Youth Homelessness Prevention (Floor -2, Room 10)
Chair: Caterina Cortese, IT
Allyson Marsolais, CA: Making the Shift – Using Social Innovation to Build the Case for Youth Homelessness Prevention
Steve Gaetz, CA: Housing First for Youth – What Have We Learned from Our Demonstration Projects in Canada?
Melanie Redman, CA: Enhancing Collaboration between Canada and Europe: The Toronto Centre of Excellence on Youth Homelessness Prevention
Seminar 10: Women and Homelessness (Floor -2, Room 11)
Chair: Nóra Teller, HU
Boróka Fehér and Lea Lengyel, HU: Life Stories of Homeless Women – Gendered Pathways into and in Homelessness
Seminar Session 3
Seminar 11: Measurement of Homelessness (Floor -1, Room 7)
Chair: Freek Spinnewijn, BE
Volker Busch-Geertsema, DE: Measuring Homelessness in Germany – The New National Approaches
Sjoerdje van Heerden, Paola Proietti and Silvia Iodice, EU: Homelessness in EU Cities and Towns
Arianna Gatta, IT: Making the Invisible Visible: Challenges in Estimating the Homeless Population
Seminar 12: New Service Models in Homelessness Provision (Floor -1, Room 8)
Chair: Kjell Larsson, SE
Riikka Perälä, FI: Housing Social Work – What, To Whom and Why? The Context of Finnish Homelessness and Housing Work
Maria Vargas-Moniz, Sofia Rodrigues, Maria Jose Domingos, Ana Oliveira and Henrique Joaquim, PT: The Role of Training for Professional Intervention Development: The Experience of the Portuguese National Homelessness Strategy
Seminar 13: Homelessness in Italy (Floor -1, Room 9)
Chair: Vera Lomazzi, IT
Teresa Consoli and Antonela Meo, IT: Homelessness in Italy: Analysis, Data and Latest Policies
Daniela Leonardi, IT: Homelessness since Covid: An Opportunity to Re-imagine Policies?
Seminar 14: Qualitative Research Methods: Peer Research (Floor -1, Room 10)
Chair: Masa Filipovic-Hrast, SI
Daniel Hoey, Paul Haughan, Kathleena Twomey, IE: Peer Research in Housing and Homelessness: The Value and the Practical Issues
Monika Conti, Amanda Kirby, UK: Exploring Youth Homelessness through the Lens of Neurodiversity: A Peer Research Project
Seminar 15: Policy Analysis (Floor -2, Room 11)
Chair: Nóra Teller, HU
Valesca Lima and Rory Hearne, IE: Housing Financialisation and the Creation of Homelessness in Ireland
Nicholas Pleace, UK: Barriers to the Obvious: Understanding Uneven Progress in Developing and Delivering Integrated, Preventative and Housing-Led Homelessness Strategies
Seminar Session 4
Seminar 16: Measuring Homelessness (2) (Floor -1, Room 7)
Chair: Lars Benjaminsen, DK
Yusuke Kakita, Soshiro Yamada, Hiroshi Goto, Dennis Culhane, Kanako Nakano, Japan: Homelessness and Housing Exclusion in Japan from an International Perspective
Rory Hearne, Keith Adams, Kenneth McSweeney, IE: Understanding Ireland’s Hidden Homelessness Crisis: A New Approach to Defining and Measuring Homelessness and Housing Exclusion in Ireland
Seminar 17: Homelessness in Sweden (Floor -1, Room 8)
Chair: Kjell Larsson, SE
Marcus Knutagård and Arne Kristiansen, SE: Reception – Hospitality and Hostility
Marie Nordfeldt, SE: Civil Society’s (new?) Roles in the Field of Homelessness – a Follow Up Study
Seminar 18: Housing First (3) (Floor -1, Room 9)
Chair: Caterina Cortese, IT
Tim Aubry, Aurélie Tinland, Sandrine Loubiere and Maryann Roebuck, CA: Identifying Predictors of Housing Instability Among Tenants with a High Level of Needs in Housing First Programs
Elisabetta Leni and Saija Turunen, FI: Young People in Housing First: Cost Offset and Impact Evaluation. The supported unit was recently opened, and the study is ongoing. We have applied for administrative data and will soon start collecting survey data
Julia Wygnanska, PL: The Polish Housing First Model – HF as Compass or as a Road Map?
Seminar 19: Health and Morbidity (Floor -1, Room 10)
Chair: Mike Allen, IE
Sándor Békási, HU: Synergistic Health Services: The Malteser Model in Budapest
Magdalena Mostowska, PL: Deaths of People Experiencing Homelessness in Poland
Seminar 20: Youth and Homelessness (Floor -2, Room 11)
Chair: Freek Spinnewijn, BE
Grainne McKenna and Geraldine Scanlon, IE: The Educational Needs of Children Experiencing Homelessness in Dublin, Ireland
Peter Mackie, UK: Preventing Homelessness: Moving Upstream
Poster Presentations
Sophie Samyn, BE: Logics of Care in Temporary Container Homes at the Edge of the City
Carsten Hvid Nielsen, DK: Push and Pull - How People in Homelessness are Being Excluded from Urban Space in the City of Copenhagen
Juan Manuel Rodilla, Gloria Puchol, Mercedes Botija, Nadia Rondino, ES: Effectiveness of Homelessness Services: A Longitudinal Study of Homelessness Population (LONGHOME)
Veera Niemi, FI: Housing and Service Pathways of the Homeless
Francesco Mazzeo Rinaldi, Elvira Celardia, Erica Cutulibm, Vincenzo Miraculac, Antonio Piconec, Andrea Russoc, IT: How Homeless is Felt: A Computer-Based Approach
Roberta Pascucci, IT: Housing Solutions for Families. Findings of a Housing Led Project in Trieste (Italy)
Franca Viganò, IT: The Italian Approach to Health and Homelessness. A Qualitative Perspective During and After the Covid-19 Outbreak
Nia Ffion Rees, UK: "It started at home": Prevention of Youth Homelessness, An Exploration of Mediation in Networks of Care and Place Attachment
Ashwin Parulkar, USA/India: Crammed In Or Shut Out? Implications of Delhi’s Homeless Shelter System’s Floor Space Constraints – with Attention to the Public Health Risks of Overcrowded Shelters during Covid-19 (2020)
Field visit in Bergamo - 22nd September, 9:30 - 12:00
The support services and reception facilities for the homeless in Bergamo city comprise a rich and diverse network. For the EOH Research Conference field visit, the network organised three itineraries that will allow participants to visit some of the most representative services of the city, where important projects are underway. All the itineraries will start from the train station and will be guided by a network operator; in some cases, it will be necessary to take local transport. The three itineraries will start at 09:30 and finish at 12:00 (noon).
Field visit in Bergamo - Presentation
Field visit in Bergamo - 1° Itinerary
Field visit in Bergamo - 2° Itinerary
Field visit in Bergamo - 3° Itinerary
Venue and Fees
The sessions of the Conference will be held at University of Bergamo Campus, Italy. The conference fee is 180 EURO (incl. meals and coffee breaks during the conference). Presenters and PhD students pay a reduced fee of 90 EURO. In case the conference has to be shifted to the online platform we will implement a 50% reduced fee (90 EURO and 45 EURO for speakers and PhD students). Accommodation package on a first come first served basis will be available upon registration from June 15, 2022. A detailed cancellation policy will be announced on the registration page.
For information and to get in touch you can contact Nóra Teller at teller@mri.hu.
