Call for abstracts: 19th European Research Conference on Homelessness

September 18th and 19th, 2025

Utrecht, Netherlands

VENUE: Leeuwenbergh Church and Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Netherlands

FEANTSA’s European Observatory on Homelessness and the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht are pleased to announce the 19th European Research Conference on Homelessness in Utrecht, the Netherlands on September 18th and 19th, 2025. 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. Early career researchers are also invited to present their research activities. This is an in-person conference.

Download the (PDF) version of the call for abstracts here

Keynote Speakers:

Dorieke Wewerinke, NL is a senior researcher at Research Group ‘Housing and Welfare’ of Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. Her research focuses on prevention of and solutions for homelessness, with specific expertise on Housing First, the ETHOS-definition, social integration and destigmatization. She leads the ETHOS counts of homelessness in the Netherlands.

Lia van Doorn, NL is a professor and chair of the Research Group ‘Housing and Welfare’ of Utrecht University of Applied Sciences in Utrecht. She has over 30 years of experience in research focusing on homelessness. She conducted a PhD at University Utrecht on a longitudinal study of a cohort of homeless people in Utrecht (1993-2000).

Peter Mackie, UK is a professor in the School of Geography and Planning at Cardiff University, where his research and advisory work are centred on homelessness prevention. He has been involved in the global expansion of the ‘Upstream’ homelessness prevention intervention, which focuses on supporting children and young people in schools. Peter is a founding editor of the International Journal on Homelessness and serves as Chair of Llamau, Wales’s leading youth homelessness charity.

Gregg Colburn, US is an associate professor in the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington in Seattle. He studies housing policy, housing markets, and homelessness and is co-author of the book, Homelessness is a Housing Problem: How Structural Factors Explain U.S. Patterns (University of California Press, 2022). Gregg also serves as a member of the research council of the National Alliance to End Homelessness (U.S.).

Planned Schedule:

The conference will be held on Thursday and Friday, September 18th - 19th, 2025, starting at 13:00 on Thursday and closing at 20:00 on Friday. Optional field visits will be planned for Thursday morning. The conference dinner will be held on Thursday evening.

Submission Details:

Please submit an abstract in English (including also details about the theoretical framing and methods used in your research, max. 300 words) and a short bio (max. 100 words) by March 15th, 2025. Successful conference submissions will be notified by April 10th 2025. Final PowerPoint presentations will be due by September 1st, 2025. Submissions and further enquiries should be directed to Nóra Teller at teller@mri.hu.

Venue and Fees:

The sessions of the Conference will be held at the Leeuwenbergh Church and Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Netherlands. The conference fee is 200 EURO (incl. meals, coffee breaks and conference dinner). Presenters and PhD students pay a reduced fee of 100 EURO. Registration will be open from June 2nd, 2025. A detailed cancellation policy will be announced on the registration page.