Homeless in Europe Magazine Autumn 2023: Participation and Homelessness - Decentralising Authority

Read the magazine here (online PDF)

In this edition of our magazine, we take a deep dive into how homeless services have been implementing participation in recent years, bringing forward successful examples of real participation. We explore a collection of articles that spotlight the voices of those who have experienced homelessness, shedding light on how their active involvement is inspiring innovation within services, challenging stereotypes, and influencing policies on homelessness.

As you navigate through these articles, you may observe a common thread: participation not only prevents the reinforcement of marginalising power dynamics, but it is necessary for transformation. Numerous challenges remain for achieving real participation, such as limited funding opportunities and the need for broader policy changes for substantial progress, as explored in the articles within. We hope this edition of the magazine may serve as inspiration for how participation may be successfully implemented in our efforts ahead of the 2030 deadline. Ultimately, the respect we aspire to promote for those individuals both in situations of homelessness and with past experiences of homelessness, must begin within our services themselves. We must recognise the knowledge of those with lived experiences of homelessness as exactly that - knowledge.

Editorial by Bryony Martin, Communications and Events Officer at FEANTSA;

Tii Judén, Expert by Experience, Vva ry/No Fixed Abode, Finland; 

Sanna Tiivola, Executive Manager, Vva ry/No Fixed Abode, Finland.

This editorial is longer than usual, as it consists of both a word from FEANTSA and from Sanna and Tii, for an introduction to the significance of participation.

Articles:

Empowering voices: Focus Ireland’s Lived Experience Ambassador Programme by Louise Bayliss, Campaign Coordinator, Focus Ireland, Ireland

Expertise Through Experience: Peer Work in Vienna by Burkhard Weissl, Peer Worker, neunerhaus Peer Campus and Paula Reid, Health and Participation Lead, neunerhaus, Austria

Service User Participation in France by Marthe Yohn, Director of ESMS, France, in collaboration with all French FEANTSA members

From Protection to Participation: Enabling Co-Planning in The ‘Hood’ Project by Silvia Stefani, PhD in Social Science, Project Manager of the Erasmus+ "HOOD Homeless's Open Dialogue"

Citizens Without Housing: The Participation of Homeless People in The Making of Budapest’s New Strategy On Homelessness by Bálint Misetics, Senior Advisor to the Mayor of Budapest on Housing and Social Policy, Hungary

Participating To Transform Perspectives by Bob Walker, Head of the Street Team, Arrels, and Silvia Torralba, Communications Teams Technician, Arrels, Spain

Community of Kings (And Queens) of the Street by Hana Kosan, President, Kralji ulice, Slovenia

Interview With Two Members Of Le Syndicat Des Immenses by Laurent d’Ursel, codirector of DoucheFLUX and secretary of Le Syndicat des immenses, Belgium