Which models of Community-led housing are being developed across the
world? What do they have in common? What are relevant tools and policy
instruments that support Community-led Housing in different legal, economic and
social contexts? What are the main achievements, challenges and bottlenecks
that inhabitant groups are facing in the Global North and South? How can
policy-makers contribute to enabling community-driven habitat initiatives at
different levels?
Round table with the participation of
the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations for the Right to Adequate
Housing, Leilane Farha, and:
– Rose Molokoane, Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI)
Rose Molokoane is the National
Chairperson of the 80,000-member South African Homeless People’s Federation and
their national savings coordinator, and a Board Member of Shack/Slum
Dwellers International (SDI),a
network of community-based federations in 33 countries across Asia, Africa and
Latin America. A veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle, she is one of the most
internationally recognized grassroots activists involved in land tenure and
housing issues. Her involvement in the sector stems directly from her personal
experience. She has spent more than 20 years organizing urban poor communities,
helping them to pool savings and obtain land and housing. Molokoane is also a
prominent member of Urban Poor Fund
International, the first global fund to give poor people direct
control over development spending in cities.
– Somsook Boonyabancha, Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR)
Somsook Boonyabancha is the Secretary
General of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR), a coalition of organizations working on housing development for the
urban poor in Asia. Formerly, she was the Director of the Community
Organizations Development Institute (CODI) in Thailand. For the past 30 years,
Boonyabancha has worked on housing development for the urban poor and slum
upgrading in Thailand and other Asian countries. Her expertise is
community-driven and community-led development, disaster rehabilitation, community
welfare, urban and rural community land and housing development. During her
years at CODI, she carried out a national urban community upgrade plan that has
been implemented in almost 300 cities in Thailand today. She graduated from the
Faculty of Architecture at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand and from the
Housing and Urbanization Course in Copenhagen, Denmark.
– Guido Schwarzendahl, Co-operative Housing International (CHI)
Guido Schwarzendahl is a board member
of Co-operative Housing International (CHI), an umbrella organization for cooperative housing worldwide, since 2013
and currently vice-president. His primary interest, focus and drive has always
been social housing and specifically co-operative housing. In 1994 Guido
obtained a post in a housing-cooperative in Halle, Germany, and has been
managing director since 2001. The Bauverein Halle-Leuna e.V. has nearly 8,000
flats and more than 17,000 occupants. Following the success of the housing
cooperative, Guido was invited to be a member on the evaluation committee for
adjusting the local housing markets of the federal building ministry of Germany
in 2007 and 2008 and again in 2014 up to 2016.
– Brenda Torpy, Grounded Solutions Network (GSN)
Brenda Torpy has more than 30 years
of experience in the affordable housing field. As the first Housing Director
for the City of Burlington, Torpy led the development of theBurlington
Community Land Trust (CLT),nowChamplain
Housing Trust (CHT), and served as the
founding Board President. In 1991, she joined the staff as Executive Director.
Torpy was a Ford Foundation Leader for a Changing World in 2002. She is on the
Board of Directors of the newly foundedGrounded Solutions Network
(GSN).She serves on the Governor’s Housing
Council of Vermont, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Community Development
Committee and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston’s Affordable Housing Program
Advisory Committee.
– Adriana Rojas, Habitat International Coalition (HIC) & Central
American Housing Cooperatives (COCEAVIS)
Adriana Rojas Ugalde is a Costa Rican
sociologist, graduated from the University of Costa Rica. She is member of the
self-help and collective property Housing Cooperative COOVIFUDAM R.L., which is
the first of this type in the country and coordinates the process of the
approuval of a draft law on mutual help Housing Cooperatives, currently being
discussed in the Legislative Chamber. Adriana is a delegate to the Central
American Coordination of Solidary Housing (COCEAVIS), a political space
gathering 67 housing cooperatives and member of the working group on Social
production of habitat promoted by HIC.
– Isobel Ashford, Building and Social Housing Foundation
Communications in 2012 and became Deputy Director in 2015. She oversees the
development and delivery of BSHF’s programmes and communications.
spending seven years in the Spanish Basque Country. On returning to the UK she
retrained in marketing and managed
joining BSHF.
– Antonio Hodgers, State Councilor of the department of urban planning,
housing and energy
– Sandrine Solerno, Administrative Council of the City of Geneva
Moderation: Cyril Royez, UrbaMonde
and Isobel Ashford, Building and Social Housing Foundation
The event is hosted by UrbaMonde with
the support of the City of Geneva at Palais Eynard.