This first Mutual Learning Event of the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness provided participants with an opportunity to share experiences, exchange good practices and discuss challenges for the design of national strategies to fight homelessness and housing exclusion.

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The event was attended in person by members of the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness, as well as experts on homelessness and housing exclusion from EU Member States.

By focusing on the national strategies of three countries – Portugal, Denmark, and Ireland – similarities and differences in policy implementation were elicited. Themes emerged through the workshops providing not just a snapshot of the strategies presented, but also a learning path for future Mutual Learning Events.

It was the first Mutual Learning Event in a series of six.

Background

In June 2021 at the high-level conference in Lisbon co-organised by the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU, EU Member States, the European Commission and European Parliament, as well as EU consultative bodies, EU-level networks of civil society organisations and social partners signed the Lisbon Declaration on the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness and launched the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness to trigger dialogue, facilitate mutual learning, improve evidence and monitoring, and strengthen cooperation among all actors that aim to combat homelessness.

The signatories committed to work towards ending homelessness by 2030, so that

• no one sleeps rough for lack of accessible, safe and appropriate emergency accommodation
• no one lives in emergency or transitional accommodation longer than is required for successful move-on to a permanent housing solution
• no one is discharged from any institution (e.g. prison, hospital, care facility) without an offer of appropriate housing
• evictions should be prevented whenever possible and no one is evicted without assistance for an appropriate housing solution, when needed
• no one is discriminated against due to their homelessness status