The European Commission Research Executive Agency started last year the “Dear Researcher” initiative, asking children for their wishes to scientists (what they want EU researchers to discover in 2025). While some of these breakthroughs might not happen overnight in 2025, it’s worth noting that EU-funded research tackling these challenges was already in progress, including in the HouseInc research work! One of the children’s wishes was about “I wish that scientists would invent new materials with which you can easily build a small apartment (like with Lego), so volunteers could build one for people sleeping on the streets to keep them warm”. Read how HouseInc answers to this wish in the follow up article as answering this wish, “Big research starts small: how science meets kids’ wishes“.
The EU is facing a housing crisis with a lack of affordable, sustainable and inclusive housing. In 2023, 16% of people in the EU lived in overcrowded households and over 11% could not afford to keep their homes adequately warm (Eurostat 2024). It is estimated that at least 895,000 people are homeless in Europe (FEANTSA 2024). The HouseInc project (https://houseinc.eu) is on a mission to tackle some of the most pressing challenges in housing today. With a focus on promoting housing equality, HouseInc’s ambition is for everyone to have access to affordable, quality housing that meets their fundamental needs while considering the pressing sustainability issues we face. Rather than advocating for a one-size-fits-all solution, HouseInc emphasizes the importance of equitable housing—homes that keep individuals safe, warm (in cold winter months), and healthy. To achieve this goal, the project adopts a broad view of housing as an integral part of neighbourhood development. The HouseInc consortium is investigating the intricacies of existing housing policies, analyzing their impacts on inequality, and exploring both financial and socio-environmental factors that contribute to housing disparities. The project is focused on how these issues affect vulnerable populations, such as women, children and minorities.
As part of their in-depth exploration, the HouseInc consortium is examining housing inequality through four diverse case studies across Europe. Two of these case studies shine a light on energy poverty, addressing the critical question of how we can keep people warm in their homes, while the other two tackle urgent issues like the displacement of Ukrainian refugees in Italy and the challenges faced by Roma communities in Romania. In both cases, women and children are disproportionately affected by the effects of unequal housing conditions, which is one of the many challenges two of the project partners of the HouseInc project – Liberitutti and Politeia – seek to address in their everyday work. Through interviews and focus groups that took place with members of the case study communities from November 2024 to February 2025, the HouseInc project identified the often-interlinked causes of housing deprivation and societal challenges faced by the residents of these communities. The consortium is currently developing recommendations for socio-ecological and policy solutions at local, national and EU-levels that – like modular building blocks – aim to contribute to affordable, inclusive and sustainable housing for all. The HouseInc project runs from February 2024 to January 2027 and is coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research in Germany.
And as the Commission writes, “from innovative technology to creative solutions for a better world, kids’ wishes are aligning with real scientific breakthroughs. Kids ask, scientists deliver!”
Below is a selection of pictures from the pilots in Czech Republic with Roma communities, and Italy with Ukrainians. The drawing was realised by adults during the focus groups.
