New Horizons – Tréimhse Nua in Housing First Conference

Several representatives of Transform Community Development were fortunate enough to attend the Housing First Europe Hub's New Horizons – Tréimhse Nua in Housing First Conference in Dublin.

This Conference brought together experts and practitioners to discuss and develop strategies for advancing the Housing First model across Europe. We has some interesting one on one discussions with colleagues from all over Europe, but will further develop relationships with our Finnish, Italian and Belgian colleagues, with the aim of sharing our good practice and learning from their progress.

We were very lucky to hear from two of the main proponents of Housing First, Juha Kaakinen and Sam Tsemberis. Juha is currently a Professor of Practice at Tampere University, Finland and developed the congregate housing first model whist CEO of Y-Säätiö and Sam (image), who is one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2024, is credited with developing the Housing First movement, which we are now operating in Dundee.

We attended a wide range of sessions, including plenary talks, workshops and site visits, focusing on topics such as facilitating engagement between Housing First and other sectors, addressing the needs of specific populations, and innovative practices in Housing First.

The event helped us foster collaboration and share insights of systems change through the Housing First principles in a changing and ever evolving context.