Curing the Limbo #3 - Housing refugees: Homes from vacant apartments in Athens

Curing the limbo
Curing the Limbo, an initiative by the Athens Municipality, connects the issues of integration, housing, exchange economy and active citizenship in a complex programme that helps refugees get involved in neighbourhood initiatives, learn new skills and access the labour market and permanent housing.

In this third and last episode of the Curing the Limbo podcast series, UIA expert Levente Polyák explores the housing component of Curing the Limbo, in order to understand the mechanisms that allowed the use of hundreds of vacant apartments as refugee housing in Athens.

In this episode, assembling interviews and discussions made between 2018 and 2022,  Levente revisits the housing pilot's elements and results with the programme's housing experts and various officers of the housing facilitation unit, while also meeting beneficiaries and property owners to discuss their needs and role in the process. The last minutes of the episode aim at assessing the legacy and impact of Curing the Limbo's housing component, in light of emerging housing priorities and policies.

By collecting testimonies during different visits and from a variety of people involved in the programme, Levente offers a highly personal account of the challenges and opportunities refugees encounter in their endeavour to find a new home in Athens.

Curing the Limbo Zoom-in #3 was produced by Levente Polyák (Eutropian, Cooperative City) in May 2023

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