HOUSING AND THE COMMONS: AN INSTITUTIONAL ALTERNATIVE

Photo: Housing and the Commons conference in Trento, organized by IUC, UNITN, and Generazioni Future

Housing and the Commons: An Institutional Alternative is a conference held in Trento, bringing together scholars, activists, and practitioners to rethink housing beyond market logics and traditional welfare models.

About the Conference

A conference in Trento organized by the International University College of Turin (IUC), the University of Trento (UNITN), and Generazioni Future, focusing on housing as a commons and on innovative institutional solutions for social housing.

IUC UNITN Generazioni Future

Key Themes

Housing as a commons rather than a commodity.
Institutional innovations for social and cooperative housing.
The role of public, community, and hybrid governance models.
Legal and political tools to protect housing from speculation.
Experiences and proposals emerging from Italian and European contexts.

      “Housing and the commons” invites participants to imagine legal and institutional frameworks in which access to decent housing is guaranteed as a
      fundamental right, and where collective governance prevents the privatization and financialization of basic life necessities.
    

The Trento meeting is part of a broader effort to link legal imagination, institutional design, and grassroots practice, exploring how commons-based approaches can offer concrete alternatives in the field of social housing and urban justice.

Through dialogue between academics, local actors, and social movements, the conference examines how commons-oriented institutions can respond to the housing crisis while strengthening democratic participation and long-term stewardship of shared resources.