Citizens’ Convention on Housing – Campaign
From April 2024
In collaboration with Gobierno Transparente, with the support of Ampliando Democracia and Red Delib.
We promote the implementation of Citizens’ Conventions on Housing at the state and other territorial levels.
Housing is one of the issues of greatest concern to citizens, and it is also an issue that requires long-term state and local policies. To define these policies, transparent political agreements are needed, which are not currently being reached. A Citizens’ Convention, formed by a group of people chosen by a civic lottery (who would form a descriptive sample of the population of the country or of the territory that activates it), with access to time, means and information to deliberate, could reach agreements that would allow laying the foundations for a long-term public action.
A first deliberative process, involving experts of different sensitivities, has defined what could be the basis of the question to be asked to a Convention to be held at the state level:
In order to guarantee the constitutional rights of all persons to housing along with the right to property, what public policies and/or regulations should be implemented, in relation to (in order of priority):
- Land use and development;
- Access, tenure and use of housing;
- Construction and distribution of public and private housing.
Image 1: Demonstration on housing in Portugal
Image 2: Citizens’ Climate Convention, France, 2020 [Plenary session at the EESC, Economic, Social and Environmental Council, Paris].
