Co-housing with newly arrived refugees, young and elderly
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | FÖRENINGEN FÖR BYGGEMENSKAPER VERKSAMHET I SVERIGE AB - Föreningen för byggemenskapers verksamhet i Sverige AB |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 1 515 564 |
| Project duration | December 2017 - November 2019 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | Social innovation - Challenge-driven innovation |
| Call | Social innovation - Challenge-driven innovation 2017 |
Important results from the project
The project´s primary aim was to create smaller houses for new arrivals, through self-construction and co-construction. In order to create integration and to engage society, another objective was to build housing for swedish young and elderly people, who are also outside the housing market. Through the project, we wanted to set a good example of how to solve three of society´s biggest challenges: housing shortage, exclusion and the difficulty for new arrivals to enter the labor market. The project´s other aim was to create a meeting place for integration, collaboration and creativity.
Expected long term effects
The project goal was to build 20 smaller houses by 2019. The result was a total of 8 houses, of which 5 were residential. 1 client is newly arrived and the rest are Swedes. However, we have met the goals of employing groups in unemployment in our activities. We have also achieved the goal of integrating newcomers into society by creating housing together with associations, civil society and interested citizens. We have also created internships and training courses. Last but not least, we have spread the model to build with and for vulnerable groups and received a lot of attention for our ideas.
Approach and implementation
We have worked in association form and have spent a lot of time working together. The fact that we have worked on building the business together with existing networks and civil society is an important reason why we have been able to get this far in a short time. Another factor is the good cooperation with Jenny Stenberg at Chalmers and, last but not least, that we had a site manager with staff on site and hired a local from spring 2018. This has made us an important community for the issue, with many study visits. We also see that the issue lies in time and that the interest and need is very large.