In the Housing First model, housing provision is combined with intensive but voluntary support to ensure an individualised approach to exit homelessness. Across the world, many Housing First programmes have demonstrated a success rate of over 80%.

Brno, Glasgow, Lisbon, Lyon Metropole and Vantaa explain how they implement this model in this guide.

This year, Lodz, Leipzig, Madrid, Essen, Chemnitz, Katowice and Hanover pledged to the European Pillar of Social Rights.

Do you want to join our campaign in 2025? We’re 3 pledges away from achieving 100! Find out how your city can get involved and make a pledge by clicking on ‘More info’.

This report is part of a Eurocities series on the European Pillar of Social Rights, with a focus on mental health (Principle 16: Access to Health).
It highlights how cities are creating policies and services that not only target mental health but also address the social factors, such as housing, employment, and social inclusion, that heavily impact citizens’ well-being. The report underlines the need for a city-wide approach, where mental health is integrated into all areas of urban policy, from transport and urban design to culture, environment and social services.

The Social Innovation Lab held in Torino last September brought together city leaders and experts from across Europe to address the urgent issue of housing affordability. As housing costs continue to outpace income growth, vulnerable groups, including low-income households, young workers, and students, are struggling to secure affordable housing. Besides learning from Torino’s experience, the event provided participants with a platform to discuss shared challenges, exchange best practices, and co-develop strategies for affordable housing.

A delegation of mayors travelled to Strasbourg to meet MEPs. Eurocities President, Burkhard Jung; and Mayor Barseghian signed a call, on behalf of all other Eurocities mayors, for 10 priority actions to be achieved in this EU mandate, including housing. “The many significant issues now confronting our society, including the rise of populism, the housing crisis, and the impacts of climate change, require EU-level solutions that are implemented at the local level,” said Burkhard Jung, President of Eurocities and Mayor of Leipzig.

This is a comprehensive look at how European cities foster inclusion and integrate migrants into their communities. The report highlights the pivotal role of local governments as policymakers, service providers, and employers in shaping local solutions to global challenges, innovative practices from cities around Europe that demonstrate how they improve housing, employment, education, and social inclusion for migrant communities, and includes key recommendations for empowering cities to collaborate with national and EU institutions, ensuring that resources and strategies effectively address local needs.

Cities across Europe are grappling with a worsening housing crisis driven by a shortage of affordable homes, the rising cost of living, and the proliferation of short-term rentals. This situation is particularly dire for low- and middle-income families. The issue extends beyond mere housing availability. Vulnerable groups face heightened risks of energy poverty due to inadequate housing conditions, including lack of space, poor insulation, and limited access to green areas and public transport.

Carsten Beck is an economist working at the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies, a non-profit think tank based in Copenhagen that analyses trends and foresight processes.

“Being a futurist doesn’t mean we can predict the future, but it’s crucial to have conversations about where citizens, societies, markets or companies might end up,” explains Beck. “This helps in strategic planning and avoids being caught off guard.”

Ricardo Rio, Mayor of Braga, represented Eurocities at the high-level conference on the European Pillar of Social Rights hosted by the Belgian Presidency in La Hulpe (Belgium). The presence of Rio underscores the crucial importance of the Pillar and our continued commitment to fostering inclusive urban communities across Europe.

Read the full article here.

According to Eurostat, one-third of Europeans reside in rental properties. However, rent prices are frequently unmanageable. As the declaration states, the average rents in the EU were almost a quarter higher at the end of 2023 than at the start of 2010, and the average cost of a house in the EU was nearly 50% higher in mid-2023 than at the same time in 2010, according to the European Union.

Read the article here.

Across Europe, many people in cities are facing significant daily challenges, including access to affordable housing and essential public services, securing a job that offers a decent salary, paying energy bills and putting healthy food on the table. City governments recognise that human rights are a key part of the foundation for a united Europe, and they are committed to increasing efforts for a fairer and sustainable future.

We welcomed ten new Social Heroes in 2023: Brussels, Dusseldorf, Kadikoy, Munich, Nuremberg, Oslo, Paris, Riga, Stockholm and Zurich. But how does the EU value local engagement in the Pillar’s principles? We have spoken with Katarina Ivanković-Knežević, Director of Social Rights and Inclusion at the European Commission, about the European Pillar of Social Rights and cities’ role in its implementation.

Annette Christie, Councillor of the City of Glasgow and Chair of the Eurocities Social Affairs Forum promotes Eurocities ‘Ending youth homelessness’ report.

Throughout Europe, the number of young people experiencing homelessness is on the rise. Data from the 29 cities that contributed to this report demonstrates that the crises Europe has faced in recent years have worsened pre-existing challenges. Even more worrying, cities anticipate this increase will continue in the coming months.

Ambitious action needs to be taken to curb this trend and work towards ending youth homelessness by 2030. Cities are committed to taking action, but they cannot do it alone.

Eurocities supports cities to work on gender equality by sharing knowledge and good practices, learning from one another through peer learning, policy transfer and critical friend reviews, and building the capacity to follow and implement the European strategy on gender equality.

This work is done in the framework of Eurocities initiative to support cities in implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights, principle 2 on gender equality.

This mutual learning event brought together Working Group Employment and others from across Eurocities’ network to critically engage with the challenges vulnerable women with migrant and refugee backgrounds face when trying to reach and thrive in the labour market.

As the Eurocities campaign “Inclusive Cities for All” shows, cities are allies of the European Commission in pushing the European Pillar of Social Rights forward. We have done so through the Eurocities campaign to engage mayors and deputy mayors to pledge to implement the Pillar by taking tangible measures backed by specific budget allocations.

The level of municipal responsibility in providing early childhood education and care services varies depending on the organisation of the education system and governance structure. Many factors play a role in childcare participation: the length of family leave, availability of services, cost of ECEC, legal entitlements, family employment situation, as well as the sociocultural context of each city.

Investment in digital skills has become fundamental considering the digital revolution unfolding globally. Cities are crucial actors in addressing the most critical challenges related to skills at the local level. They make a difference in co-designing and implementing EU policies in this field in an impactful way.