By Els Keunen
The latest DASH deliverable, the cross-evaluation report for Germany, was submitted at the end of August 2025. It details the lessons learnt during the thematic workshop held in Germany in May 2025.
The DASH Thematic Workshop was held in Stuttgart and Tübingen in May 2025 and focused on promoting reflection and debate on social and affordable housing in Germany. It drew on insights from abroad, including other DASH countries as well as the Global South, represented by a delegation of professors and students from Zambia. The central theme focused on how to reconcile sustainability goals, such as drastically limiting construction, and land use, with the urgent need to expand the provision of social housing. From the discussions, four key themes emerged: affordability, justice, sustainability, and sufficiency.
Recommendations resulting from the thematic workshop activities (a two-day symposium, site visits, and workshop reflections) emphasized the need for an active role for public actors in setting progressive policies, diversifying housing solutions beyond new construction (such as conversions, repurposing vacant buildings, and optimizing the use of existing square metres), reforming time limitations on public investments in social housing, and fostering a cultural shift in housing consumption, particularly by addressing the paradox of underutilised large apartments.