New perspectives for Social housing

Fabrique HLM in France showcases the added value of social innovation

Lyon, 26 May 2016 | Social, Economy

Through an original and collaborative format, the city of Lyon-Villeurbanne, hosted around 2.000 social housing actors for its "proximity Fablab" event that took place on 24 and 25 May. Social Innovation was the keyword of the event; innovation that will be driven by the ambition to revolutionize the notion of service in the social housing sector.

Organized by social housing landlords in the Rhône-Alpes region in France, this "social housing factory" was launched by the respective regional association (ARRA HLM) to bring together a tenant associations, institutional actors, elected representatives and private partners.

With the aim of stimulating new responses to the various societal challenges, the event has been a chance to exchange ideas and to develop collectively tools for tomorrow.

"We are witnessing a modification, a transformation of our relationship with tenants. This is even more the case with the digital that accentuates and modifies relationships between people and organisations. The social housing sector is also part of this trend. We need to experiment, innovate, operate a rupture to make our culture, our positions and our services evolve. This is what the Fabrique is about, proximity." says Isabelle Rueff, ARRA president.

From digital applications to help tenants gain better knowledge of the energy consumption of their own homes to the birth of flatshare solidarity projects, a lot of initiatives well worth discovering already exist. In a time of digital revolution, the relationship between social housing landlords and tenants has to be revamped. This revolution has opened an almost unlimited number of possibilities in terms of social services which are crucial when it comes to meeting the needs of residents.

Participants could choose between 6 "laboratories", each of which represented one of the 6 steps of a tenant’s path–

looking for a dwelling
settling in a dwelling
living in my dwelling
living in my neighbourhood
my needs and my situation are evolving
leaving my dwelling

The "World café", a Canadian format, has been retained for its convivial aspect to animate these laboratories and stimulate participants' creativity by inciting a horizontal collaboration.

During these two days, a "Fabrique television" was covering interventions by experts and researchers on the topic of service revolution, in order to nourish the reflection. Danish and English delegations also contributed to the exchange adding up an international dimension to the event, too.

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