Bridging the Gap in Housing Studies Erasmus Project

Project Title

Bridging the Gap in Housing Studies

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Open and distance learning; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

The EU real estate sector is a resilient sector with an enormous enabling impact on jobs and economic growth, and with great potential for the realization of the EU’s sustainability goals. According to Eurostat (2016) the EU-28 ’s real estate activities numbered some 1.4 million enterprises in 2016, employing 2.9 million persons and generating almost EUR 288 billion of value-added . The sector’s contribution to the nonfinancial business economy was 5.9 % of the enterprise population, 2.0 % of the employment, and 4.0 % of value-added.

In recent years, relevant drivers have impacted in the housing sector, shaping the present and future challenges:

– Technological revolution (i.e blockchain, Proptech business, etc) gives room for new business models, innovative work dynamics, greater connectivity and technological advances meaning that we need new skills and different ways of working.
– EU Parliament resolution on a European Pillar of Social Rights acknowledges housing as one of the EU social pillars and calls on the Member States to deliver on the right to adequate housing by ensuring access to quality and affordable housing.
– The application of the European Professional Card for real estate agents as well as the implementation of Directive for the regulation of financial services appeal to a greater professionalization in this sector, characterized by an uneven regulation among EU State Members.
– Lessons learned from the 2007 financial crisis (i.e. consumer protection failure, evictions, homelessness) and the COVID-19 crisis (home as a refuge) compel the housing sector for a review of the skills gaps along its value chain in order not to repeat the same mistakes in the future.

These drivers impact on the three main selected target groups of Housing+ i) professionals involved in the housing field (eg. real-estate conveyancers, notary public, judges, condominiums managers, attorneys, policymakers, consumers/tenants associations) who will obtain an academic qualification on housing; (ii) administration officers and policymakers working in local authorities, government departments, who will gain specific skills to address the recurring issues and the contentious problems that define the contemporary housing studies field in Europe and abroad to draft and to operate housing policies properly (iii) postgraduate students of different disciplines (law, sociology, social work, economy, finances, sociology, anthropology, architecture, urban design, engineering), that have only superficially and partially studied housing in their degrees will get specialized training in housing studies.

Drawn on these training challenges, Housing+ will pursue the following objectives:

1. To design, create and assess interactive open online educational resources (e-learning courses, handbooks, guidance materials) to address the skills gaps among Housing+ target groups. In this way, Housing+ will contribute to raising the qualification and education standards and overall achieving a greater professionalization within the housing sector.

2. To explore how online gamified learning interventions can have a positive impact on learning outcomes and demonstrate how game design elements can be used as a tool to enhance student engagement, motivation, and participation in Housing studies.

3. To promote HEI’s Housing educators professional development to adapt their digital skills and competences through the use of gamification techniques during teaching practices.

4. To showcase, disseminate and help to replicate proven learning methodologies, tools and practices for EU housing professionals in order to tackle skills gaps and mismatches within the European Education Area.

The main result from Housing+ will be the development of a set of online OERs (IO1) clustered in four modules 1. Housing and human rights 2. Housing tenures 3. Real state stakeholders and 4. Proptech . Also, a specific Seminar on “Condominium under the microscope” IO6 will be created in order to be replicated in any EU country. Gamification techniques (ie. use of commercial video games for educational purposes) will be embedded in Housing+ outcomes. In addition, Housing+ will produce a Gamified Mobile micro-learning platform (IO3) and a set of audiovisual materials (IO5) in order to raise awareness among real estate professionals and Housing policymakers on evictions and homelessness within the EU. Participating HEIs will obtain valuable guidelines (IO2) for the implementation of gamification techniques within the HE educational practices.

Project Website

https://www.housingplus.eu

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 429931 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI & Country: ES

Project Partners

• NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND GALWAY
• UNION INTERNATIONALE DE LA PROPRIETE IMMOBILIERE
• Fundación Iberoamericana del Conocimiento
• UNIWERSYTET SLASKI
• LUXEMBOURG INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY