Inclusion Model of Young Professionals into a socially-mixed co-housing

Nowadays in cities, stress and overwhelm are common due to the physical environment and societal structure. The majority of the global population now lives in urban areas and this urban lifestyle often results in a lack of connection and loneliness among residents. We had believed this project could provide as an alternative solution for this urging issue and could serve as a baseline for future cohousing developments not just in Budapest but in other European countries as well. Cohousing emphasizing co-creation, participatory design, and neighborhood collaboration, offers affordable and sustainable housing. It positively impacts both residents' living standards and the urban environment - this is we wanted to adopt to the Hungarian conditions, and what we did with this MixInCoHo project.

The project aimed to develop an inclusive model for socially-mixed cohousing, specifically tailored to young professionals’ inclusion. By promoting cooperation, participation, and democratic decision-making, the model seeks to improve the living standards. The elaborated model serves as a baseline for a future pilot project(s) in Budapest, addressing social, economic, and ecological aspects of the housing crisis. The novel Framework represented a solution & an innovation for the identified stakeholders and could inspire other similar initiatives in Europe. The 2 test groups's (GR1 and GR2) self-organizing skills improved, and they were able to lead in finding different approaches to improve their living standards, creating the basis for a new co-living and co-housing framework. The concrete aims were achieved: ● Both organizations’ capacity-building were improved by transnational working. ● An innovative co-housing model focusing on inclusivity were developped, namely The Inclusive Development Procedure of Cohousing ● The participative ability of the involved participants were improved ● Awareness is raised in Budapest on cohousings (especially towards public institutions and civil society)

We addressed partners and target groups needs & goals, and established a new model in the field of cohousing due to the following activities: ● We analysed the current housing situation of Budapest and Vienna, through site visits, and summarized the findings in an online study, titled: Why don't we live together?; ● Worked out and realized 2 group-tailored participative Training in order to prepare GR1 and GR2 for their possible next step to be part of a cohousing ● Prepared 5 Guidelines based on the Trainings and Intensive Workshops’ experience ● Worked out & implemented 3 Intensive Workshops with answering GR1 and GR2's challenges and demands in order realize a cohousing project; ● Elaborated 2 Poster Exhibitions in live (on mid-term and one final) ● Established, monitored and evaluated the novel Framework (through action research with the experts and involved target groups), named: Inclusive Development Procedure of Cohousing ● A Handbook, titled: How could we live together? for the Framework was compiled ● Organised a successful, live, interactive Final Event in Budapest, to present the Framework’s flowchart

The concrete outputs and results of the projects were: 1. An innovative, inclusive Framework "Inclusion model of young professionals into a socially-mixed co-housing " is elaborated, which has a much more generic aspect and therefore can be used by more people than it was originally thought. (Inclusive Development Procedure of Cohousing) 2. A Handbook is compiled for the Framework. (How could we live together?) 3. A detailed, comprehensive Analytical summary were elaborated about Budapest and Vienna’s current housing situation. (Why don't we live together?) 4. Bottom-up and top-down action suggestions were defined to enable Hungary’s inclusive housing models’ development. 5. By the end of the project, the participants were be able to apply cooperative and participative methods, and will be able to use in the future as well 6. Organizations’ capacities were enhanced, good practices and methodologies were shared, through direct and indirect knowledge-sharing 7. More citizens and decision makers in Budapest and Vienna are aware of the benefit ofalternative housing models 8. A successful and interactive Final Event was organized in May 2023 9. The compiled adaptable model has the potential for further utilization across Europe