Community Storytellers Lab: Storytelling for change

The housing crisis is making secure, affordable and sustainable housing increasingly difficult to access. Yet, community-led housing offers an alternative approach, putting people and communities at the centre of creating and managing housing. Through models such as housing cooperatives, Community Land Trusts and cohousing, communities are developing more affordable, inclusive and sustainable ways of living while building local resilience and strengthening social connections.

This session will introduce participants to the campaign work and storytelling behind Power to Renovation and Right to Housing! Now and Forever, the two European Citizens’ Initiatives initiated by HouseEurope!.

Participants will explore the strategies and tools used in these campaigns, with a particular focus on the storytelling script. This practical tool will helps participants identify the right target group and develop the right arguments to communicate a message and inspire change. 

About the trainer

Olaf Grawert plans, writes and talks about architecture. His work focuses on the Poetics and Politics of Space: the political and economic conditions, as well as the imaginaries and narratives that shape the built environment. Collaborating with a network of individuals and institutions across Europe, he develops projects that bridge theory and practice, including building design, campaigns, exhibitions, films, publications and teaching.

He is a founding partner of the collaborative design practice b+, focusing on the adaptive reuse of existing buildings as strategic tools of urban transformation. He is also the co-initiator and director of HouseEurope!, a non-profit organisation and policy lab advocating for a fundamental value shift in the construction and building sector, socially, ecologically and economically.

More information

The CHOICE Storytelling Lab is part of the CHOICE project, coordinated by GEN EU and a consortium of European organisations working to strengthen community-led housing through knowledge exchange, collaboration and advocacy. The Lab brings together people involved in community-led housing and related movements from across Europe to learn how to document and share the stories behind their initiatives. Through interactive sessions, practical assignments, peer learning and mentoring, participants will develop their own documented housing story.