Metropolitan Research Institute

Metropolitan Research Institute, Budapest

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Discussing the possibilities of deep renovation in the multi-unit building sector – workshop organized by MRI

Discussing the possibilities of deep renovation in the multi-unit building sector On November 7th and 8th a workshop series, consisting of three distinctive modules, was organised by MRI. The event brought together researchers from Szolidáris Gazdasági Központ, REKK, BME and F4STER, independent experts as Zoltán Varga, as well as representatives of the Municipality of Budapest, and districts 8, 11 and 13. Additionally Habitat for Humanity International, as well as representatives of the national government governmental were present.

Part of an ongoing work to support the development of a complex energy efficiency renovation program that enables energy poor households and buildings to begin the refurbishment process. Focusing solely of multi-unit buildings, the work has focused on three distinctive pillars: technical, financial and community development, based on the firm belief that vulnerable households need extra support to get engaged.

The outcomes of the workshop, as well as the entire research will be summarized in the forthcoming report about recommendations, which will be available on the ComAct project website from January, 2024. The discussion shed light to some important findings, such as:

  • Energy efficient interventions must be strongly linked to overcoming structural deficiencies, as the latter are placed higher on the agenda of the inhabitants;
  • Interventions under the principle of “energy efficiency first” can have decades long pay-off periods, thus can’t be financed by purely market-based models (like ESCO schemes or energy obligation schemes);
  • Integrating the issue of energy poverty into potential subsidy schemes in Hungary is extremely difficult due to the separation of tasks and responsibilities between various ministries and departments.

Ending Homelessness in Central & Eastern Europe with a Housing-led Approach – invitation to the online Report launch event, where Nóra Teller will be one of the presenters

The Metropolitan Research Institute has contributed together with The Budapest Institute  to the soon to be published new report of World Habitat Ending homelessness in Central and Eastern Europe: Making the shift to a housing-led system.

The online launch event will be at 9.30am – 11.00 (BST) / 10.30 – 12.00 (CEST) on Monday 18 September, where our colleague Nora Teller will be one of the presenters.

Register to the event here.

Interreg project MECOG-CE kicks off in Brno

On 30–31 May 2023, representatives of European metropolitan areas, universities and associations met in Brno for the official launch of the MECOG-CE project (Strengthening Metropolitan Cooperation and Management in Central Europe). The project is funded via the Interreg Central Europe programme, and Brno is the first Czech city to be its leading partner.

The purpose of the MECOG-CE project is to strengthen metropolitan cooperation and management in Central Europe. It is divided into three phases. The first phase will focus on benchmarking, mapping the current situation of territorial and strategic planning in Europe. The second phase will identify the best tools and methods to strengthen metropolitan cooperation and management, and the final phase will involve the practical implementation of these tools and methods by the participating cities and metropolitan areas. The project will help raise awareness of metropolitan issues among European and national-level institutions, reflecting the crucial importance of the metropolitan dimension. The project will run until the spring of 2026.

The role of MRI in the project is to act as a knowledge partner, a quality reviewer for the materials developed in the project and raise awareness on the topic of metropolitan cooperation and governance and encourage many other cities to launch the process. Beside that, MRI will be involved in creating policy documents and disseminating these results to the European level via its membership in a range of important European networks.

 

 

The UPLIFT project ended in June

The UPLIFT project, which was led by the Metropolitan Research Institute, has just finished in June 2023. 

We are proud of our international team who did an exciting scientific work in the field of social inequalities among urban young people, and an excellent job in experimenting with a new policy making method, the so called Reflexive Policy Making process.

In the UPLIFT project, we have elaborated interesting research on a European scale, understanding inequalities. If you are interested in data on social inequalities focusing on youth, read the Atlas of inequalities and browse data in our interactive atlas.

In 16 European cities, based on extensive desk research and interviews with local experts and decision makers, we have analyzed the nature of economic processes and policies tackling social inequalities especially among young people in the field of education, employment and housing. The results are thoroughly described in 16 urban reports, which you can download here: https://uplift-youth.eu/local-reports/. A comprehensive study, that compares and concludes the main messages of the Urban Reports can be downloaded here: https://uplift-youth.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/D2.4_Synthesis_Report-of-the-16-urban-reports.pdf 

In 8 European cities out of the 16, we focused our attention on understanding the mechanisms behind the decisions of vulnerable young people who are stuck in some way in a disadvantaged situation regarding their education, employment or housing. For this in each of the 8 locations we conducted 20 interviews with young people between the age of 15 and 29 and 20 interviews with people who were young and vulnerable during the Great Financial Crisis. The results are written in forms of 8 Case Study Reports. In addition to this we have elaborated 8 bilingual (in English and in local language) Policy Briefs, which contain the main recommendations for Reflexive Policy Making based on the research results of the Case Study Reports. 

In 4 European cities: Amsterdam, Barakaldo, Sfantu Gheorghe and Tallinn our partners have experimented with a new policy making technique called Reflexive Policy Making, which in short meant to facilitate a collaborative work between the vulnerable young people in a form of a Youth Board and institutional stakeholders on a specific policy field, to come up with concrete recommendations for changing or creating local initiatives or policies. Their work is concluded with a thorough general guidance in a Guidebook and a Policy Brief

If you are interested in learning briefly about our work, watch this short and free video course and find your way to implement Reflexive Policy Making in your field. 

If you are interested more about UPLIFT’s work please find our main outputs on our website: https://uplift-youth.eu/ and find us on social media channels: facebook, instagram, linkedin and twitter.

We held a Training on Reflexive Policy Making in Pécs

On the 17th May 2023 we held a training in Pécs on the experiences of Reflexive Policy Making processes of the shortly closing UPLIFT project for local stakeholders including representatives of a housing activist group, school, field of homelessness, urban management and the university with whom we have discussed what possibilities there are in Pécs to implement a Reflexive Policy Making process in Pécs.

In the training we presented our main results of our research based on several expert interviews and on 40 interviews we made with local young people to understand the motivations behind their life choices regarding their housing, education and employment pathways. The results of this research is available in this Case study report. Then we introduced the experiences we gained in Reflexive Policy Making in Amsterdam, Barakaldo, Sfantu Gheorghe and Tallinn. Our colleagues from Sfantu Gheorghe in a video call presented their experiences with the process they have conducted with local vocational school students in the field of education in Sfantu Gheorghe. In the end of the training, we discussed the current challenges and possibilities for implementing a Reflexive Policy Making process in Pécs.

The main conclusion of the discussion with the participants of the training was that even though the numerous added values of such a long-term participatory process is recognized, the actor who would take a leading role in taking all the financial and political risks and would set the framework for that. This is thanks to the heterogeneity of the interests of the great variety of local actors and the conflicts between these actors who fight and compete for scarce resources in the constantly changing policy environment instead of enhancing fruitful cooperations.

József Hegedüs’s publication in the Housing Finance International is availble

József Hegedüs has published a paper in Housing Finance International comparing the housing finance crisis of 1989 and 2008 and its policy response. The causes and management of the two very different crises provide a wealth of information on the nature of the transition from a socialist housing system to a market-based housing system. The interesting difference is that in the first case the risk was borne by the state, which forced the borrowing population to share the gains from inflation, but did so with very modest support for the low-income population. In the second case, the risk was borne by the borrowers and the state essentially forced the banks to bear part of the losses of the families. However, the loan bailout was very unfair, as it favoured the top 20 per cent of income earners but did little to support the wider middle class. Both schemes included an element to help the most needy families, but this only reached a small proportion of those in need.

Read the paper here.