London Habitat Campaigns Re-examined: Exploring the Role of International Alliances for Local Action

This event will discuss how London civil society campaigns and advocacy activities can relate, support or draw from international housing and urban development campaigns. The event will bring together representatives from two key networks of civil society groups operating in London: Just Space and CitizensUK. Speakers will introduce their organisations’ recent activities and analyse their progress since the start of the term of Mayor Sadiq Khan. This will be followed by comments from Lorena Zarate, president of the international civil society network Habitat International Coalition (HIC). Lorena has been an active leadership advocating for a human rights approach to international habitat and urban development agendas. In her intervention, Lorena will establish linkages between London based activities with international treaties, commitments and campaigns.

This discussion is particularly relevant at this moment in London as UN working group on business and human rights condemned the violations caused by the proposed redevelopment of the Seven Sisters Market by Grainger and Haringey Council (click here for more info).

The plenary discussion will also explore the role that solidarity across different geographies can play to advance local struggles for a more socially and environmentally just urbanisation. 

The event will also include the participation of DPU lecturers Barbara Lipietz and Alexandre Apsan Frediani, who have been coordinating the engagement of DPU with Just Space, CitizensUK and HIC.