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.
1. To design, elaborate and evaluate open online interactive educational resources about European Housing Studies to address skills gaps among European housing professionals. In this way, Housing+ contributes to improve qualification and education standards and, in general,to achieve greater professionalisation within the housing sector generating a positive impact on housing consumers and people in general (housing is a basic need). 2. To explore new educational techniques to reach a wider community of housing professionals and prospective professionals. Gamification, videos, interactive presentations and a proptech simulation embedded into a massive online training course (the EHS) may contribute to a positive impact on learning outcomes through the improvement of students engagement, motivation and participation in their own training. 3. To facilitate current professionals to adapt their digital skills and competences through the use of the aforementioned innovative training techniques (all ages all backgrounds approach). 4. To showcase, disseminate and help replicate proven learning methodologies, tools and practices for EU housing professionals in order to address skills gaps and mismatches within the European Education Area.
The EU housing and real estate sectors have a huge impact on employment, economic growth, consumers and access to housing as a human right. In recent years, relevant drivers have impacted the housing sector, shaping current and future challenges: - Lessons learned from the 2007 Global Financial Crisis (i.e. consumer protection failures, evictions, homelessness) force the housing sector to review the skills gaps along its value chain in order not to repeat the same mistakes in the future. - The technological revolution (i.e. blockchain, proptech business, etc.) brings new skills and different ways of working among housing professionals. - The implementation of the European Professional Card for real estate agents calls for further professionalisation in this sector. These challenges impact directly on professionals involved in the housing field as real estate managers, notaries and land registrars, judges, condominium managers, lawyers, multi-level policymakers, housing-related civil servants, consumer/tenant associations, etc. Currently there is no academic qualification on housing at European level. Housing+ fills the gap that exists in the field of housing training for the next generation of housing professionals.