Curing the Limbo - From apathy to active citizenship: Empowering refugees and migrants in limbo state to ignite housing affordability

The “Curing the Limbo” project capitalized on Athens’ vibrant civil society to help refugees and the local unemployed to overcome the stage of inertia. The program developed around a circular “gift” system, addressing the twofold issue of both housing and inactivity: Refugees received affordable living spaces from the city’s available housing stock and in return, they worked for the public benefit, supporting the needs of the local community and participating in citizen-led activities that improve quality of life in Athenian neighbourhoods.

Beneficiaries received on-the-job training, which included language learning, psychosocial support, “street law” knowledge and other basic social and soft skills. These skills were tailored to the beneficiaries’ needs and were offered in an integrated way, during which other parallel activities were also gradually introduced.

The modality of exchange was developed around the incentives given both to tax-paying proprietors of currently empty spaces as well as to the beneficiaries through their integrated inclusion in the city.

During its implementation, the UIA project has capitalised on its experience so that it can be shared with peers. The outputs displayed on this page are the result of this process.