The 3rd Housing First Europe Hub Conference is a three-day European gathering focused on Housing First policy and practice, with an emphasis on ending and preventing homelessness through cross-sector cooperation. It is co-hosted with the City of Rotterdam and is designed as a working conference for policymakers, practitioners, municipal leaders, researchers, housing providers, and professionals from health, mental health, social care, and youth services.23
The event’s purpose is practical rather than ceremonial: participants are invited to exchange experience, compare municipal implementation models, and build partnerships between housing, health, social care, and youth sectors.2 The conference materials frame prevention as the next major frontier, alongside immediate housing solutions, and present Housing First as an approach that combines stable housing with wraparound support to break cycles of homelessness.2
The target audience is broad but specialist. The conference is aimed at mayors and municipal decision-makers, housing organisations, frontline workers, policy experts, researchers, and service professionals who can translate discussion into local action.2 The stated format includes plenary panels and hands-on workshops, indicating a strong focus on applied learning, peer exchange, and systems change rather than formal presentations alone.2
Rotterdam is a fitting setting for the conference’s stated theme of urban homelessness responses, since the page explicitly asks “Why Rotterdam? Why Now?” and positions cities as central actors in homelessness policy.2 The event reflects the wider mission of Housing First Europe, whose recent activity shows an ongoing programme of conferences, webinars, and resources on Housing First implementation and systems change across Europe.13