Rebuilding a place to call home: Sharing knowledge for the recovery of Ukraine

On Wednesday 15 February 2023, PBL organised 'Ukraine’s housing recovery forum — rebuilding a place to call home’. The aim of the event was ‘sharing knowledge for action’. In this report, the authors draw lessons from that event and elaborate them further. Why talking about recovery while the war is ongoing? Recovery requires long-term planning and structural investments. In other words, proper and systematic preparation of policy in the public interest, no ad-hoc and one-off financial injections that favour only the already well-off. PBL became involved when asked to do so, because we felt the responsibility, as an organisation at the interface of science and policy with experience in connecting knowledge to action. On top of that, we are based in a country with a strong tradition in social housing and spatial planning. The event and the report were not only about Ukraine but also with Ukraine, as many Ukrainian researchers and policymakers were deeply involved in the conference as well as in the writing of the report. In this report building blocks for the structuring of Ukraine’s recovery are presented, based on experiences with best practices form all over Europe. It is up to Ukraine and its international partners to take the next steps. The report provides evidence on the current state of housing in Ukraine and how these challenges can be addressed through technical assistance, policy reform and capacity building, drawing on international best practices and experience. In doing so, it offers advice for the Ukrainian Government and other key stakeholders, such as the European Commission and multilateral development banks who shape the implementation of the recovery process.