How we influence Get involved The Civic Initiative A Citizens’ Forum on Housing The Citizens’ Forum on Housing will invite 100 citizens to deliberate and deliver recommendations on key housing issues. Participants in the Citizens’ Forum on Housing will be recruited by UK-based NGO Sortition Foundation, who promote the empowered use of citizens’ assemblies. 25,000 letters of invitation will be sent via a postal lottery starting the week of September 9th. One hundred citizens will then be selected at random to be representative of Northern Irish society. The Citizens' forum will meet during November of 2024 and a report will be produced in early 2025. Participants in the Citizens’ Forum on housing will deliberate over the course of three days, at the end of which they will have the opportunity to design and ratify a series of policy recommendations that will be delivered to the Northern Ireland Assembly, as well as the UK and Irish governments. Any household may receive an invitation to participate in this historic forum, if your household receives an invitation all residents aged 16+ may register their interest in participating by the deadline of September 29th. How the topic was selected The Civic Initiative held 38 grassroots community workshops in Northern Ireland and border counties to ascertain the priority issues for communities, followed by a public call for further evidence. This process identified housing as a key issue impacting communities. Read written submissions received by the Civic Initiative: Homeless Connect Integrated Education Fund PPR Housing Rights Apex Housing Cooperation Ireland Mid Ulster Seniors NICCY Further evidence on the questions outlined below will be accepted by the Initiative to help inform the 2024 Citizens’ Forum. The deadline for submissions is October 14th, 2024. Written submissions Your submission should comprise the submission document and a separate cover letter. The Civic Initiative may publish your submission, if you would prefer that your name is not published, please include this request in your cover letter. The covering letter should include: - your name, email address and contact telephone number - if the submission is on behalf of an organisation, the organisation and your position in the organisation The submission document should include: - any facts or information that you have to offer in response to the questions in the call for evidence. - links to any publications you refer to in your submission - there is no need to send such publications as attachments - any recommendations to the Civic Initiative as they relate to the questions in the call for evidence. You can submit evidence until 23:59 on Monday 14 October. Written submissions should be sent to Greta Gurklyte at [email protected] If you have any questions about submitting evidence, please email [email protected] or call 02890297880 Call for evidence questions: 1. The latest housing bulletin from the Department for Communities, as of March 31, reported 47,312 households on the social housing waitlist. What factors have contributed to the low levels of adequate and affordable housing, in both the public, and private sector? Would you support for example, the creation of an independent Housing Commission? 2. What could the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive, as well as the Northern Ireland Housing Executive do to address ongoing housing issues including Social housing provision Housing inequalities Segregated housing The private sector Sustainable housing 3. Are there any lessons to be learned on a cross border/ East-West basis to address housing inequalities? Cross border survey Members of the public and community groups are encouraged to complete the following short survey to help better inform the 2024 Citizens’ Forum on Housing. This survey is cross border. Complete the Civic Initiative Cross Border Housing Survey What is the Civic Initiative? The Civic Initiative is a new participatory democracy platform launched in 2023 during the 25th anniversary year of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. The participatory democracy platform brings together a wide range of civic society groups, academics, and community workers to create an inclusive space for deliberative discussions on key socio-economic and cultural rights with a focus on the principles and commitments outlined in the Section of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement covering – Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity. The platform has actioned a four-stage community-led process to examine key issues, and practical solutions: Stage 1: Regional Forums and workshops across Northern Ireland and border areas Stage 2: Submissions from experts and wider society Stage 3: A large-scale People’s Forum of 100 randomly selected citizens Stage 4: Recommendations from citizens The Civic Initiative is funded by the International Fund for Ireland’s Communities in Partnership Programme (CiPP). Which aims to build genuine connections on a cross-border basis and provide meaningful benefits to communities involved. The Initiative oversight committee includes the following members; Corrymeela, Disability Action NI, Women’s Resource and Development Agency, Community Foundation Northern Ireland, Youth Action Northern Ireland, Here NI, Migrant Centre Northern Ireland, Craicni, North West Cultural Partnership, Northern Ireland Youth Forum, activist Tara Grace Connolly, and Eileen Weir and former Northern Ireland Human Rights Chief Commissioner Les Allamby as the independent chair. The work of the Initiative is further informed by two expert panels. The project is managed by Emma DeSouza, former Chair and Facilitator of the All-island Women’s Forum, with admin support provided by Disability Action.