Report on participation
03-09-2007

One of the ongoing policy themes in FEANTSA, the European Federation of National Organisations working with the Homelessis, is "Participation" and questions and issues about homeless people's participation-possibilities are examined by the FEANTSA Participation Working Group.

The Participation Working Group initiated national surveys on participation in 2006 and below you can download the report on homelessness and participation in Denmark. The report is available in Danish and in English.  

The survey on participation is carried out by SAND, the Danish national organisation for the homeless and projekt UDENFOR are the publisher of the report.

But what is participation? What does the concept tells us? On FEANTSAs homepage you can find these descriptions: 

The term “participation” is intended to denote full inclusion in decision-making processes. It is a term often used in discussions of citizenship, as participating in the democratic process at national level is a part of fully exercising ones rights as a citizen. (...) Many homeless service providers work to promote participation of the service users and in this context participation may be understood as “the involvement of homeless people in the decision-making processes affecting the services that they use” (www.feantsa.org)

Homeless people representing more than 50 percent of the homeless shelters in Denmark have filled in a questionnaire about their experiences on the level of participation. On Danish ground this is the first report where homeless people themselves carry out research and participate in the investigation stage of a survey. The report is therefore exceptional and interesting. The homeless people have been an essential part in the planning of the survey and the design of the survey.

We, projekt UDENFOR and SAND, are very happy that this is a reality now.

It is our hope that the report will contribute to knowledge about the mechanisms, which have a positive effect on homeless people’s participation in relation to their own lives and living circumstances.

Download the report in English