Meet the Speakers

To better be able to discuss the issues at hand, we were joined by a celebrated line-up of speakers, who helped “set the tone” of the conversation and animate the discussion. The idea was to discuss a few topics and give the participants the opportunity to interact with the speakers and with each other, in short online workshops after each talk. Participants were then tasked with writing a short paragraph in small groups, using some of the ideas discussed during the main talks. This discussion was tremendously enriched by the diversity and reach of the UTC. With more than 100 participating universities, the diversity of points of view would ensure a rich and exciting discussion. We were tremendously felicitous in the choice of speakers. Leilani Farha, former UN Rapporteur for the Right of Housing opened the UTC, by highlighting the centrality of housing for a happy accomplished life and, consequently, for socially sustainable development. She asked difficult questions related to the excessive commodification of housing. One of these difficult questions had to do with the Right to the City: if someone cannot afford a house in a city, should they be allowed to live there? This is not a cynical question, but one that goes to the centre of the current neoliberal thought that guides many governments: must all human relationships and possibilities be mediated by the market? Or is there something else we must concern ourselves with?