Joint tenancy in exchange for outreach projects in Poitiers

The Association of the Student Foundation for the City (Afev) was created in 1992 by three students to fight inequality in the popular districts and forge a link between two youth groups who meet seldom, if at all: children and young people experiencing school or social problems, and the students. With 7,000 students working among 7,000 children, Afev is the foremost national network today for outreach through student solidarity. It is active in 280 territorial jurisdictions and some 60 university institutions. In the last 20 years, the association has enabled 124,000 children and young people to receive counseling in their school career, thanks to the action of 124,000 volunteers.

Sharing housing and commitment

Afev launched the Kaps (Koloc' à projets solidaires) project in Grenoble. It then spread to Toulouse, the Paris region, and then Poitiers, Rennes, Arras, etc.It helps overcome the problems faced by students seeking housing in the large cities. It pursues a simple principle: each outreach project corresponds to a joint tenancy. The allocation of the housing is tied to the commitment to the outreach project. The students don't necessarily know each other when the project is selected, but must demonstrate a desire to engage in the same area. Thus, a number of "Kaps" students have proposed a participative and educational project around the environment, which has taken the form of an "éco'logic" week of workshops on food consumption or energy conservation, aimed at the people of the neighborhood.

The project is supported by the experimentation fund initiated by the French High Commissioner for Youth in September 2009. Its implementation is accompanied by a major evaluation made with the Lab'Urba laboratory (Urban Planning Institute of Creteil).

Reinventing vanished local bonds

The housing units are proposed in disadvantaged districts of Poitiers (priority policy districts of the town of Couronneries and St Eloi), an opportunity to create events and social bonds and to reinvent sometimes vanished local solidarity. Since the project was launched in Poitiers, six apartments have been provided to 18 students, and more housing is planned.