Dear friend,

Greetings to you all from Nottingham. This newsletter, the third of the year, finds us at the beginning of one of the most important events of 2023 for our Foundation, the Expert Meeting ‘Home, Family and Climate Change’.

A year ago, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs contacted us to commission a report to serve as a reference in the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the International Day of Families (IYF+30). This day has been celebrated since 1994 every 15 May with sessions and round tables at the UN headquarters in New York.

With our director Professor Gamal Abdelmonem and his institution, Nottingham Trent University, as a partner, we have organised two days of meetings in which experts will discuss, based on their research, how households can be allies in combating the climate emergencies we are facing. More than 15 experts from different disciplines, from Europe, the United States and Asia are meeting from today to provide answers to the great unknowns that we are facing. You can see their profiles here.

Next week’s Be Home Blog post will highlight the main ideas and little by little throughout this quarter we will be unpacking the most significant conclusions.

From this third quarter of the year, we are very proud to announce that our director Sophia Aguirre, distinguished Ordinary Professor of Economics and researcher in the field of finance, family, and economic development, was appointed President of Catholic Distance University on July 1, 2023. Dr Aguirre has been part of our board since HRF began. She led our latest Expert Meeting in Washington on Home and Displaced People. She has also participated in several conferences and contributed to our publications. We congratulate her and wish her well in her new role.

In these summer months, we have continued to work to give the home a voice. In July we participated in the Tenth Congress on Family and Work at IESE. Dr Stephen Davies, representing HRF, presented our book ‘Happiness and Domestic Life’ and shared his expertise on the architectural evolution of the home in relation to social trends.

Our Communications Manager Ángela de Miguel attended the Conference on Care, People and Society celebrating the 25th anniversary of the International University of Catalonia. Please see here to revisit the post we published on this event. 

Taking advantage of the excellent climate of the city and the generosity of our directors, we met in Barcelona to discuss issues and establish the pillars to make this Expert Meeting, which starts today both a successful event and a significant contribution to IYF+ 30.

The years may go by but at Home Renaissance Foundation we have the same enthusiasm and the same desire to put homes at the centre of the story. Last month I reflected on what motivates me to continue leading an institution like this, which you can read here.

Wishing you and your families a good and fruitful autumn,