Judith Lehner

I am the Director of the Research Center for New Social Housing at TU Wien, where I work at the intersection of research, education, and practice to advance housing policies and approaches. My expertise lies in connecting local specificities with transnational perspectives, and in facilitating creative learning environments that enable collaboration between municipalities, housing providers, civil society, and academia.

Over the past years I have coordinated and contributed to international research and practice-oriented projects, including TRUSTMAKING (JPI Urban Europe) and ReHousIn (EU Horizon), developing frameworks for cross-sectoral and intergenerational learning, and translating results into accessible formats such as guidebooks, exhibitions, podcast episodes and open-access publications. I design and lead peer-learning formats such as the Vienna International Summer School on New Social Housing, and I am developing a doctoral programme on new approaches to social housing with high-ranking international universities across Global North and Global South.

My publications and public engagement work, including co-edited volumes (“The Social Dimension of Social Housing”, “Social Housing in Vienna – a transdisciplinary dialogue”) and curated tours of the Viennese housing model, reflect my commitment to communicating complex issues to diverse audiences. I bring analytical clarity, situated knowledge, and creative facilitation tools to support cities in designing housing strategies that are both locally grounded and transnationally relevant. Through the URBACT network I aim to contribute to collaborative, democratic, and practice-oriented approaches for more equitable housing futures.