Over the last two decades, the number of students in French higher education has increased by 26%, which is over two times more than the population increase in France (10.7%) over the same period. In France (as well as in many European countries), the massification of access to higher education represents a pivotal challenge to our society regarding how to provide decent housing for students.
Whilst the body of literature of student geographies has gradually gained more attention (Alamel, 2018; Holton and Riley, 2016; Smith, 2009), particularly related to students’ residential mobilities and their living conditions, there is limited knowledge regarding the skills that students develop through their housing.
This paper focuses on the “Kolocations à Projets Solidaires” ((KAPS) [House-sharing for Social Projects]). Launched in 2010 in France, the KAPS programme aims to provide social housing to young people (mostly students, but also apprentices, young professionals, and civil servants) in exchange with volunteering in the local community (e.g. mentoring children, language and cooking lessons, developing vegetable patches, assisting the elderly with shopping, etc.).
Applying a mixed-methods approach (i.e. online survey and semi-structured interviews with the “kapseurs”), this paper aims to address two issues. The first is the residential motivations of the "kapseurs" to live in a shared flat. Are they more economically motivated (i.e., to live in affordable housing) or do they have a genuine interest in volunteering and in forging social ties in socio-economically segregated residential spaces? The second issue developed in this presentation touches upon the acquisition of skills by the "kapseurs” through social actions developed within the local communities.
Mots clés : students|housing|residential choice|volunteering|skill development
A103946AA