New Era for Reintegration: Iscte Researcher Secures ERC Starting Grant for Pioneering Housing Models with Former Inmates
The initiative promotes an innovative approach to one of society’s greatest challenges—helping formerly incarcerated individuals reintegrate into society
23/09/25
We’re thrilled to announce that Joana Lages, a researcher at the Centre for Studies on Socioeconomic Change and Territory (Dinâmia'CET-Iscte), has been awarded a highly competitive ERC Starting Grant worth €1.5 million to develop the groundbreaking HOUSING FREEDOM project.
Housing as a Tool for Freedom: A Future Away from Incarceration, the essence of the HOUSING FREEDOM initiative, promotes an innovative approach to one of society’s greatest challenges—helping formerly incarcerated individuals reintegrate into society by providing stable, dignified housing. By transforming the narrative around reentry, the project seeks to break cycles of exclusion, stigma, and recidivism in Portugal, Belgium, and Norway.
Over the next five years in Iscte-Knowledge and Innovation, Dr. Lages will trace the housing journeys of people who were deprived of liberty, exploring their access to social support, housing stability, and potential recidivism. The aim is to identify evidence-based housing strategies and urban policies—aligned with human rights—that can offer alternatives to incarceration and promote long-term reintegration.
“This project is driven by the belief that a home is among the cornerstones of freedom.” Dr. Joana Lages, Iscte
What does this mean for Iscte-Knowledge and Innovation and beyond?
It underlines its commitment to bold, social innovative research.
It adds to the institution’s growing portfolio of ERC-funded projects—recognised as some of Europe’s most ambitious frontier research.