International Zero Evictions Marathon (ZEM) 2026, University of Padova, 29 and 30 October 2026

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On Thursday October 29th and Friday October 30th 2026, the Human Rights Centre ‘Antonio Papisca’ of the University of Padova, will host the third Zero Evictions Marathon, which collects testimonies, debates, studies and art against forced evictions.

The initiative is organised, as part of the World Zero Evictions Days (October 2026), by the Human Rights Centre in collaboration with the International Alliance of Inhabitants (IAI). 

The 2026 ZEM will feature

• Two days of live sessions, recorded testimonies and videos on forced evictions
• A virtual exhibition of evocative, documentary and/or artistic photographs on the impact of forced evictions on children 

The 2026 ZEM will focus on

• Attacks on human rights, housing and land rights defenders
• Massive displacements linked to neoliberal extractivist policies and biased anti-climate crisis measures
• Forced evictions caused by urban planning choices and major works and projects
• Forced evictions caused by the disregard of the social function of property
• The impact of AI on the housing sector and the governance of territories as a cause of forced evictions
• Urbicide and domicide as war strategies violating human rights and the rights of peoples
• The worldwide rise of homelessness and its criminalisation
• Silent evictions due to financial challenges affecting tenants and homeowners.

The 2026 ZEM goals are 

• To offer a shared international platform for social organisations and networks to denounce violations of the right to housing and related human rights and to collect and support proposals for solutions
• To strengthen solidarity at all levels with people and communities facing evictions and the defenders of the right to housing
• To promote collaboration and a proactive approach among social, academic and institutional actors, and engage regional and international organisations (UN, UN-Habitat, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing, other UN Special Rapporteurs, EU, OAS, AU, etc.)
• To promote research and training initiatives on the right to adequate housing and disseminate research results.

Draft Program for the Zero Evictions Marathon 2026

Day 1, Thursday 29 October, 10:00 to 15:30 (Rome Time UTC+1)

Scheduled time for the presentation (Rome Time UTC+1) | Name of the speaker | Organisation of the speaker | Country | Title of the presentation | Language of the presentation

10:00-10:10 Welcome and introduction, Cesare Ottolini (Global Coordinator International Alliance of Inhabitants) and Paolo De Stefani (University of Padua)

10:10-10:15 | Rukshana Kapali | Thāe Bāe Yā Lwāpu | Nepal | From Ancestral Custodians to Legal Squatters: The Dispossession of Nepal’s Jugi Community. | English

10:15-10:30 | Lorenzo Feltrin | Associazione Caminantes Treviso | Italy | Mass eviction in Via Pisa, Treviso, Italy | English

10:30-10:40 | Abdul Shakeel Basha | Basti Suraksha Manch | India | Chilla Khadar: Repeated Evictions without Rehabilitation. | English

10:40-10:50 | Antonino Giacomo Marino | Associazione Un Mondo di Mondi | Italy | La Regione Calabria sospende la legge sul diritto alla casa | Italian

10:50-11:05 | Jan Atienza | Kadamay | Philippines | The struggle for adequate housing in the Philippines | English

11:05-11:15 | Valentina Rizzi | Osservatorio CIvicO sulla casa e la residenza di Venezia (OCIO) | Italy | Empty homes, suspended lives: The human cost of the right to stay | Italian

11:15-11:25 | Kirtee Shah | Habitat Forum Inhaf | India | Slums are people, not only places | English

11:25-11:40 | Farooq Tariq | Pakistan Kissan Rabita committee | Pakistan | Fighting evictions | English

11:40-11:55 | Wanjira Hezron Ruriga | The Artistic Junction Collective | Kenya  | Art, resistance, and the right to stay | English

11:55-12:00 | Lorenzo Ianiro | Aurelio in comune | Italy | Housing Resistance: the Bastogi case in Rome | Italian

12:00-12:15 | Nikolaos Kolokotronis | Community of Squatted Prosfygika | Greece |  Community of Squatted Prosfygika. Building Communities based on autonomy and self-organization | English

12:15-12:45 Interactive session on the social function of property “Homes Without People, People Without Homes: Between the Right to Housing and the Right to Property.”

• Chair: Cesare Ottolini, Global Coordinator of the International Alliance of Inhabitants
• Speakers: 
  • Koldo Casla, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing (pre-recorded video)
  • Nikolaos Kolokotronis, Community of Squatted Prosfygika
  • Lorenzo Ianiro, former Bastogi Community
  • Soha Ben Slama, International Tribunal on Evictions Coordinator

12:45-13:00 | Giada Marzocchi, Ginevra Aurighi and Anna Rivetti | University of Padua | Italy | Éire and AI: the impact on housing rights. | English

13:00-13:15 | Angela Abascal | Public University of Navarra | Spain | Permanence Observatory: Mapping evictions from Satellite Data | English/Spanish

13:15-13:25 | Monika Kuffer | University of Twente | Netherlands | Inclusive cities and data justice | English

13:25-13:40 | Stefan Schneider | Wohnungslosen Stiftung | Germany | A Symphony of Horror - The Right to Housing vs. The Reality of How Homeless People Are Treated | English

13:40-13:55 | Mahmoud M S Sabra | Al Azhar University Gaza | Palestine | Beyond Domicide: Gaza’s Multi-Layered Destruction of Home, Economy, Society and Environment | English

13:55-14:10 | Jeff Halper | ICAHD | Israel | The Message of the Bulldozers: Israel's Demolition of Palestinian Homes | English

14:10-14:25 | Issamaldeen Abdulrahem Majed | Green Cane Organization for Sustainable Development | Iraq | Hydro-Coercion, Extraction, and Silence: Frontline Environmental Defenders Against Water Weaponization in Southern Iraq | English

14:25-14:40 | Bhagavati Adhikari | Nepal Mahila Ekata Samaj | Nepal | From Eviction to Exclusion: Challenging the Pathway Toward Autocratic Governance | English

14:40-14:55 | Daniel Manyasi | Single Mothers Association of Kenya | Kenya | Kenya's Development-Induced Displacement without Resettlement | English

14:55-15:10 | Varghese Theckanath | Musi Jan Andolan | India | The Ugly Side of 'River Beautification': A Case of Musi Riverfront Project in India | English

15:10-15:25 | Bel Abrams | PAH Mallorca | Spain | Son Bordoy | Spanish

Please note that the programme of presentations is based on the Rome time zone (UTC +1). 

***

Day 2, Friday 30 October, 14:00 to 18:30 (Rome Time UTC+1)

Scheduled time for the presentation | Name of the speaker | Organisation of the speaker | Country | Title of the presentation | Language of the presentation

14:00-14:10 Welcome session and introduction, Cesare Ottolini (Global Coordinator, International Alliance of Inhabitants) and Paolo De Stefani (University of Padua)

14:10-14:25 | Robert Robinson and Natasha Fiorentino | Partners for Dignity and Rights/New School | United States | The Dismantling and Privatization of Public Housing | English 

14:25-14:40 | Gustavo Adolfo Sepúlveda Vera | Movimiento de Pobladores Organizados (MPO) | Chile | Desalojos Forzosos en Chile: Montajes, Tráfico de Influencia y leyes inconstitucionales como nuevas herramienta de gentrificación (Forced Evictions in Chile: Fabricated Cases, Influence Peddling, and Unconstitutional Laws as New Tools of Gentrification) | Spanish

14:40-14:50 | Rocío Bastidas | Comité Pro Mejoras Del Barrio La Floresta | Ecuador | Desalojos forzados y ciudad vacia: caso Quito (Forced Evictions and the Empty City: The Case of Quito) | Spanish

14:50-14:55 | Claudia F Guebel | University of Buenos Aires | Argentina | Situación actual de la vivienda en CABA (Current housing situation in CABA) | Spanish

14:55-15:00 | Susana Rodríguez | Vecinos Unidos Sector 4 ley 324 | Argentina | A luchar por vivienda popular - Leyes 324 y 6769 (Fighting for affordable housing – Laws 324 and 6769) | Spanish

15:00-15:15 | Sergio Juaricua | 06600 Plataforma Vecinal y Observatorio de la Colonia Juárez  | México | #ReBarriar: la importancia del retorno al territorio despojado (#ReBarriar: The importance of returning to the dispossessed territory) | Spanish

15:15-15:25 | Esther Álvarez Estrada | Instituto de Desarrollo Urbano CENCA | Peru | Comunidad de las Laderas libres de amenazas de desalojos (Las Laderas community free from eviction threats) | Spanish

15:25-15:35 | Aland Patricio Castro Núñez | Fundación FEMAN – Movimiento de Pobladores Ukamau | Chile | Del grito a la regla: luchar por vivienda es luchar por el derecho a permanecer en la ciudad (From the outcry to the rule: fighting for housing is fighting for the right to remain in the city.) | Spanish

15:35-16:05 Interactive session on domicide: “Domicide: Giving a Name to the Systematic Destruction of Homes”

• Chair: Professor Paolo De Stefani, Human Rights Centre of the University of Padua
• Speakers: 
  • Koldo Casla, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing
  • Jeff Halper, Director of ICAHD
  • Mahmoud M S Sabra, Al-Azhar University Gaza 

16:05-16:15 - Anastasia Kreis and Sona Mehdizade | University of Padua | Italy | The Bay and the boom: the impact of the AI boom on San Francisco’s housing. | English

16:15-16:30 | María Eva Koutsovitis | Cátedra de Ingeniería Comunitaria/Movimiento la Ciudad somos Quienes la Habitamos | Argentina | Ciudad de Buenos Aires: el avance de los desalojos ilegales express por parte del gobierno (City of Buenos Aires: the rise of illegal "express" evictions by the government) | Spanish

16:30-16:45 | Cosme Vitor | União dos Atingidos de São Sebastião | Brazil | A noite em que tudo mudou (The Night Everything Changed) | Portuguese

16:45-16:55 | Mariana Oliva | Mujeres por La Boca | Argentina | Quiero vivir y jugar en mi barrio (I want to live and play in my neighbourhood) | Spanish

16:55-17:10 | Alejandra Espinoza Prieto | Coordinadora contra desalojos y por la vivienda | Argentina | Basta de desalojos los niñ@s quieren su hogar! (No more evictions—children want their homes!) | Spanish

17:10-17:20 | Carlos Arturo Cadavid Valderrama | Junta Cívica Paraje El Pinar (Fuente Clara-Robledo) | Colombia | 1.306 desalojos por obra pública de ampliación del metro de Medellin (1,306 evictions due to the Medellín metro expansion project.) | Spanish

17:20-17:30 | Jaime Alberto Lopera Quintero | Comité Ciudadano Barrios El Volador y El Progreso | Colombia | Caso de afectados por desalojos en el barrio El Volador. Medellin, Colombia (Case involving people affected by evictions in the El Volador neighbourhood, Medellín, Colombia) | Spanish

17:30-17:45 | Oscar Badillo Espinoza | Asociación por la Defensa Social, Ambiental y Desarrollo de San Juan de Lurigancho y el Bosque Urbano de Separadora Industrial (ADESASI) | Peru | ¿“Bienestar” o negocio? El Anillo Vial Periférico de Lima y Callao (Perú), y el conflicto entre el interés económico, el derecho a la vivienda y por un ambiente sano. (“Well-being” or business? The Lima and Callao (Peru) Ring Road, and the conflict between economic interests, the right to housing and the right to a healthy environment.) | Spanish

17:45-17:55 | Florencia Jimena Sanchez | Viviendistas | Argentina | Día Mundial del Hábitat (World Habitat Day) | Spanish

17:55-18:10 | Sonia Alejandra Aria | Coordinadora contra desalojos “LA MOSTRI” | Argentina | Spanish

18:10-18:20 | Arq Gustavo Cañaveral | Urbana Te Ve | Argentina | Desalojos en ciudad de Buenos Aires (Forced Evictions in Buenos Aires) | Spanish

Please note that the programme of presentations is based on the Rome time zone (UTC +1).

The ZEM can be followed live in face-to-face mode in Padova (via Beato Pellegrino, 34, at the Human Rights Centre) or online on the University's Zoom platform. A live stream will be available on the Human Rights Centre’s YouTube channel.

On the Zoom platform, an international network of voluntary interpreters will do their best to offer simultaneous translations in English, Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese at the following link: https://unipd.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rOg6YiTURm-7D-tYoI1UcQ

The Human Rights Centre premises will be open to students and the general public.

Contacts

centro.dirittiumani@unipd.it   |   glob.coord.iai@habitants.org