How can municipalities provide sustainable, flexible, and humane accommodations for refugees – beyond emergency solutions such as containers and gymnasiums? This is precisely where the project “More than four walls” comes in.
In a nationwide network, an interdisciplinary team from the University of Hildesheim and Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg works with selected municipalities to develop and test new accommodation concepts. In doing so, science, municipal practice, and civil society bring their perspectives together.
This close cooperation results in practical solutions that not only address short-term challenges but also remain resilient and adaptable in the long term – for example, through communal living, structural conversion, or new administrative processes. In this way, the pilot municipalities become real-life laboratories for innovation.
The aim is to develop sustainable structures geared towards real local conditions – and offer more than just a roof over your head in the long term
We are testing new accommodation concepts with local partners in selected municipalities.
Municipalities network, share experiences regarding accommodation, and learn from one another.
Our accompanying research shows what works in practice - and how sustainable solutions are created.
We develop recommendations for action for other local contexts and stakeholders.
On October 9 and 10, the “More than four walls” project team took part in a conference organized by the newly founded Issue Network ‘Housing and Social Policy’ at the..
With its first online event, the More than four walls knowledge network has started autumn. Together, we aim to deepen the work on various focus areas and develop practical solutions..
On September 18th and 19th, 2025 we presented our project “More than four walls” at the network event „Wohnen statt Unterbringung” (“Housing instead of accommodation“) in Augsburg. In the course..
On July 8th 2025, the Sounding Board of the ‘More than four walls’ project met for its digital kick-off meeting. The Sounding Board is supporting the framework project and the..
The kick-off meeting of the nationwide knowledge network of the ‘More than four walls’ project took place in Erlangen on June 26th and 27th 2025. With the selection of the..
On May 22nd and 23rd, 2025, the “More than four walls” project team met in Nuremberg to plan the following key steps in the project. The focus was on selecting..
