Michaela Kauer, director at the Brussels Office of the City of Vienna, is a reknown expert on EU urban policy, affordable housing and public services with a strong gender equality focus. She has a long work experience with the City of Vienna, occupying different posts. Sarting in 1992 as spokesperson of the City Councillor for Housing and Urban Renewal, she moved later on to the cabinet of the City Councillor for Women´s Rights, Integration and Consumer Protection for more than 10 years and became head of the cabinet of the City Councillor for Health and Social affairs in 2005 until 2009. Vienna´s Brussels Office has a leading role in the city´s EU affairs with a strong focus on public services – especially in water, waste, energy, mobility and housing, public investments and urban policy. Michaela Kauer represents Vienna in the Executive Committee of EUROCITIES and works closely with the Committee of the Regions and the Council of European Municipalities and Regions. She is the joint representative of the Austrian Provinces for the Urban Agenda on the EU. From 2015-2018, she was one of two coordinators of the EU Urban Partnership on Affordable Housing and is still in the lead of the implementation actions together with stakeholders and cities. Currently, she serves as jury member for the European Responsible Housing Initiative Awards and is in the steering group of the Europe Housing Forum organised by Habitat for Humanity. Her academic background is with international public management, she regularly publishes on urban, housing and gender policy and teaches in academia, amongst other at the University of Vienna and the University of Applied Studies in Burgenland.
Blog: michaelakauer.at
Twitter: @MichaelaKauer