Making European housing environmentally friendly and socially just

Through participatory research, a new mobile lab and a unique survey, the EU-funded PREFIGURE project aims to provide a scalable blueprint for climate-neutral housing that leaves no one behind.

Society

Energy

The PREFIGURE(opens in new window) project was launched in 2024 to unlock alternative pathways to affordable, inclusive and energy-efficient housing in Europe. Across the EU, housing costs are on the rise, affordable homes are in short supply, and energy is becoming more and more expensive. At the same time, new energy renovation policies are being drafted to meet the EU’s ambitious climate targets – polices that could further increase rents, reinforce social inequality and exacerbate energy poverty if not carefully designed. To tackle this problem, PREFIGURE is identifying and analysing innovative practices that combine energy efficiency, affordability and social inclusion. Conceptualised as ‘prototypes of change’(opens in new window), these local, bottom-up initiatives combine social, political and economic innovation to renovate affordable housing for vulnerable communities. The project is conducting participatory research across 11 European cities – from Amsterdam and Barcelona to Thessaloniki and Tallinn – to document and analyse 16 distinct prototypes and the legal, financial and cultural factors supporting or hindering them. Twelve of these prototypes are discussed in depth in a report(opens in new window). This approach generates a holistic understanding of how to successfully replicate and scale up energy-efficient renovations. It also fosters learning communities that transfer knowledge and provide a proven blueprint for housing policies that prioritise both climate goals and social justice. So far, PREFIGURE has achieved several important results. It has developed a shared analytical framework for understanding the housing-energy nexus from a social justice perspective, making it possible to compare how different local contexts address the combined challenges of decarbonisation, affordability and inclusion. It has also created the Prototype Catalogue – a structured and comparative compilation of innovative practices that address this housing-energy nexus.

Dialogue around the corner

Additionally, PREFIGURE has advanced transdisciplinary research practice through corner to meet you!(opens in new window) – the project’s mobile participatory lab. This is used as a tool for knowledge exchange and serves as a vibrant space where science and society can meet, connect and spark dialogue. PREFIGURE has planned a European tour for the lab aimed at fostering dialogue between researchers, residents, policymakers and local stakeholders. As noted in this video(opens in new window) touching on all the above, the tour covers Sofia, Thessaloniki, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Karlsruhe and ends in Tallinn. The project team is currently also engaged in analysing the results of an innovative large-scale comparative survey involving more than 25 000 respondents across seven countries. “This exceptional dataset provides one of the most comprehensive cross-national pictures to date of how households experience the links between housing, energy affordability, renovation pressures and social inequality,” comments Michael Janoschka, a professor at PREFIGURE project coordinator Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. “These findings will be highly valuable, not only for local and national decision-making in the participating countries, but also for informing policy debates at EU level.” By the end of PREFIGURE (Prototypes for addressing the housing-energy-nexus) in 2027, it aims to have demonstrated how Europe can decarbonise its housing stock without losing sight of affordability, inclusion and social justice. Janoschka concludes: “In doing so, PREFIGURE will reinforce the EU’s ambition to achieve climate neutrality while ensuring that no one is left behind.” If you are interested in having your EU-funded project featured as a ‘Project of the Month’, please send us an email to editorial@cordis.europa.eu and tell us why!