The registration form combines optional information for the ECOLISE General Assembly that takes place in the same week.
Communities Shaping the Future of Housing
A Northern European Gathering on Community-Led Housing & EU-Level Advocacy
Avno Oasis, Denmark
Context – Positionality
Across Europe, housing is at a breaking point. Rents and house prices are rising faster than incomes. Secure, affordable and energy-efficient homes are increasingly out of reach. At the same time, the climate and ecological crisis demands a rapid transformation of how and what we build, retrofit, and inhabit. Housing is no longer only a social issue. It is a climate issue, a democratic issue, and a justice issue.
Community-led housing offers a concrete alternative: homes shaped by residents themselves, rooted in collective ownership, democratic governance, long-term affordability, and climate responsibility. Yet their voices remain marginal in mainstream policy debates, particularly at EU level.
This full day event creates space to connect those experiences, build shared political clarity, and translate practice into a roadmap for collective advocacy.
What this event is about
This is an in-person regional gathering with a strong focus on Northern Europe (Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland)
Together, we will:
- Compare national experiences, struggles and policy gaps around housing
- Share regional challenges, opportunities and concrete community-led practices
- Explore the ambition, limits and needs of community-led housing in the Northern European context
- Identify common political demands and strategic leverage points
- Co-construct a roadmap for EU-level advocacy for inclusive, equitable and climate-friendly housing
The emphasis is not only on exchange, but on building alignment and collective direction.
Who this is for
This gathering is for people who are:
- Organising, advocating, researching or experimenting with community-led housing
- Working at the intersection of housing, climate justice and democracy
- Interested in linking local struggles to EU-level political change
- Ready to move from isolated initiatives toward collective advocacy
- Are from or based in Northern Europe (A small number of funded seats is also available to other participants who might be interested to join)
What will come out of it
By the end of the gathering, participants will have:
- A shared understanding of regional housing dynamics and power structures
- Stronger connections across countries and movements
- A collectively developed advocacy roadmap to influence EU housing, climate and social policy
If housing is to become affordable, climate-safe and democratic again, it will not happen from the top down. It will happen because communities organise, align, and claim political space together.
This gathering is an invitation to do exactly that.
What we are working on: Community-Led Housing
Community-Led Housing (CLH) encompasses a wide range of citizen-driven models, including:
- Housing cooperatives and co-housing projects
- Ecovillages and intentional communities
- Community Land Trusts and commons-based initiatives
- Other local, experimental and grassroots housing practices
Despite their diversity, these initiatives share core principles:
- Long-term affordability and resistance to housing as a speculative asset
- Collective ownership or stewardship with democratic governance
- A strong commitment to social inclusion, solidarity and care
- A focus on climate resilience, low-impact living and sustainability
These are not marginal experiments, they are living laboratories for the housing systems Europe needs.
Logistics
Date and format
This is a full-day, in-person gathering taking place on 25 March at Avnø Oasis Ecovillage, Denmark. The core programme will run from 09:00 to 18:00.
An optional de-briefing session will take place on 26 March (09:00–10:00) for participants who are able to stay. This will be followed by a presentation and guided walking tour of our host site, Avnø Oasis, ecovillage and højskole (adult learning centre) on the Danish coast, from 10:00 to 11:30.
Arrival and departure
We recommend arriving in the afternoon of 24 March and departing on 26 March, to allow for informal exchanges and participation in the full programme. Participants based nearby are also welcome to join for the core gathering on 25 March only (09:00–18:00).
Travel, accommodation and funding
A limited number of funded places are available, prioritised for participants based in Northern Europe. For these participants, we can cover:
- Travel costs up to €200
- Accommodation and meals during the event
If you are able to cover your costs through your organisation or other means, we kindly encourage you to do so, in order to make funded places available to others.
Self-funded participants are very welcome to join and the costs for acccommodation in shared rooms and all meals (from dinner 24 March to breakfast 26 March) is 134€ per person (and 188€ in a single room).
Please note: from the afternoon of 26 March and throughout 27 March, the venue will host the ECOLISE General Assembly, which is open to ECOLISE members only. Participation in the General Assembly is separate from the regional gathering.
This event is co-funded by the EU CERV project CHOICE. Please make sure to register before 2 March if you are interested to join.
ECOLISE EVENTS
The registration form combines optional information for the ECOLISE General Assembly that takes place in the same week.