On 11 June 2026, during the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW), the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE) hosted the public seminar “Delivering Affordable and Climate-Resilient Housing for All”.

The event brought together architects, policymakers, and stakeholders from across the built environment sector to discuss how architecture can contribute to a more sustainable, affordable, and resilient housing future in Europe.

Against the backdrop of key EU initiatives, including the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the forthcoming Affordable Housing Plan, participants explored the essential role of architecture and urban design in shaping inclusive communities that respond effectively to climate and social challenges.

The seminar showcased innovative housing approaches from across Europe and examined how EU policies and regulatory frameworks can better support high-quality, climate-responsive design. Discussions highlighted the importance of strengthening the connection between policy and practice to ensure that future housing solutions are both affordable and sustainable.

Through the exchange of expertise and perspectives, the event contributed to the ongoing European debate on how to deliver housing that meets the needs of citizens while advancing the EU’s climate and social objectives.

Connecting policy and practice

Opening the ACE Policy Seminar “Architecture for Europe’s Housing Future: Beautiful, Affordable, Resilient”, předseda ACE Daniel Fügenschuh stressed that Europe stands at a pivotal moment for its built environment.

The challenges of housing affordability, climate change and social cohesion are significant, but so too is Europe’s capacity to respond through collaboration, innovation and design quality.

He reaffirmed ACE’s commitment to ensuring that European legislation and regulatory frameworks support high-quality architecture and sustainable development.

“Architecture is about people, communities, climate and biodiversity.”

Daniel highlighted how initiatives such as the New European Bauhaus Lab on Affordable Housing are helping bridge policy and practice by collecting and scaling real-life examples of affordable, sustainable and high-quality housing solutions.

Greta Tresserra Co-Chair of the ACE Sustainable Architecture Work Group, reflected on the opportunities presented by the upcoming EU Affordable Housing Plan, stressing that Europe does not need to reinvent solutions. Many successful examples already exist across cities and regions, demonstrating how affordability, sustainability and quality architecture can be delivered simultaneously.

Referring to the Bon Pastor / “Bombeta” housing project in Barcelona as a source of inspiration, she highlighted how well-designed, community-oriented housing developments can provide practical lessons for future European initiatives. Her message was clear: the challenge is no longer identifying good practices, but creating the conditions, financing mechanisms and policy frameworks needed to replicate and scale them across Europe.

Learning from innovation across Europe

The ACE Policy Seminar showcased four complementary perspectives on how architecture can contribute to Europe’s green and social transitions.

Participants explored:

WikiHousing Barcelona, presented by Luca Volpi (Societat Orgànica), demonstrating how circular construction, timber systems and open-source methodologies can support affordable housing. The project demonstrates how collaborative approaches to design and construction can build the skills needed to rapidly deliver affordable and sustainable housing in Europe. Participation as a driver of housing quality.

Community-led housing approaches. Mellis Haward shared community-led housing projects where future residents actively participate in developing their homes.

These approaches highlight how greater agency  can improve quality of life, strengthen social cohesion, while significantly reducing capital and whole life costs.

Climate adaptation and overheating, presented by Niki Gaitani demonstrated the benefits of architectural design in realising climate positive and circular communities. She emphasised the need to move beyond operational energy performance towards lifecycle-based approaches in building policy and planning.

Representing the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the need to integrate climate resilience into housing and renovation policy alongside energy performance. He demonstrated through an example in Milan how passive measures can keep buildings at comfortable temperatures even during heat waves and cold spells.

From projects to policy: aligning practice with EU frameworks

The subsequent discussion, facilitated by Gearóid Carvill, Co-chair of the ACE Sustainable Architecture Work Group, highlighted ways to overcome common barriers to scaling such approaches, including fragmented governance, regulatory complexity and limited alignment between policy objectives and implementation. The discussions highlighted solutions directly enabled by ongoing European policy developments, including the implementation of the EPBD, national renovation strategies, and the New European Bauhaus framework.

Reflections from Judit Kimpian: policy and legislative levers for an NEB transformation

Reflecting on the seminar, Judit Kimpian, Member of the ACE Executive Board and Coordinator of the ACE Achieving Quality in the Built Environment Thematic Area, framed the discussion around a central question:What are the legislative and policy levers that can deliver a New European Bauhaus–empowered transformation of the built environment? ACE research has repeatedly found that outstanding projects are enabled by clients with the vision and expertise alongside financial incentives for innovation. Evidencing the value of architectural quality will therefore be a key lever for the broad cultural implementation of New European Bauhaus principles.

In the context of meeting the affordable housing challenge head on, priority should be given to better use of existing buildings, where housing is most needed. Reusing and repurposing buildings must become easier and anchor developments should facilitate the creation of local energy communities and public realm regeneration.

Deep renovation should be prioritised for buildings in the poorest condition, where environmental and social gains are greatest. For the remainder of the stock, lighter renovation measures and services upgrades may be more appropriate and resource-efficient.

Finally, she underlined that delivering this transition cannot be achieved in isolation. It requires stronger collaboration between architects, policymakers, researchers, NGOs and civil society, building on ACE’s ongoing research and partnerships to support implementation of NEB principles in practice.

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