News & Events

An eventful year: Looking back and beyond in the UN4Kharkiv project

While the UN4Kharkiv-funded project “Municipal housing in Kharkiv: affordable rental models for housing recovery in Ukraine” is drawing to a close, we are looking back at quite a range of events that were key to raising awareness and support for the cause and goals of the project and highlighting challenges and opportunities.

As project coordinators, IWO was invited to contribute the preconference “Unlocking Opportunities, Creating Momentum: Transformative Urban Reconstruction in Ukraine” of the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 in Berlin: On 7 March, our colleagues organised the workshop “New Models of Housing for Ukraine” jointly with the German and Ukrainian project partners. Here, Axel Gedaschko, president of GdW and member of IWO’s board, as well as Ukrainian experts reflected and discussed the topic of housing in Ukraine and the specific situation in and approaches for Kharkiv. Results and reports of the preconference are available online at the website of the responsible Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB).

At the URC itself, the project consortium organised a side event on 10 June. Dedicated information can be found here.

IWO colleagues also participated at the annual Lviv Urban Forum on 27 and 28 June. IWO’s general manager Knut Höller, project manager Yuliia Popova and project expert Pavlo Fedoriv all were invited to speak and contribute information about the Kharkiv case and approach and contribute at panel discussions on “Affordable Housing” and “Combining Development with Social Resilience” during the conference. A focus was cast on sustainable European models of affordable housing and discussing their applicability for housing recovery in Ukraine.

In September, Knut Höller travelled to Tallinn to speak at the 11th Baltic Housing Conference organised by EKYL, the Estonian Union of Co-operative Housing Associations. Along with Thamara Monteiro De Arruda Fortes, Programme Management Officer, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and Serhii Komnatnyi, Regional Consultant of the UNECE and Honorary President of NGO Housing Ukraine, he represented the project in the panel “Rebuilding Ukraine - solutions for the renovation of multi-apartment building”, which focused on the lessons learned so far concerning housing renovation in Ukraine and the next urgent steps to take in the near future. With the help of the project consortium, an exhibition was presented during the conference on “Housing recovery in Ukraine: Visions for renovation of multi-apartment buildings in Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Zhytomyr.” The topic and benefit of serial refurbishment with prefabricated elements was highlighted in this context. More information on the conference is compiled here and at the UN4UkrainianCities-website.

On 2 October, Knut Höller was invited to participate and share experiences and insights from the project at “The Workshop on housing affordability Economic Commission for Europe, Committee on Urban Development, Housing and Land Management - Eighty-fifth session” in Geneva. His presentation in the session on housing affordability is available online at the UNECE’s website.

Yuliia Popova traveled to the World Urban Forum in Cairo the following month - On 5 November, she participated and spoke at the Forum’s “Ukraine Path to Recovery, Economic Growth and Housing Reformation in Kharkiv and Mykolaiv” event. It was organised by UNECE during the UN4UkrainianCities project to share the progress on urban reconstruction and economic recovery initiatives in Ukraine. IWO contributed by sharing its perspective on using the momentum to institutionally transform the housing sector of Ukraine, utilizing the experience of immediate solutions to ensure long-term sustainable development. The spatial interconnectedness of municipal housing proposals with the Kharkiv Master Plan and, particularly, the science district in Kharkiv, were pointed out.

Not directly connected to the project but reflecting our efforts around supporting Ukraine in reconstruction and reforming activities, two events were attended by IWO representatives, to engage partners, supporters and important stakeholders in Germany and raise awareness for the cause:

7. Informationsveranstaltung – Netzwerkstelle Städtepartnerschaften

Fachveranstaltung "Wohnungswirtschaft im Wandel"

The “Municipal housing in Kharkiv: affordable rental models for housing recovery in Ukraine” project will end in December, but its results, learnings and preparations for improving the housing situation in Kharkiv and other Ukrainian cities will be followed-up in future activities. The comprehensive project activities laid ground for continuing the work and efforts for the cause. We will not tire and look forward to keeping at it to make a difference.