25 years IWO

A good reason to celebrate

Europe and the world are facing major and historic challenges – the most significant of which concern the mitigation of global warming and the protection of the climate. The European Commission’s Green Deal has drawn greater attention to the Eastern European region and to the significant need for action and the enormous potential for decarbonisation that exist there.

IWO has been dedicated to addressing precisely this need and potential since its foundation, with which the Federal Ministry of Construction recognised as early as 2001 the region’s significance in the areas of large-scale building renovation, improving energy efficiency and climate sustainability. Accordingly, the association’s founding purpose was to support the countries of Eastern Europe in the transformation of their housing and construction sectors.

A brief CV – key highlights from 25 years at IWO

22 November 2001

The non-profit association Housing Initiative for Eastern Europe (IWO e.V). was founded on the initiative and with the support of the then Federal Ministry of Building. Sub-department head Thomas Janicki, former association director Horst von Emmerich (ꝉ) and the managing director of KBE Fenstersysteme GmbH, Uwe Pieper, were among the eight founding members and thus played a key role in its establishment.

The association emerged from the initiative of the same name, which had been based within the German Association for Housing, Urban Development and Regional Planning (dv) – now a member of the IWO – since 1999.

The association, whose team initially consisted of Managing Director Knut Höller, moved into its offices on Karl-Liebknecht-Straße.

2001

IWO is preparing its first practical project and bringing it to fruition: in Riga, the first prefabricated apartment block with 72 flats is undergoing extensive energy-efficiency refurbishment since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development and the Riga City Council had previously initiated this project, and the establishment of IWO, together with the involvement of several founding members, then contributed significantly to the actual realisation of this first energy-efficiently renovated prefabricated block of flats in Eastern Europe.

Our members are our strength.

Since its inception, the number of IWO members has remained between 25 and 30.

The association is always keen to involve committed and interested members and their expertise in its projects.

 

2003

IWO’s first application under the Belarus funding programme has been successful: IWO will now implement the “Pilot Project for the Sustainable Energy-Efficient Renovation of Buildings”. Since this first project, IWO has been active in Belarus, carrying out projects designed to address specific needs for expertise and action in the country – often with the support of the funding programme and with the involvement of the association’s members.

2003

Even before the Baltic states joined the EU, IWO succeeded in stepping up its cooperation with the Baltic region as part of the Federal Environment Ministry’s International Environmental Innovation Programme: at the time, the programme provided funding for loans and interest rate subsidies for the energy-efficient refurbishment of apartment blocks in Latvia. Although the Latvian recipients did not fully utilise the available loan, a total of seven buildings were renovated to improve energy efficiency, following the model of the Riga pilot project.

This initiative led to IWO’s involvement in Jelgava, Latvia’s fourth-largest city, which continues to this day. The focus is on the municipal housing management company JNIP, which has been striving and working actively for many years to improve the energy efficiency of its building stock and, in the long term, to provide a range of affordable rental flats – a market that is barely developed, if at all, in Latvia as in most post-Soviet countries.

Team IWO

The IWO office usually has a staff of between 8 and 10 people. In addition, there are occasionally postgraduate students and interns. The working languages are Russian, English and German, depending on the nature and regional focus of the projects.

2006

IWO is part of two major multilateral Interreg projects in the Baltic Sea region. Many of today’s partnerships and collaborations with Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Belarus date back to this period and continue to be shaped by it.

From 2006 to 2008, IWO was the initiator and coordinator of the BEEN Baltic Energy Efficiency Network for the Housing Stock.

From 2009 to 2012, the association coordinated the Urb.Energy Energy-Efficient and Integrated Urban Development Action project and has since been increasingly involved in the field of sustainable urban and neighbourhood development.

2010

Ukraine has been added as a focus country. The initiative begins with a public-private partnership (PPP) project in the field of energy-efficient building renovation.

From 2015 onwards, IWO will operate in Ukraine as a partner of the German Energy Agency (dena): the “German-Ukrainian Energy-Efficient Buildings Pilot Project” primarily targets owners of large prefabricated apartment blocks and supports them in the comprehensive energy-efficient refurbishment of their buildings.

In the course of the project, the “Energy Efficiency Fund” will be developed and established in Ukraine by 2020 – with advice and recommendations from dena and IWO – and will be funded by state resources as well as financial support from the European Union and the German Federal Government.

2010

Establishment of the International Association for Property Management (IVIM) in Minsk. The idea and concept for this association stem from a previous IWO project within the Belarus support programme. IWO is a founding member and holds two seats on the board. It supported the association’s work on the professional training and further education of property managers, increasing renovation rates in its member countries (Belarus, Germany, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine) and the preparation and recommendation of appropriate legal frameworks until the association was dissolved in 2022. The network continues the professional exchange as the newly founded International Society of Real Estate Managers.

2015

Following collaboration on multilateral projects, funding from the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the Federal Environment Agency has created an opportunity to implement a bilateral project with Lithuania: selected neighbourhoods in three Lithuanian cities are developing plans for the implementation and financing of their respective neighbourhoods, based on the model of the German KfW programme ‘Energy-efficient Neighbourhood Renovation’. The Lithuanian Ministry of the Environment and the Lithuanian development bank ViPA are closely involved in the project.

2015

2015 marked the start of our collaboration with the Caucasus through the project ‘HOME – The way forward for reforms in the housing sector: empowering grassroots homeowners’ associations in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine’. Alongside Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, Georgia and Azerbaijan are further partner countries in the project, which focuses on the legacy of post-Soviet ownership structures and the associated challenges.

2017

In 2011 and 2012, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were added as focus countries as part of various funding projects.

Since then, IWO has been expanding bilateral cooperation and cooperation amongst the countries of Central Asia through project activities.

From 2017, with funding from the EU, IWO and its partners in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have been able to initiate the professionalisation of housing management in the two project countries and are implementing the Pro House project. From 2020, the results and approaches from this project will be used in the follow-up project PROMHOUSE to further establish the professional training and working methods of housing managers, thereby setting an important course for the urgently needed energy-efficient renovation of the building sector in both countries.

Hands-on projects

Ever since its very first project, IWO has strived not only to undertake consultancy projects, but also to implement practical, visible pilot and investment projects wherever possible.

2017

The launch of the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) by the Federal Ministry for the Environment in 2017 has paved the way for deeper German-Lithuanian cooperation in the field of neighbourhood regeneration. As part of the training project “Training of Neighbourhood Regeneration Managers in Lithuania”, relevant local authority staff from 22 towns and cities in Lithuania are receiving 18 months of training in integrated neighbourhood regeneration and are developing regeneration plans for selected neighbourhoods.

To this day, the exchange with our Lithuanian partners continues, and the project is being used as a model for new initiatives.

2018

As part of the Federal Foreign Office’s efforts to promote civil society cooperation, IWO is implementing its first bilateral project with Georgia: the training and further education of caretakers as a means of promoting employment and integration, whilst also aiming to improve energy efficiency in Georgia’s building stock, has since been supported by the Federal Foreign Office in subsequent projects.

Networking as a matter of course

From the very beginning, IWO has been involved in networks and initiatives that align with the objectives of its constitution and support its project work. Ever since the year it was founded, the exchange and collaboration with the Kompetenzzentrum Großsiedlungen e.V. has been a great asset. This was later complemented by membership of other German and international networks, such as EFL and Housing Europe.

2018

IWO is beginning to explore the topic of cooperatives as an approach for the Eastern European region at various levels. In 2018 and 2019, IWO co-organised two international cooperative symposia in Ukraine.

In 2019, Knut Höller is involved in an OECD study on the housing market in Latvia, which, among other things, also focuses on future approaches to affordable housing. During this period, IWO joins the project for the first cooperative under European law, “Living in Metropolises LiM SCE”, which is being driven forward by 1892 eG with the support of the industry network European Federation for Living (EFL), of which IWO is a member. In 2020, LiM, together with other German partners and IWO members, will become a partner in a DBU-funded project that is piloting the construction of a hybrid timber-frame apartment block and the letting of the flats therein according to the cooperative principle in Jelgava, Latvia. IWO will continue to focus more closely on the topic of cooperatives in the future in order to develop solutions for the diversification of the extensively privatised housing markets in Eastern Europe.

In Latvia, IWO has also been supporting the municipal housing management company JNIP since 2020 in applying for, and following approval, implementing a large loan from the EIB’s ELENA facility.

2020

Thanks to the EUKI calls for proposals, IWO is able to resume its cooperation with Polish partners and is participating for the first time in bilateral and trilateral projects with Poland. The EDINA project is modelled on the German-Lithuanian EUKI project “Training for neighbourhood regeneration managers in Lithuania” and addresses the need for energy-efficient refurbishment and revitalisation of neighbourhoods and so-called “Special Revitalisation Areas” in Poland.

Under the leadership of the Polish Energy Conservation Foundation and in collaboration with Riga Technical University, IWO is simultaneously implementing the EUKI project “CLI-MA”, in the course of which Polish specialists are being trained as “climate managers” – following the model of the eponymous training programme successfully piloted in Germany by the European Training Centre for the Housing and Real Estate Industry (EBZ) – an IWO board member company – and the Association of Property Managers in Germany (VDIV) – an IWO member company – have successfully piloted in Germany.

Board

The Board is a cornerstone of our association. It comprises 5–6 members from companies or associations active in the housing sector, in the fields of climate protection and energy efficiency, and in urban development. We owe our support and visibility to our Board and are proud to be backed by its members – who, in this way, attest to the relevance of our work.

2020

2020 – the year in which the coronavirus pandemic began, an event that has had a significant impact on our work and projects ever since. IWO has moved many of its activities online and has, at the very least, significantly reduced its carbon footprint – the trips we would normally make to our neighbours in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus have been cut to a minimum. Like many other organisations, the association’s project work thrives on personal encounters and contacts. Nevertheless, together with all those affected, we are navigating our way through the situation and can remain optimistic so far.

2021

As part of the Horizon 2020 project ‘ComAct’, IWO is working as a partner of Habitat for Humanity and within a consortium representing nine countries in Central, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe to combat energy poverty in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. This marks the first time that IWO’s geographical focus has extended to the South-Eastern European region, apart from individual events.

2022

In our 20th year and after 17 years at the IHZ on Friedrichstraße, IWO has moved to Alt-Moabit on the Spreebogen, right next door to Gewobag, with whom the association has long shared a number of common interests.

Even as the situation eases, the necessity of travel will certainly be weighed up more carefully in future – for the sake of the climate and because it has now been proven that some aspects of project collaboration work adequately online. Nevertheless, as we enter what will soon be the third year of the pandemic and, at the same time, our anniversary year, we look forward to meeting our members, partners and supporters more frequently in person and in person again.

2022

24 February 2022 – We can scarcely believe our eyes as we watch the images of Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine. We are stunned and deeply saddened. Many of the IWO’s valued, long-standing partners and friends live in Ukraine and, like the entire population there, are now in grave danger. From one day to the next, they find themselves facing the ruins of their cities and lives. The IWO team is doing everything in its power to help on the ground and to support refugees in Berlin and across Germany.

Stand with Ukraine | Слава Україні!

2022 | 2023

In light of Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, which is expected to continue for some time yet, we are initiating discussions with various stakeholders committed to peace and reconstruction in Ukraine, including NGOs, federal ministries, the UNDP and many others. The aim is to develop joint activities and projects to support and assist Ukraine, with a particular focus on housing and repairs, as well as future structural reforms in the housing sector.

2023

For the first time, IWO is launching a total of three new projects in collaboration with partners from Central, Eastern and Western Europe as part of the EU’s LIFE programme: COSME Reno, STREET HP Reno and ComActivate. The latter also builds on the Horizon project ComAct and develops and tests strategies to tackle existing or impending energy poverty among residents of multi-family housing in various project countries.

Our Ukraine team is being strengthened and IWO is launching its involvement in the UN4UkrainianCities programme with the UN4Kharkiv project. The aim of the project is to develop a strategy for the reconstruction and, in particular, the redevelopment of the housing sector in the city of Kharkiv, which lies in the immediate vicinity of the front line.

2024

The first project for IWO to focus on the German housing sector has been successfully completed. Led by IWO member VDIV, the EU-funded GREEN Home project explored strategic approaches and financing solutions aimed at increasing the low renovation rates among homeowners in Germany. IWO contributed international best practices to the discussions and the drafting of documents, and supported the project management.

Also funded by the EU, ENABLE is now launching: the focus is on strengthening the capacities of civil society organisations at local level in Kazakhstan. The “Green Deal”, with its focus on the energy modernisation of the housing stock – which urgently needs to be advanced in Kazakhstan – forms the thematic focus of the activities.

As part of the LIFE programme, the fourth project in which IWO is participating as a partner is launching: CETAC stands for Clean Energy Transition Assistance Centres. Five such centres are to be established and will contribute to the decarbonisation of cities through their work by being set up in the respective municipalities and acting as an interface between the local authorities and citizens and businesses (as well as other relevant stakeholders).

2025

Our work in and for Ukraine has now become one of the focal points of our activities. Whilst UN4Kharkiv is in its final stages and will be completed in 2025, activities are now getting underway in the SUR (Strengthening Urban Resilience) and FELICITY II Ukraine projects. Here, IWO is working closely with GIZ, focusing in particular on ensuring that the challenges and potential of the housing sector – which was already in dire need of reform even before the war of aggression – receive greater political attention, support and funding, especially as part of the efforts to rebuild the country.

2025

The sixth project in the ‘Master of My House’ series has now been successfully completed. The projects focus on opening up career prospects, particularly for young internally displaced persons in Georgia, and run training programmes for service-sector roles in property management (e.g. caretakers). The next project is already in the pipeline.

After three years, the conclusion of the Interreg BSR project RenoWave also marks a major success: the project strengthened cross-border cooperation in the Baltic Sea region to support local authorities and organisations in better managing the renovation of privately owned apartment blocks. The partners worked together to develop solutions, test various one-stop-shop (OSS) approaches and explore how residents can be supported through the long and complex renovation process.

2026

IWO has been operating for 25 years as a non-profit association dedicated to promoting professional exchange and cooperation within the housing sector between Germany and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. We bring together stakeholders from academia, the professional sector and politics, foster the transfer of knowledge, and support sustainable development in the housing and building sector.

This anniversary marks a quarter of a century of dedicated work, international networking and ongoing dialogue across national borders.

Here’s to the next 25 years!