Institute for Structural Research and Czech Technical University in Prague on energy transition of housing cooperatives at Housing Forum 2023
October 13 2023
For the first time, we have presented the results of analyses of housing cooperatives based on registry data.
On October 2-3, 2023, the Housing Forum took place – an annual event organised by the Habitat for Humanity Poland Foundation with the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The two-day conference in Warsaw brought together a broad and diverse group of people interested in housing, from charitable organisations and academic institutions to representatives from all political parties. Jan Frankowski, Joanna Mazurkiewicz, and Aleksandra Prusak from IBS also participated in the Housing Forum.
On the second day of the Housing Forum, Jan Frankowski (IBS) and Wojciech Bełch (Czech Technical University in Prague) presented the first findings of administrative data analysis regarding housing cooperatives in Poland and the Czech Republic as part of the ENBLOC project, financed from the National Science Centre. The preliminary report titled ‘Housing cooperatives facing the energy transition. Insights from Poland and Czechia’ aimed to define the typology of entities, assess the support instruments for energy transition, and evaluate the resilience of various housing cooperatives to a crisis related to rising energy prices. This report will also serve as a starting point for fieldwork in housing cooperatives scheduled for 2024.
After the presentation of the report, a moderated discussion was held by Joanna Mazurkiewicz (IBS). In addition to the speakers, the panel also included Piotr Lis (Poznań University of Economics and Business), Besim Nebiu (Habitat for Humanity International), Magdalena Ośka (Imapp Consulting), and Hanna Milewska-Wilk (Institute for Urban and Regional Development). Hanna Milewska-Wilk highlighted methodological challenges in studying cooperatives related to various forms of ownership and the contextual factors influencing decision-making in these entities. Besim Nebiu discussed the specifics of housing cooperatives compared to the overall multifamily housing stock in Central and Eastern European countries. Magdalena Ośka commented on the alignment of the new EU support programme to the capacities and needs of housing cooperatives, while Piotr Lis discussed cooperative strategies concerning the preferences of young individuals regarding their apartment choices. The presentation by the Polish-Czech team and the subsequent discussion garnered insightful comments from the audience, including researchers, housing cooperative association members, local government officials, representatives from non-governmental organisations, energy auditors, and politicians.
* * *
The conference participation was financially supported by a grant from the National Science Centre, Poland, under the OPUS call in the Weave programme (2021/43/I/HS4/03185).
