HouseEurope! has won one of architecture’s highest global honours for 2025 - now its organisers are rallying Europeans to sign the European citizens’ initiative that could turn building renovation into EU law. Olaf Grawert is an architect and the organiser of the European citizens’ initiative HouseEurope! Power to Renovation which aims to make the renovation and reuse of existing buildings the preferred alternative to demolition and new construction, by establishing a “right to reuse” that supports climate goals, safeguards communities, and values existing resources. In this interview he talks about the motivation to launch an ECI, about the issue at hand and the changes the Initiative proposes, and shares insights about how the Initiative’s campaign is unfolding.
Olaf Grawert: There’s a personal story behind it: I am a part of a group of architects, sociologists, futurologists, and people interested in politics and the economy, and we are all frustrated with the current system, where housing and all the buildings around us are no longer for people, but only for generating profit. Buildings have become the most viable asset.
All of us - when we buy an apartment or build a house - we always think: is this also a good investment? This thinking of buildings and homes as financial products leads to the current situation, where buildings are demolished and rebuilt, rather than renovated and transformed. One has to understand that right now, building a new building is always faster, cheaper, and easier - so every developer and investor would demolish an existing building to build a new one, which always promises more profit.
Why a European citizens’ initiative is the right tool for HouseEurope!
We chose the European Citizens’ Initiative on purpose, and it was a longer decision-making process – we first asked ourselves whether to go for local, national initiatives, or choose a European one. We realised that our topic, like many others, doesn’t stop at national borders. It's about climate, and it’s about the European housing question. So we decided to act at the European level and ask the Commission to take action. Moreover, nationally or locally, many politicians are not in favour of difficult topics like this one – they are not the topics that you easily win an election with.
Check out some inspiring pictures and stories of old building transformation from across the EU
Our experience with the ECI so far has two sides. The pragmatic side – preparing the Initiative, registering it, learning the tool – is surprisingly easy. It's very well organised. People often think that EU processes are chaotic, but the ECI Forum and the ECI website are really well structured, so putting together and registering an ECI is not the challenge—it’s an administrative task and quite doable.
The more difficult part is writing a proper legal proposal. We worked with a lawyer specialised in European law to draft a proposal that could actually have impact. We're not just demanding to stop demolition—we’re trying to create incentives for change. You need legal expertise for this. Here is what we would like to change in European regulations:
- Introduce tax reductions for renovation work across the EU. Countries like Italy or France already do this—renovation in existing buildings is taxed less than new construction. For example, having a painter come to an existing building in Italy involves 12% less tax than in a new one. It’s a simple way to make renovation cheaper.
- Balance the risk/potential assessment. Currently, banks focus on the risks when assessing renovation projects. Engineers and architects compile long lists of potential risks, often based on speculation. We propose that banks also assess and list the potential of old buildings—because it's never considered. As a result, banks always choose to finance new buildings over old ones.
- Give a valuing to embodied energy. Buildings “store” a lot of energy and CO2 used during the construction process. When you demolish them, all that embodied energy is wasted—and more energy is needed to build anew. That’s double the harm. If we give a value to the energy already in a building, there’s an incentive to preserve it.
- Support subsidies for renovation. Right now, most subsidies are for new housing—especially on greenfield land. There are few, if any, subsidies for renovating existing buildings. That needs to change.
See the full Initiative proposal here
How HouseEurope! plans to reach one million signatures across the European Union
The biggest challenge, of course, is collecting signatures. Technically, the process is simple—you go to the website and fill in your data—but activating a million people is hard. Today, we get annoyed even when we have to enter a password on our phones —we want everything to work via face scan, so even filling in a simple form feels like an effort.
Our strategy for this is to build an informed audience—people who understand and support the cause. Strategists told us there are two ways: "fish" for signatures from people who don’t really understand the topic or build awareness and real support. We chose the second. We aim to create a network of ambassadors—people who will talk about the initiative and help us gather support. If we had 3,000 ambassadors collecting one signature a day, we’d reach a million in a year.
For us, as an initiative from the building industry, it was obvious to activate our own network first. Very early on we convinced famous architects to become ambassadors. That gave the initiative weight—suddenly, others were willing to talk to us. Their networks, their newsletters—these are trusted sources. That trust transfers to us. So if they send out a call to action, their audience is likely to follow through.
We have a decentralised campaign structure, and we rely on partners to act independently. It’s hard to run a pan-European campaign centrally. Each country sees the topic differently. In Austria, legislation is already close to our proposals, so the support is strong. In France, even with similar laws, the culture is more protest-oriented, and you still must rally against demolition.
We provide materials, but we ask local partners to bring in their stories and narratives. We have 10 main countries, abut we have partners in all 27 countries, and we have divided them among the team. Each of us manages three to five countries via email, WhatsApp, and Telegram.
Something we learned is about timing. We took two years to prepare, because our topic lacked awareness. We even made a documentary to explain it.
In retrospect, we maybe could have launched earlier. Sometimes, it’s better to start sooner. Waiting two years risks losing momentum. People will ask where to sign, and you’ll have to say, “not yet.” That can waste energy.
My piece of advice to future organisers: If you do spend time preparing, make sure to collect contact info early—newsletters, emails, whatever. Because you’ll need to re-engage those people when the time comes.
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Watch Olaf Grawert in the video “Building support coalitions: tips from ECI insiders”
The opinions expressed on the ECI Forum reflect solely the point of view of their authors and can in no way be taken to reflect the position of the European Commission or of the European Union.
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