RePOOL: Partners & city labs wanted for adaptive reuse of historic industrial buildings (CUE+PED, Topic #1)

THE CHALLENGE
Across many small and medium-sized European cities, historic industrial buildings stand empty for decades. The main barriers are rarely technical alone: fragmented ownership, protected-heritage status, uncertain permitting timelines and investment cases that never mature reinforce each other. Case-by-case approaches are slow, costly and risky for owners, authorities and investors.
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OUR IDEA: RePOOL**
RePOOL develops and tests a single, replicable reuse process at building-cluster / neighbourhood scale that combines:
- Pooling of use rights: coordinated agreements on use while owners keep ownership, with a governance model.
- Intervention catalogue: reusable technical sheets of architectural, structural, fire-safety and energy options compatible with heritage protection.
- Investment readiness: cost-benefit and risk methodology and standardised investment files, assessed with real financiers.
- Energy and circularity: energy upgrade scenarios, compatible renewables, shared energy solutions, material retention and embodied carbon.

The model is tested on real buildings through Urban Living Labs: in Xanthi (Greece), in the historic tobacco-warehouse district, and in 1-2 other European cities, using a common methodology and indicators. The result is not a theoretical study nor a restoration programme, but a validated toolkit, policy recommendations and real investment files.

CALL FIT
Cross-cutting Topic #1 "Adaptive reuse of existing urban structures and spaces".
-Main pathway Circular Urban Economies, with a Positive Energy Districts contribution.
-Innovation-Oriented Approach. Up to 36 months.

GREEK TEAM (in formation)
- Democritus University of Thrace, School of Architecture (proposed coordinator / Main Applicant): architecture, heritage, energy and environmental assessment.
- ACTINA (SME): business and financial model, investment readiness, owner and financier engagement, project management support.
- Municipality of Xanthi (cooperation partner): urban challenge owner, local Urban Living Lab.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
1-2 pilot city teams that mirror the Xanthi set-up:
- A municipality or urban authority with vacant or underused historic / industrial buildings and willingness to host an Urban Living Lab.
- A local university or research institute (architecture, planning, real estate, energy).
- A local implementation partner (SME, development agency or NGO).

Within the consortium we also need expertise in real-estate finance and valuation, property and planning law, and civil-society engagement (affordability, inclusion, displacement risk). These can come from the pilot teams. Partners must be eligible for funding by their national/regional DUT funding agency (Annex A). TIMING Pre-proposal deadline: 17 November 2026. We aim to agree roles, PICs and indicative budgets by 10 November.

Contact: kyriakidis@actina.gr
Georgios Kyriakidis (EU Proposals & Project Manager)