The Green European Foundation invites economic operators to submit a tender for the procurement of political action research and dissemination in the framework of GEF’s work on Green and progressive housing strategies in Europe.
## About the Green European Foundation
The Green European Foundation (GEF) is a European-level political foundation funded by the European Parliament. GEF is affiliated to but independent from the European Green Party and Green movement in Europe. Our mission is to encourage European citizens to participate in European political discussions and in particular when it comes to envisioning what a Green Europe would look like. As a forum for cooperation at the European level, we work closely with our national member foundations and thereby aim to strengthen the Green political movement and green ideas in Europe.
## About our Work on Housing, Participation and the Energy Transition
Housing is at the core of multiple Europe-wide challenges: social inequality and living with dignity, accelerating climate goals and building decarbonisation, and democratic governance of public and common resources. GEF’s recent work on boosting participation in the energy transition foregrounds systemic resilience of housing in Europe, people-centred approaches to renovation and renewable heating/cooling, emphasising that climate action in the building sector goes hand in hand with social fairness and democratic values. The aim of this tender is to translate these cross-cutting priorities into a political and practical action research project that combines policy analysis, city-level case studies and wide dissemination targeted at policymakers, city authorities, civil society and the Green movement. This work moreover fits within the wider focus of GEF on the nexus of ecological and social issues, and on a European wellbeing economy.
## Purpose and Mission of Tender
The European housing crisis – characterised by rising housing costs, shortages of affordable and secure housing, and an urgent need to decarbonise the building stock – requires a joined-up response that places sustainability, resilience, inclusivity and democratic governance at its heart. Housing costs are among the most significant drivers of the wider affordability crisis.
This housing crisis is now recognised as a key political priority at the local, national and EU levels. In December 2025, the European Commission put forward its European Affordable Housing Plan based on four pillars (“boosting supply”, “mobilising investment”, “enabling immediate support while driving reforms”, “supporting the most affected” based on forthcoming legislation (notably, the Affordable Housing Act) and initiatives. In February 2026, the European Parliament adopted an own-initiative report on the housing crisis.
Recent work by Eurocities (2025) – Housing for the Common Good: Rooting European Efforts in Local Approaches stresses that housing policies must be grounded in local realities and participatory governance. Cities are at the forefront of experimentation with housing innovations, including cooperative housing models, public–private partnerships, and inclusive urban planning. Local governments play a decisive role in implementing EU frameworks but face systemic barriers such as fragmented financing, lack of long-term investment, and insufficient citizen engagement.
The Green European Foundation and Heinrich Boell Stiftung (2024) policy brief – Renovation and Renewable Heating and Cooling: Boosting Participation highlights the climate and energy dimension of housing. Achieving EU climate neutrality targets by 2050 requires a massive scale-up of building renovation and the integration of renewable heating and cooling systems. However, without robust citizen participation and mechanisms to prevent energy poverty, these efforts risk missing the opportunity to simultaneously tackle social inequalities. The report emphasises participatory approaches that empower residents to co-design renovation strategies and influence decision-making processes.
The work of Housing Europe, the European Federation of Public, Cooperative and Social Housing, further underlines the scale of the crisis: over 25 million Europeans are overburdened by housing costs, and millions face inadequate or insecure living conditions. Housing Europe advocates for systemic reform that combines affordability with sustainability, promoting long-term investment in resilient housing stock while ensuring social justice.
Similarly, House Europe, a citizens’ initiative, is mobilising public opinion and action to demand that the European Union treat housing as a common good. Their advocacy connects democratic engagement with large-scale housing transformation, showing how direct citizen initiatives can shape EU policy.
Finally, the Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE) has demonstrated how the building sector can act as a driver of both environmental and social progress. BPIE’s analysis shows that scaling up energy-efficient and climate-resilient buildings reduces emissions, creates jobs, and improves health and well-being, but it requires governance frameworks that prioritise inclusivity and participation alongside technical innovation.
Taken together, these resources converge on a central insight: housing policies and strategies require governance models that are democratic, inclusive, and both environmentally and socially grounded, with respect to planetary boundaries. This project responds to that call by seeking to identify pathways for housing systems in Europe that are climate-resilient, democratic and socially just, not just in the sense of how housing is delivered, but with a greater focus on what housing is delivered and for whom. It seeks to do this in the context of the policy and political debate over housing policy and politics at the European and national level.
This tender seeks an economic operator (organisation or consortium) to undertake political action research on behalf of GEF that takes a holistic and transformative approach to these challenges, one rooted in wellbeing, rights and systemic resilience.
[**Click here to view the full tender**](https://gef.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Housing-Tender_April-2026.pdf)
