The housing-energy nexus
1 in 10 Europeans experiences housing conditions that fall under the concept of energy poverty, meaning they are unable to adequately heat their homes in winter, or keep cool summer. At the same time, housing costs continue to rise: between 2010 and 2024, housing prices increased by 53%, while rental prices increased by 25%, placing increasing pressure on vulnerable households.
Addressing energy poverty requires solutions that connect housing policy, energy systems, and social protection. Across Europe, cities, communities, and local organisations are already testing practical responses under PREFIGURE — from new models for community energy to initiatives aimed at improving energy efficiency and reducing household energy costs. PREFIGURE’s Prototypes of Change present 16 innovative real-life responses to the issue of energy-housing precarity across 8 countries: Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Find out more about them in Sofia!
corner <Science> to meet you! in Thessaloniki
Following its debut at KIT Science Week in October 2025, and its first stop in Sofia earlier in April 2026, the corner <Science> to meet you! installation will arrive in Thessaloniki from 24 to 29 April, located in front of Konstantinos Karamanlis Statue by the waterfront (next to the White Tower). Built from two repurposed office containers, corner is a vibrant space which serves as a venue for discussion, workshops, and public engagement around climate, energy, and housing challenges.
Public and students will engage with immersive installations on housing and energy crisis, join walking tours of the historical city and have the opportunity to be part of public discussions with key housing stakeholders including the prototype of Housing Thessaloniki. Additional activities will include:
- Interactive mapping;
- Video installations
- Policy focus groups
- Gendered inequalities focus groups
- Energy vulnerability & climate change workshops
- Open discussion on the housing and energy nexus & scaling “Housing Thessaloniki”
- Student discussions
All visitors are welcome!
The tour
The exhibition is curated by the Institute for Regional Science at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and is part of a European tour that will continue to:
- 13-14 May | Barcelona, Spain
- 2-4 June | Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 11-13 June| Copenhagen, Denmark
- 23-28 June | Karlsruhe, Germany
- TBD: September | Tallinn, Estonia
©Laura Bosch