What does housing have to do with peace?
Each year, the International Day of Cooperatives celebrates the contribution of cooperatives to tackling global challenges.
This year’s theme, “Cooperatives for a Peaceful World”, recognises that peace is built not only through diplomacy, but also through strong institutions, participation, inclusion and trust.
At first glance, housing may not be the sector most closely associated with peace.
Yet adequate housing is one of the foundations of stable communities. A secure home creates the conditions for participation, social cohesion and long-term investment in neighbourhoods. Housing cooperatives go one step further by giving residents a direct voice in the decisions that shape where they live.
As the cooperative movement highlights in its SDG 16 Brief, cooperatives act as “schools of democracy”, strengthening participation, accountability and inclusion through everyday practice.
Housing Europe and Cooperative Housing International (CHI) work closely together to promote and strengthen cooperative housing in Europe and globally. This year’s International Day of Cooperatives provides an opportunity to highlight the contribution of housing cooperatives across our network.
Below, discover how housing cooperatives are putting these values into practice.
🇪🇸 Spain | Protocol against Gender-Based and LGBTIQ-Phobic Violence
Safe participation starts at home
Building peaceful communities means ensuring that everyone can participate safely.
Sostre Cívic has developed a Plan and Protocol for the prevention and response to gender-based and LGBTIQ-phobic violence, applying it both in the workplace and across its right-of-use cooperative housing communities. The protocol combines prevention, detection and response measures with dedicated governance structures, including a Protocol Committee, designated reference persons, and care and coexistence committees within individual housing communities.
By embedding a feminist and LGBTIQ+ perspective into everyday governance, residents are better equipped to prevent conflicts, recognise situations of violence and respond collectively, respectfully and restoratively. In a cooperative housing model, where residents actively build and manage their communities together, creating safe and inclusive spaces is an essential part of democratic participation.
Safe, democratic communities are built when everyone can participate, be heard and feel respected.
🇦🇹 Austria | Diversity in Housing
Creating spaces for dialogue
Strong communities are built through everyday interactions.
Through its “Diversity in Housing” project in Gratwein, the Styrian initiative zusammen>wohnen< demonstrates how thoughtful design and community facilitation can help transform anonymous housing complexes into welcoming neighbourhoods. Rather than waiting for conflicts to emerge, the project promotes proactive communication and structured dialogue from the very beginning.
Community gardens provide shared spaces where neighbours of different ages and backgrounds meet, collaborate and take collective responsibility for their surroundings. These informal encounters help reduce anonymity, strengthen trust and create the conditions for long-term community cohesion.
Communities flourish when neighbours have opportunities to meet, listen and shape the places they share together.
🇩🇰 Denmark | Private cooperative housing in Copenhagen is working together to make their local area greener
Greening neighbourhoods together
Sometimes community starts with planting a flower.
On Fensmarkgade in Copenhagen, eleven private cooperative housing associations joined residents, student housing and local partners to create the Green Street initiative. Together, they are transforming their street into a greener, more biodiverse and more welcoming place.
Residents of all ages help build bird boxes, create flower beds, paint signs and take part in neighbourhood events, including the annual street festival. These activities not only improve the local environment but also create opportunities for people to meet, exchange ideas and shape the future of their neighbourhood together.
Greening a street is also about growing a community—one where shared action creates stronger connections between neighbours.
🇸🇪 Sweden | Door Openers
Tackling loneliness, one neighbour at a time
Building peaceful communities also means ensuring that no one feels alone.
With 41% of Swedish households made up of people living alone, HSB Norr launched the Door Openers initiative to encourage small everyday actions that strengthen social connection and reduce loneliness.
Holding the door open for a neighbour, inviting someone into your home or simply being open to new people and perspectives may seem like small gestures, but together they help create a stronger sense of belonging. Through an inspiration platform for housing associations and property owners, HSB Norr is encouraging residents across Sweden to become “Door Openers” and help build more connected communities.
Sometimes the first step towards a stronger community is as simple as opening a door for someone else.
Watch this space, more stories might come!
Is your organisation marking the International Day of Cooperatives? Share your activities on social media using #CoopsDay2026, #Coops4Peace and #HousingCooperatives, and don’t forget to tag Housing Europe and Cooperative Housing International. We’d love to amplify your stories.
Explore more:
- 🌍 Official International Day of Cooperatives campaign – Learn more about this year’s theme, Cooperatives for a Peaceful World, and discover resources from the International Cooperative Alliance.
- 🎥 Building Peace Through Cooperative Housing: Webinar on The Law on Cooperative Housing – Discover how cooperative housing can strengthen democratic governance, social cohesion and human rights through the International Legal Research and Action Initiative (ILRAI). Watch the recording here.