Recap Nordic project pilot course
THE COURSE IS NOW COMPLETED AND CERTIFICATIONS ARE BEING CARRIED OUT, HERE COMES A SHORT RECAP ON THE COURSE
Cooperative construction and various forms of housing with extended neighborhood communities have great potential to become significantly more common – also in Sweden and the Nordic countries. With the help of Erasmus+ and our sister organizations in the Nordic countries, we have implemented our course in a new, twice as large format. Process management, law, construction project implementation, financing and much more.
About the course
The course is co- founded by the European Union through ERASMUS+.
The course is aimed for professionals who want to work with coboilding and cohousing communities as project pilots or at a municipality, bank, construction or consulting company.
The training was divided in three modules 3+2+3 days in Sweden and Norway.
In addition, two further individual days were held in Finland and Denmark respectively on special nationally oriented topics.
Examples from the basic program:
Groups: processes, decisions and conflict management. The group as a client. How is a group created? Sociocracy as a way of making joint decisions.
Basic real estate economics
Associationforms in a national and international perspective
Contract law: membership agreement as the core of the project, consulting agreements, construction agreements
Municipal processes: detailed plans, building permits, land allocations, land leases
The real estate market: transfers, leases, rules around agricultural properties
Consulting and construction procurement, project planning, time and cost management
Housing financing: bank loans, collateral, "dormant capital", crowdfunding, state and municipal support systems
Local days in Finland and Denmark
The courses included individual days in both Denmark and Finland, for those participarting from these countries. In the Danish session the event was opened up for other interested in the subject also.
Denmark:
The Danish session focused on key national elements supporting co-housing projects. The Social and Housing Agency’s Guidance Unit (Vejledningsenheden) presented how they assist communities in navigating legal and financial challenges, emphasizing the need for expert guidance. A panel discussion with experienced Danish consultants explored lessons learned and different approaches to specialization in the field, highlighting the growing demand for professional advisory networks.
Legal aspects were also in focus, with attorney Helena Reumert Gjerding outlining common pitfalls and the importance of seeking specialized legal advice at crucial stages. The session further introduced Spectacular Communities—Spectacular Solutions, a Danish project aiming to inspire new ways of thinking about co-housing and innovative co-creation models.
The day combined professional insights with practical learning. A visit to Bofællesskabet Lange Eng provided a first-hand look at how a well-established co-housing community has developed over 16 years, while the trip to Ovalen, a newly built senior co-housing project by KAB, offered perspectives on integrating co-housing principles in a social-housing context. Meeting residents and learning about the development process illustrated how important good facilitation and support are in making these communities work.
Finland:
The local day for the Finnish participants was esteemed useful and necessary as the circumstances for co-building in Finland are unique in comparison to other Nordic countries. Finland has special legislation guiding these projects and future Project Leaders need to be familiar with the implications of this legislation. As the Finnish participants were already very knowledgeable and familiar with these types of projects, the contents of the national education day were designed to suit their specific needs and issues. They were encouraged to prepare questions to the educator in advance and then these questions were discussed in depth, in a seminary setting. The discussion was enhanced by the fact that as only Finnish students were participating, it could be conducted in the Finnish language, using specific terminology.
The official education hours were followed by an event open to all members of the Finnish co-building association (Ryhmärakennuttajat ry), where the educator Aki Rosén shared his remarks on the contents of a co-building contract stipulated by the law.
Evaluation and conclusions after the course implementation
There have been 12 participants who took the entire course (7 Sweden, 2 Norway, 2 Finland, 1 Iceland)
We aimed for more participants and a greater spread between the countries, but the course was possible to implement and the participants were satisfied with the course content. All course elements and lectures were considered relevant and the schedule for the different course days was intensive. As potential for improvement, more tasks/workshops/homework were suggested in favour of pure lectures. It also became clear that an additional module on community building as practiced in Denmark is important and has great potential to be a joint Nordic education. However, the conclusion was that course elements regarding contract law, legislation and forms of association should be national courses as there are too many differences in legislation and needs between the Nordic countries. In its form, the course has undergone a major development through this project, both in quality and number of subjects (for example, the theme of recycling and everything related to cohousing has been added through our Nordic partners).
Upcoming activities
The first couple of certifications for those who have completed one of the project pilot training courses between 2020 and 2024 will be carried out within the framework of this project.
For the future, a one-day course is planned for politicians, civil servants and people who need to have basic knowledge about cobuilding and co housing projects.
Some of our Nordic partners have also identified the need for a shorter training course or study circle for private individuals similar to the one available in Sweden via Coompanion/Folkhögskolan, which the Swedish Association for Building Communities is involved in. There are also plans for a joint Nordic additional module for project pilots in community building for 2026 and a new edition of Nordic project pilot training in 2026 where we incorporate lessons learned from this course.
