Promoting Social Innovation in Building Renovation

Submitted by admin on 30 March 2026
Date
2025-12-03

Promoting Social Innovation in Building Renovation

Just a Change’s Community-Centered Models

In Portugal, 6% of the population continues to live in conditions of housing poverty (INE, 2023) - situations where inadequate infrastructure, poor salubrity, lack of comfort, and unsafe hygiene are daily realities. Housing is one of the four pillars of the poverty index, alongside health, education, and employability. In 2023, 19.7% of the resident population was at risk of poverty or social exclusion (INE, 2024), and Portugal remains among the European countries with the highest share of residents unable to adequately heat their homes (INE, 2023). These indicators reveal the structural and persistent nature of housing deprivation and its profound consequences for human dignity and social well-being.

Just a Change is a Portuguese non-profit organization created with the mission of ending housing poverty in Portugal. Our work demonstrates that renovating a home can rebuild a life. By improving structural safety, comfort, health, well-being, and self-esteem, home renovation becomes a lever for social transformation. Over the past 14 years, we have developed and refined a methodology based on intersectoral mobilization that brings together civil society, companies, municipalities, universities, and local communities to improve the quality of life of the most vulnerable households.

A Community-Centered Social Innovation Model

Just a Change’s approach represents a form of social innovation, transforming the renovation of degraded homes into a community-driven process. Unlike traditional renovation programs focused primarily on technical intervention or housing stock, our model combines reconstruction with social activation, community empowerment, and capacity-building.

Our methodology is structured around four pillars - Map, Mobilize, Renovate, and Follow-Up - and is designed to be systemic, collaborative, and deeply people-centered. We prioritize homes that have deteriorated due to a combination of structural deficiencies, lack of financial resources, absence of adequate maintenance, or landlord disinterest, particularly in the context of outdated rental agreements with very low rents. At the same time, we address the social isolation and vulnerability of residents, who often face barriers in accessing existing social services due to limitations of capacity or expertise.

What makes this model innovative is the way it mobilizes multiple sectors working together toward a single mission: rebuilding lives through housing. Each stakeholder contributes unique resources - technical knowledge, funding, volunteer labor, materials, and social support - creating a collaborative ecosystem that produces sustainable and high-impact outcomes.

Young Mobilizers as Drivers of Social Change

One of the most distinctive and innovative dimensions of our model is the mobilization of young citizens, particularly university students. Each summer, hundreds of young volunteers dedicate 15 days to renovating homes of people living in housing poverty. Guided by our team and trained technicians, they acquire new skills, learn teamwork, and develop a sense of civic responsibility.

These young people approach the construction work not as a task, but as a mission. Their presence brings energy, hope, and human connection to the households they serve. They build friendships, reduce social isolation, and strengthen community ties - effects that endure long after the renovation is completed. Because housing poverty is often invisible or overlooked, engaging university students is a way of mobilizing future leaders across business, politics, education, and civil society, placing the issue firmly on the public agenda.

Community Participation and Social Impact

Our community-centered model recognizes that residents and local stakeholders are not passive beneficiaries but active participants. Through collaborative planning, direct engagement, and informal neighborhood involvement, the renovation process becomes a catalyst for rebuilding trust, reinforcing community identity, and restoring a sense of belonging. This inclusive approach not only improves housing conditions but also strengthens social networks, empowering residents to reconnect with their communities.

Testing Innovation Through FORTESIE

The FORTESIE project offered an opportunity to integrate and test new technologies alongside our social methodology. By renovating 10 homes, we supported 10 different households - from families to older individuals living alone. The transformation of their homes gave them a safe, healthy, and dignified place they can now call home. At the same time, volunteer participation fostered new connections and significantly reduced social isolation, demonstrating the added social value of our approach when combined with technological and structural improvements.

A Scalable and Replicable Model for Europe

The Just a Change experience shows that building renovation can act as a platform for social innovation, not merely a technical intervention. Our model is scalable, having expanded across multiple regions of Portugal, and it holds strong potential for replication in other European contexts. By combining physical renovation with social activation and intersectoral collaboration, we offer a blueprint for renovation strategies aligned with Europe’s goals for social inclusion, energy resilience, and just transitions.

By placing people and communities at the center of renovation, Just a Change demonstrates that ending housing poverty requires more than repairing walls - it requires rebuilding relationships, restoring dignity, and activating society itself.

References

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Just a Change