The first European Action Week: what happened, what remains, what’s next
The first European Action Week brought together initiatives and communities across around 15 countries for more than 50 actions over nine days in September 2026, showcasing diverse approaches to a socially and ecologically just building transition and laying the groundwork for an even bigger Action Week in 2027.
From Athens to Helsinki, from Lisbon to Tbilisi: for nine days in September, people across Europe came together around a shared question:
How can we save the future we already have?
During the first European Action Week, initiatives, collectives, activists, architects, planners, artists, researchers, neighbourhood groups and many others opened doors, occupied public spaces, organised walks and workshops, screened films, built things, mapped neighbourhoods, discussed, protested, experimented and celebrated.
Across around 15 countries, more than 75 actors with almost 100 actions showed just how many different forms a socially and ecologically just transformation of our built environment can take.
In the Netherlands, construction workers repeatedly built and demolished the same structures in public space, drawing attention to a system in which existing buildings are still routinely torn down. In Tbilisi, participants came together to discuss threatened courtyards and the future of urban commons. In Lisbon, a participatory walk explored mobility, ageing and the right to the city through the experiences of older women. And in Ivenack, people spent six days learning and building together on an Earthship made from earth, used tyres and recycled glass.
Across many other places, people reclaimed parking spaces, explored alternatives to demolition, experimented with natural building materials, discussed collective ownership and housing, mapped neighbourhoods and imagined different futures for their cities.
None of this would have happened without the people who organised events, opened spaces, shared knowledge, travelled, translated, documented, connected people, joined discussions, took part in workshops, walked through their cities with new eyes – or simply showed up. A huge thank you to everyone who made the week what it was.
The Action Week itself grew out of the European Network for a Just Building Transition and the encounters, conversations and collaborations that have developed through three European Assemblies and transnational working groups since 2025.
And while the first round is over, there is still plenty to discover. We are now bringing together the photographs, reflections, videos, texts, publications and other materials created through actions across Europe.
The growing Action Week Outputs collection already features dozens of contributions – from children’s visions for Berlin’s waterfront and alternative urban plans in Finland to circular furniture workshops, performances against demolition and documentation from events across Europe.
Explore the European Action Week and its outputs at actionweek.eu
In 2027, we want to do it again. With more initiatives, more places and even more people across Europe.
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