Towards Housing Justice and Solidarity between Maribor and its Twin City Kharkiv, Ukraine

EPEKA Association, Social Enterprise is within the framework of the European project Building Our Future Together organizing a three-day international meeting between Maribor and Kharkiv, taking place in Maribor from 21 to 23 October 2026.

The project brings together citizens of Maribor and Kharkiv and addresses the issues of housing justice, affordable housing, cooperative housing, solidarity and democratic participation. Particular attention will be devoted to exploring how Maribor’s experience and housing cooperative models can contribute to the future reconstruction of Kharkiv and to the development of long-term affordable housing solutions.

The project is coordinated by EPEKA Association, Social Enterprise, in cooperation with the Regional Development Agency of the Kharkiv Region, the City Municipality of Maribor and the European Housing Cooperative EPEKA, SCE.

The City Municipality of Maribor has been twinned with the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv since 2012:

Twin and Partner Cities | City Municipality of Maribor
https://maribor.si/mestna-obcina/zupan/kabinet-zupana/mednarodno-in-medmestno-sodelovanje/prijateljska-in-partnerska-mesta/

Within the project, EPEKA Association, Social Enterprise, intends to present the City Municipality of Maribor with an initiative proposing that, within the framework of the twin-city cooperation programme, a multi-apartment residential building in Kharkiv be reconstructed after the war.

There are, of course, still many uncertainties surrounding this initiative – including when this senseless war will end, what the required budget would be, and other practical questions. Nevertheless, we want Maribor and Slovenia to take a more active role in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.

For this reason, we have designed the main institutional event as follows:

Thursday, 22 October 2026, at 13:30
City Municipality of Maribor – General Maister Hall

The event will be opened by Aleksander Saša Arsenovič, Mayor of the City Municipality of Maribor. The central theme of the meeting will be the future of cooperation between the twin cities of Maribor and Kharkiv and the possibilities for transforming the solidarity developed so far into concrete joint projects in the fields of housing policy and post-war reconstruction.

EPEKA will present an initiative for the development of a pilot housing cooperative model in Kharkiv, through which Slovenian and Ukrainian institutions could jointly develop an affordable, community-based and long-term sustainable housing model.

The three-day programme will include:

  • Wednesday, 21 October – Ruška koča, Pohorje: a workshop on housing justice, housing cooperatives and the preparation of a possible cooperative housing model for Kharkiv;
  • Thursday, 22 October – City Municipality of Maribor: a visit to the City Municipality of Maribor, a meeting between representatives of Maribor and Kharkiv, and a discussion on future cooperation;
  • Friday, 23 October – EPEKA premises, Tyrševa 15, Maribor: a field visit, presentations of good practices, stakeholder dialogue, a public round table with candidates for Mayor of Maribor on housing policy, cooperative housing and cooperation with Kharkiv, followed by the preparation of a Maribor–Kharkiv Joint Statement.

The aim of the meeting is to define concrete steps for further cooperation between the two cities, including possibilities for professional and financial support for the establishment of a pilot cooperative housing model in Kharkiv, as well as the joint identification of European funding opportunities.

The project Building Our Future Together is co-funded by the European Union, the City Municipality of Maribor and the Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth.