Across many towns and villages, vacant buildings are a growing challenge, but also a significant opportunity.
Former shops, farms, industrial buildings or community facilities often stand unused, while at the same time
there is a strong demand for places to work, meet, create and live. Therefore, a further functionality of the platform is to promote the reuse of vacant buildings in the region of Pongau, and beyond, aligning with circular economy principles.
To achieve this, we have reviewed good practices for repurposing buildings in rural areas, focusing on showcasing proven strategies and enabling conditions for successful building reuse, and identifying key factors that support or hinder repurposing initiatives.
For this purpose, we have developed a step-by-step repurpose guide with actionable recommendations and tools, and created a series of fact sheets of relevant prime examples featuring real-life cases for municipalities and owners.
Guidelines for Circular Repurposing
This step-by-step repurpose guide follows a typical development process of a reuse project
and provides relevant tips and information, thematically structured around a series of incremental steps, namely:
Understand the local value and impact of reactivating a vacant building.
Identify the needs, define goals and shape a realistic project concept.
Select a suitable property, analyse building conditions and clarify ownership and risks.
Create a strong project team and choose an appropriate organisational model.
Design (sustainable) uses, define target groups and plan flexible spatial solutions.
Estimate costs, explore funding opportunities and develop viable financial models.
Understand permits, contracts, regulations and insurance requirements.
Organise renovation processes, manage construction phases and coordinate stakeholders.
Launch the project, attract users and build community engagement.
Ensure financial stability, manage volunteer structures and adapt to future needs.
This collection of Prime Example Fact Sheets presents inspiring examples of how vacant buildings can be successfully reused and transformed into vibrant places that contribute to local life. The showcased projects demonstrate a wide range of approaches, from small, privately initiated initiatives to large, community-driven developments, and illustrate different organisational models, financing strategies and operating concepts. Each Fact Sheet provides a concise overview of the project’s background, objectives, reuse strategy, financing, operation, challenges and key learnings. The focus lies on practical experience and transferability. The aim of this collection is to support municipalities, initiatives, property owners and practitioners in exploring new perspectives on vacant buildings and to encourage reuse as a sustainable, socially meaningful and locally rooted alternative to demolition or new construction.
