European Design Upgrade 3.0. An international project about rethinking modular housing

The war against Ukraine has caused more than 4 million people to lose their homes due to destruction from missile attacks and forced displacement from the frontline and occupied territories. Amid these challenges, there is an urgent need for affordable, adaptive and flexible housing.

This is the problem addressed by European Design Upgrade 3.0, an international project aimed at finding and implementing effective solutions and technologies in the development of modular housing for people who have lost their homes. The goal of the project is to rethink modular construction for crisis areas and situations, such as wars, natural disasters, and other adversities.

"The key idea behind EDU 3.0 is to bring together architects, engineers, designers, and other stakeholders to create new and effective solutions for modular building construction. This is an important task and a serious challenge, as modular houses are the key to solving the problem of temporary affordable housing in Ukraine for all those affected by the war," comments Yurii Pyvovarov, President of K.Fund, the project's implementing organization.

The EDU 3.0 program was developed jointly with leading experts from Estonia, Ukraine, and Finland and is based on the principles of human-centered design thinking. In particular, at the opening of the project, experts shared that in modular housing, this approach should take into account comfort, functionality, energy efficiency, and sustainability to meet the needs and experiences of people who have lost their homes. "Our main task is to change the attitude of people in Ukraine to this type of housing, to convey that modular construction is about quality, aesthetics, and energy efficiency, among other things," adds Olha