- The Finnova Foundation brings sustainable innovation to the housing sector with RES4CITY at the European Parliament
- Technology, training, and EU funding: key drivers for the future of sustainable construction discussed at the Legal Certainty in Housing forum
Brussels, July 17, 2025. The Finnova Foundation presented the RES4CITY project at the forum “Legal Certainty in Housing Acquisition” held at the European Parliament headquarters in Brussels (Belgium). The event addressed and debated various aspects of the housing sector, including the common European housing policy, the perspective of industry representatives, sustainability in the sector, and legal guarantees of property ownership.
The institutional opening was led by Borja Giménez Larraz, MEP and member of the European Parliament’s Special Committee on the Housing Crisis in the EU, and featured the participation of prominent MEPs and sector experts. Attendees included Oihane Agirregoitia and Alicia Homs, members of the same committee; real estate representatives such as Ignacio Menéndez-Morán, President of the Spanish Association of Mortgage Brokers, and José Mª Alfaro, President of FAI. Also present were Tatiana Márquez Uriarte from the Affordable Housing Working Group; Enrique Maside Páramo from the Spanish College of Registrars; Javier Burón Cuadrado, member of AVS; and Juanma Revuelta, CEO of Finnova Foundation and head of the RES4CITY project.
The event emphasized the need to change current construction methods to make them more sustainable, affordable, and efficient. The European Commission report was introduced to assess current weaknesses and challenges and identify improvements to provide effective guidelines for the sector.
RES4CITY: Innovation and Sustainability at the European Parliament
Juanma Revuelta, CEO of the Finnova Foundation, presented the RES4CITY project during the panel “Legal Guarantees of Property: Title Deeds in the European Common Space.” This EU-funded initiative has a budget of €2.5 million under the Horizon Europe program. Its goal is to promote the development of sustainable renewable energy and fuel technologies in urban environments through sustainability, circularity, and an innovative educational program.
The project has launched the open and free RES4CITY BoostMySkills platform, offering micro-credentials and micro-programs to train the workforce for the green transition. Additionally, the RES4CITY Policy Brief (a set of recommendations by project partners) and the RES4CITY Open Innovation Book (a summary of the RES4CITY Startup Europe Accelerathon) were presented.
There was also introduced the LIFE RESSKILL project, a continuation of RES4CITY, funded by the EU’s LIFE program. It aims to retrain the workforce to integrate renewable energy and digital technologies into the building sector, supporting a fair and effective green and digital transition. The project has a budget of over €1.5 million, spans 36 months, and is led by the Università degli Studi di Genova with support from a consortium of 10 institutions and companies across Europe.
Strategic Innovation and Investment
Juanma Revuelta emphasized the importance of attracting investment in the real estate sector and in logistics activities at the Port of Valencia. He also highlighted strategic initiatives such as the PERTE (Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation) promoted by the Spanish Government.
Spain’s critical situation, with the highest youth unemployment rate in the OECD, was discussed, along with how this hinders access to housing. Innovation is seen as key to reversing this trend. Industrialized construction could reduce costs by up to 60%. The PERTE for Housing Industrialization aims to build more, faster, and better, incorporating sustainability and efficiency criteria to align Spain’s public housing stock with the European average.
Goals include reducing construction time by 20–60%, improving building quality and architecture, promoting energy efficiency, improving labor conditions and safety, and increasing women’s participation in the sector. The government will invest €1.3 billion over ten years to build 15,000 industrialized homes annually, aiming for 20,000 per year by the end of the period.
The LIFE Program and Climate Action
The EU LIFE Program, especially its climate change mitigation and adaptation subprogram, plays a key role in accelerating the green transition in construction, which accounts for about 40% of global CO₂ emissions. With a budget of €28 million, the call is open until September 23, 2025.
This funding supports projects that contribute to decarbonization, climate resilience, energy efficiency, and sustainable materials. It’s a strategic opportunity for clean technologies, new construction models, and innovative initiatives to reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment. The Finnova Foundation, with its experience in managing EU projects, promotes access to this funding to transform the real estate sector into a driver of sustainability and competitiveness.
Entrepreneurship and Technology in Housing: Innovative Initiatives
As a complementary and innovative solution, the Ibagué Startup Europe Awards 2025 were presented, part of the Nova Next Summit, an initiative of the European Commission promoted by DG CONNECT and implemented by the Finnova Foundation with support from the European Parliament.
This call seeks to identify and support startups and innovative projects from Europe and Latin America offering sustainable solutions in wastewater treatment, organic waste management, sustainable materials, and energy efficiency in construction (PropTech). Open to startups, SMEs, universities, tech centers, and public or mixed entities, the call aims to foster sustainable entrepreneurship, facilitate access to EU funds, and give international visibility to the most promising initiatives.
The estimated global budget is over €500,000 in value-added services, including specialized mentoring, online training, international networking, and outreach. The deadline for applications is October 1, 2025, at 23:59 (CEST).
Also highlighted was the Valencia Tourism Accelerathon, not only as a success story in innovation but also as a gateway to new opportunities for housing and sustainable construction projects under the currently open I+P 2025 call. Managed by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), this grant line offers up to 90% of total project costs, with limits of €100,000 for category A and €25,000 for category B. With a total budget of €3 million and projects lasting up to 24 months, Valencia stands out as a key reference for designing public policies that promote more efficient, sustainable, and livable urban environments.
As part of the Finnova Foundation’s commitment to sustainable innovation and affordable housing, the foundation will continue its international outreach through its participation in SIMED – the Mediterranean Real Estate Exhibition, one of the leading real estate events in Southern Europe. This event, which brings together key players from both the public and private sectors, promotes solutions in sustainability, energy efficiency, and digitalization in construction, fully aligned with the objectives of RES4CITY, which focuses on workforce training and the implementation of clean technologies in urban environments. Finnova’s participation in SIMED will strengthen the connection between European policies, innovation funding, and the development of greener, smarter, and more resilient cities.
About the Finnova Foundation
The Finnova Foundation is a European foundation based in Brussels, dedicated to promoting innovation, entrepreneurship, and European funding as key tools to address major social, environmental, and economic challenges. Through its work, it supports public and private entities in accessing European programs such as Horizon Europe, LIFE, Interreg and Erasmus+, facilitating the creation of consortia, project development, and the transfer of best practices.
With extensive experience in European project communication, startup acceleration, and training in EU funding, Finnova acts as a bridge between innovative ideas and the European Union’s funding opportunities. For more information, visit www.finnova.eu.