Financing the adaptive reuse of cultural heritage – i.e. financing the repurposing older existing structures for new purposes – is a challenging undertaking. A new Policy Brief provides recommendations on how to ensure financial sustainability of such projects, thereby supporting policy makers at all governance levels and private actors to embrace mixed approaches and learn more about different financing models.

This brief was developed from the perspective of bottom-up initiatives active in areas where fundraising efforts tend to face particular barriers. It helps actors identify how, although heritage regeneration is often seen as a heavy bill to be paid, adaptive reuse projects can become dynamic value generators for surrounding areas and their communities.

How does one to transform a heritage site into a sustainable and vibrant community hub? What are the main challenges in financing adaptive heritage reuse projects? Which financing mechanisms and business models are already out there and how can they be replicated or reused in different contexts? Answers to these and many other questions are explored in-depth in this Policy Brief, put together by the Open Heritage project, in which ICLEI Europe is a partner.

For more information, read the whole Policy Brief here.

Explore adaptive reuse case studies here.