Student housing cooperative Studentendorf Berlin (EN)

Following our recent series of workshops exploring bottom-up student housing models —such as the Collegium Academicum in Heidelberg and La Ciguë in Geneva— this session looks at a different model: a long-standing, governance-led student cooperative.

We are pleased to announce that Jens-Uwe Köhler, CFO and General Manager of Studentendorf Berlin, will be joining us for a specialized three-hour workshop. Mr. Köhler has been a driving force behind the Studentendorf Berlin since 2002, overseeing its transformation into a cooperative structure and managing its complex financial and operational stewardship.

Studentendorf Berlin is a non-profit cooperative that provides affordable, community-focused housing for students. Since its establishment, it has served as a benchmark for combining student self-administration with professionalized, long-term financial management.

The session is designed for urban planners, policy experts, and housing practitioners interested in how sustainable cooperative models can be initiated, financed, and maintained over time. As workshop outcomes we expect a fruitful knowledge transfer and concrete building blocks as next steps for a student housing cooperative in Ghent.

Workshop Focus:

• Organizational Transformation: The history and evolution of Studentendorf Berlin.

• Governance & Stewardship: Strategies for long-term maintenance, sustainable operations, and intergenerational knowledge transfer.

• Financial Models: Insights into the economic realities of managing student housing at scale.

• Public-Common Partnerships: How student cooperatives can act as partners within broader urban development frameworks.

• Strategic Recommendations: Lessons learned from the founding process in the 2000s and reflections on current challenges.