CO‑OP 01: A New Milestone for the First Housing Cooperative in Belval Sud
Last Saturday, at the Maison du Projet in Metzeschmelz, the cooperative CO‑OP 01, winner of the competition organized by AGORA, concluded a series of workshops that marked the end of the first co‑creation phase of its project.
This milestone represents far more than just a series of meetings: it embodies the materialization of an idea born from the desire to invent a new way of living in Belval Sud — more participatory, more supportive, more sustainable.
A competition to rethink housing
Launched by AGORA, the competition aimed to encourage new approaches to housing and open the door to citizen participation in urban design.
The cooperative CO‑OP 01 emerged as the winner of this first edition, driven by a collective of future residents eager to experiment with a housing model where decisions, management, and neighborhood life are built together.
Since then, the group has moved forward step by step with the support of AGORA to turn this vision into a tangible project. These participatory workshops represent a key stage in this co‑construction process.
Workshops to structure and create
Guided by Céline Zimmer, an expert in cooperative project facilitation, and with the participation of Jorge Teixeira, AGORA’s representative at each meeting, the members of CO‑OP 01 explored the various dimensions of their future project.
On the agenda: drafting the cooperative’s statutes, developing the business plan, and taking part in several architectural workshops focused on the plot that will soon host the building in Belval Sud.
These working sessions helped establish the project’s legal and economic foundations while engaging members in a collective reflection on how to live, share common spaces, and organize roles and responsibilities within the future cooperative.
Each session turned the Maison du Projet into a true laboratory of ideas. Discussions, sketches, models, and spontaneous exchanges infused these workshops with energy, creativity, and lively debate.
A collective and human learning experience
Beyond the technical aspects, this journey represents a deeply human adventure.
Participants learned how to communicate, make shared decisions, and balance individual aspirations with collective needs. Gradually, the group structured itself and formed a shared vision — that of participatory housing based on trust and mutual responsibility.
This collective learning perfectly reflects AGORA’s philosophy: to design neighborhoods where co‑creation and dialogue between public, private, and citizen partners shape the city of tomorrow.
CO‑OP 01’s experience demonstrates that such an approach can lead to tangible projects driven by genuine collective energy.
A new chapter begins
With the completion of this first phase, CO‑OP 01 is now entering a new chapter — one of architectural design and project implementation.
The social and organizational foundations are now in place; the next step is to bring these ideas to life through architectural plans and, soon, in the built reality of Belval Sud’s future neighborhood.
For AGORA, this pioneering project confirms the relevance of cooperative innovation in urban development:
To imagine living spaces that are economically viable, environmentally responsible, and above all, socially cohesive.
