About
Working at the intersection of climate action and architecture philanthropy, we fund community-led solutions that address the root causes and consequences of climate breakdown.
Mission
We think architecture, planning, and design are crucial tools for addressing climate change. It is our mission to reframe how we relate to the planet and move beyond the limitations of extractive paradigms.
The architecture and construction industries account for 40% of global CO2 emissions each year. At the same time, the intersecting effects of climate breakdown increasingly threaten lives and livelihoods around the world, exacerbating social inequities and limiting access to clean water, food security, healthcare, and safe housing. We believe that, when incentives shift to prioritise the interconnected well-being of people and the planet, architecture and design become drivers of positive planetary change.
Our Work
re:arc institute is a non-profit, philanthropic association based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and operating globally with funding from the Inter IKEA Foundation. We support an interdisciplinary annual cohort through three models informed by their specific needs: Grants, The Practice Lab, and Public Discourse. The projects we fund are innovative, hyper-local, and center the work of women, youth, and people of the global majority.
Grants
Our grant-making strengthens community-led solutions to boost architects’, designers’, and movement-builders’ capacity to realise planetary well-being.
Practice Lab
The Practice Lab is a space of learning by doing where we work directly with architects and professional practitioners to carry out built projects and prototype alternative models for philanthropy in architecture.
Public Discourse
Public Discourse fosters cultural and systemic change by empowering educators, thinkers, and advocates to share new narratives that connect climate action, architecture, and socio-ecological transformation, while challenging existing paradigms.