Alternative working and living environments

1Health aims to build Romania's first community-led biotech business incubator. A world-class life sciences ecosystem that harnesses the collective expertise of diaspora professionals to catalyse major scientific discoveries and economic growth, setting new standards in research, innovation and business success within the global life sciences landscape. By bringing together passionate minds, essential resources and state-of-the-art facilities under a shared vision for a connected biotech hub in Timișoara, we have the power to revolutionise the IT and life sciences sectors, driving innovation in health and biotechnology across Romania. See the project

Future DiverCities is a four-year project funded by the European Commission through the Creative Europe program. Within this project, organizations from eight European cities are leading ecological and cultural regeneration initiatives for unused urban spaces. In Timișoara—one of the eight participating cities, alongside Berlin, Zagreb, Liepaja, Kuopio, Marseille, Florence, and Athens—we developed the GreenFeel Pavilion as part of the Future DiverCities project. GreenFeel is a temporary and adaptable space designed to celebrate and protect nature. The project exemplifies collaborative resource management and community engagement. The land where GreenFeel is located is privately owned, but we transformed it into a community meeting space. Here, different generations explore and nurture their creativity and civic engagement by learning through gardening and building with natural materials. This innovative approach addresses the needs of Timișoara’s residents while promoting a model for impactful and temporary community spaces. GreenFeel thus becomes an example of how cities like Timișoara can inspire new ways of thinking about urban spaces and their role in fostering community cohesion.

ViaProfi is a heartfelt project we created for our friends at Profi. We set out to build an interactive map of local producers in Romania so that together we can support local communities and businesses. By 2025 we will be present in all counties of the country (13 are missing for now). Through this platform, consumers can easily discover producers in their area and choose to buy fresh and authentic products directly from the source.

After years of COVID-19, we have come to wonder more and more what the future holds. So much has been discussed on this topic, that in 2022 we decided to create an inspiring space to host meetings that address future and wellbeing issues. Within IF, projects such as Innovation Portfolio Approach, ViaProfi, Excelsior Alumni (USVT), 1Health Incubator and many others have been and are being developed. Physically, the space is an extension of the building.a.community and consists of an ideation space, a workspace and a meeting room, but the real results are the projects that have been created and the incredible meetings with experts and connectors from very different backgrounds.

building.a.home is a social and inclusive housing project, conceived for and developed together with UnLoc / Hope Empowerment Foundation. The project transforms reclaimed and refurbished shipping containers into small modular dwellings, adapted and equipped to cover all the needs of a home. The idea came out of a desire to make a difference in the arduous process of deinstitutionalization of adults with disabilities and to provide an alternative to living in segregated state institutions. The current beneficiaries are people with an institutionalized background, neglected and struggling on the verge of poverty. Three residents have already started independent living in the building.a.home. The project aims to grow and be replicated both in Timisoara and in other cities, being a prototype of alternative housing that responds to the needs of people at risk, on the verge of poverty, migrants, students and other social groups.

The UniCredit Entrepreneurial Residency is an initiative close to our hearts, designed to support young entrepreneurs and creative start-ups. So far we have implemented the project in Timișoara, Iași, Cluj, Oradea and, in 2026, Brașov, offering mentoring sessions, personalised consultancy and a physical space for a pop-up, wanting to stand alongside those who follow their dreams and bring added value to the communities they work in. We firmly believe that every idea has the potential to make a difference, and our mission is to provide the support and encouragement needed to make that happen. Throughout summer 2026 we will be in Brașov, alongside our partners Iceberg, Brașov City Hall & Cattia. Details and registration form.

The pandemic has fundamentally changed us on all levels. It changed us on a personal level, it changed the way we relate to the world, to information, to people. It changed our businesses. It has changed our priorities. It has changed the way we think and relate to the idea of community. As a consequence of these changes, the pandemic has also highlighted a significant problem: the growing need for meeting spaces, individual work spaces and adaptable operating models. Our response to this problem was building.a.community. This project serves as a living laboratory and model of sustainability, providing a flexible space for creative entrepreneurs and social innovators. Utilizing recycled shipping containers and natural materials, buidling.a.community creates an environment conducive to collaboration and community activities, responding in this way to the needs and problems faced by the Timisoara community.

Urban regeneration has been one of our main areas of focus from the very beginning and remains a subject close to our hearts. We strongly believe that a city can offer much more than we imagine, without the need to crowd it with new buildings. The story of FABER is one of preserving and repurposing the city's industrial heritage. Since 2018, we have co-owned, together with our partners at Faber.community—Cristina and Valentin Mureșan, the FOR team, and Adrian Erimescu—the former Azur paint factory. Alongside friends and collaborators, we transformed it into FABER: a new space for creation and connection, dedicated to the communities of Timișoara. Here, we also relocated the headquarters of AMBASADA, which had previously operated for its first five years in Paltim, the former hat factory. FABER now stands as a testament to the potential of urban regeneration, breathing new life into old spaces while serving as a hub for collaboration and innovation.

AMBASADA is a social economy structure founded by the PLAI Cultural Center in 2015, with the aim of supporting local communities focused on positive impact in the creative and non-profit sectors. As an independent cultural center, AMBASADA is the first of its kind in Romania and part of the international network TransEurope Halles. Recently, it also became the founder of a new entrepreneurial structure, Faber, which continues the mission of preserving and valuing the local industrial heritage. In 2020, as part of the Cultural and Creative Spaces and Cities project, AMBASADA launched a community garden in the Azur yard. Responding to feedback from its active community, it later transformed this space into a hybrid work and meeting area: building.a.community.