The IKEA Foundation is a strategic philanthropy established in 1982 by IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad. It focuses on tackling poverty and climate change, which it sees as the biggest threats to children's futures in vulnerable communities. The Foundation works with over 140 partners to improve family incomes and protect the planet. Its key areas include renewable energy, regenerative agriculture, and green enterprise. It also supports global climate action programs in high-emitting regions like the EU, India, Brazil, and Indonesia. Since 2009, the IKEA Foundation has granted over €2 billion to partners. It currently provides around €200 million annually in grants. In 2021, the Foundation committed an additional €1 billion over five years to accelerate greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Recent initiatives include partnering with the Rockefeller Foundation and Bezos Earth Fund to launch the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet. The Foundation has also supported organizations like UNHCR to help refugees become self-reliant, and We Mean Business Coalition to assist companies in cutting carbon emissions. While specific funding criteria are not publicly detailed, the Foundation works with established organizations on innovative, scalable solutions that align with its focus on poverty alleviation and climate action in vulnerable communities across Africa and Asia.
The IKEA Foundation could potentially support the development of the European Housing Cooperative (EHC) through its focus on helping families living in poverty build sustainable livelihoods. The Foundation's commitment to climate action and sustainable solutions aligns well with EHC's goals of creating affordable, sustainable housing across Europe. The Foundation's Refugee Livelihoods program, which aims to help refugees achieve economic self-reliance, could be relevant for supporting housing initiatives that include refugee communities. Additionally, their focus on green enterprise and renewable energy could apply to EHC's sustainable housing model. While the IKEA Foundation hasn't directly funded large-scale housing cooperatives, they have supported related initiatives. For example, they funded a project in Ethiopia's Dollo Ado refugee camps to create income-generating activities through cooperatives, including in agriculture and energy sectors. They've also backed climate-friendly urban development projects. To align with the Foundation's priorities, EHC could emphasize how their model promotes economic empowerment, sustainability, and inclusion of vulnerable groups like refugees. Proposing a pilot project in a specific region to demonstrate impact could be a good approach, as the Foundation often supports innovative models that can be scaled up.