Latest news

Public Facility Management – 23 January 2023 – online

Online meeting of Network on Public Facility Management was held on Monday 23.1.2023. The program included presentations about Saving on electricity and gas consumption without any investments (European Parliament), Greening initiatives on recent projects (Council of Europe), Highlights of the Climate Programme 2021-2025 (European Investment Bank) and Upcycling of office furniture (European Commission OIB together with Oxfam). The presentations can be found here (under login section).

The Implementation of Hybrid Work – 25 January 2023 – online

The Implementation of Hybrid Work is being discussed and undertaken in many jurisdictions. Hybrid work is being implemented for many reasons, such as changes driven by COVID 19, staffing shortages and technological advancements. Thank you to everyone able to join us on January 25, for the PuRE-net and NEFPP joint discussion to explore Implementation of Hybrid Work: Why - What - How? We had 79 attendees who interacted in the Chat and posed so many questions to our speakers that we ran beyond our scheduled time.

If you were unable to attend the live presentation, you can now view and access the recording here (NEFPP2023#1). The recording will expire on February 28, 2023.

If you have any feedback on the presentation, ideas for future session, or questions to share with us, please let us know!

WT Sales and Area Development – 30-31 March 2023 – Vilnius

We are happy to announce the date of the Working Table Sales and Area development (WTS and AD) 2023 in Vilnius, Lithuania 30 and 31 March! A live working table again and we hope to see all the European countries who participated in the past, including those that couldn’t present the meeting in 2022 because of COVID regulations. You can find the report from meeting here.

We are looking forward to welcoming you in Vilnius, Lithuania. Of course we will fix an interesting programme with new experiences, innovations and new processes to learn from each other. Please contact the organizer or the secretariat of PuRE-net if there are questions or remarks on the report. And also if you like to have some information about the coming WTS and AD or to suggest a topic for the WT agenda or a contribution you would like to make. 

Annual Conference - 18-20 September 2022 - Riga

This year the conference focused on two topics – Ecological transition in the whole life cycle of buildings and the Digital transition of the Future of Work.

The real estate sector is facing challenges globally, the most important of which are rising inflation nd interest rates with the geopolitical risk, hybrid work in the post-pandemic time, supply chain disruption, and energy resources, along with ESG requirements forcing the change. In these ever-changing times, transition and adaption are most important for all of us to find the best solutions. Even more important is to work together, share knowledge and experience, as well as build and plan together for the sustainable growth of the real estate sector around the globe. PuRE-Net network and its provided space for exchanging common challenges, experiences, and future goals are significantly important in joint search for the best way to navigate through challenges.

More information about the Annual Conference can be found under the login section here.

WT Strategy - 28-30 August 2022 - Brussels

PuRE-Net members were kindly invited to the Strategy Working Table from August 28th to August 30th in Brussels, Belgium. The WT was hosted by the Belgian Building’s Agency and is organised by a working group led by the Danish Bygningsstyrelsen.

This WT was dedicated to the evaluation of the different strategies that exist among PuRE-Net organisations in our post-pandemic reality and the way they are executed in practice. Participants can look forward to interactive discussions, concrete cases from the organisations and an analysis of their own organisation's strategy paradigm.

The WT is a follow-up on the 2014 and 2015 strategy WTs that looked at “PuRE Strategy Paradigms” as well as the strategic roles of PuRE-Net agencies. In those WTs, we benchmarked different strategy paradigms of member countries and explored trigger factors. Since then, these strategy paradigms have been used by many PuRE-NET members in their practical work.

During the past 7 years, the environment has changed drastically. Therefore, this year’s strategy WT will adapt the strategic paradigms to the new realities, and we will learn, interactively, from real-life examples of fellow PuRE-NET members, who have tried to close the gap between assigned roles and actual behaviour.

WT Facility Management - 9-10 June 2022 - Helsinki

This year’s meeting was hosted by the Maintenance Unit of Senate Properties. The idea of the working table was to exchange experiences in facility management and to explore how facility management can contribute to the objectives of our organizations and our customers. The meeting was aimed at strategy advisors, department heads and advisors, employers of FM related departments and others with an interest in these themes.

The meeting will include four themes in two days. The country that will host the theme in brackets:

• Carbon neutrality, energy & emissions (Finland)
• Facility Management Services, integrated vs. separated services (Denmark)
• Hybrid work and shared offices in FM (The Netherlands)
• Future trends (Norway)

More information about the WT can be found under the login section here.

WT Office Space Solutions - 25-26 April 2022 - Oslo

The working table Office Space Solutions took place from 24 through 26 April 2022 at the Statsbygg headquarters in Oslo. The 24 participants were welcomed by the sun when they arrived on Sunday. 

The first part of the day Statsbygg presented the Development Program, which is called the Future Public Sector Workplace. This program consists of three development projects: Workplace of the future, Workplace in Academia and Laboratories in the Public Sector.  Then Statsbygg presented Flexible Workspace in the New Government Quarter and the third session was about Hybrid Working. 

More information about the WT can be found under the login section here.

WT Sales - 21-22 April 2022 - Brussels

The Working Table Sales & Area Development (WTS) took place 21 & 22 April 2022 at the building of the Flemish Buildings Agency in Brussels. Representatives of the following PuRE-net members were hosted by the Flemish Buildings Agency: Belgium (Federal), Belgium (Flanders), Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Norway. They all agreed that it was good to be back and to have the opportunity to exchange experiences, ideas & issues. However, the countries that could not be there were being missed.

The program comprised the following topics: 

• COVID next steps expectations related to real estate
• Policy demands for real estate assets and unnecessary assets (such as climate goals, housing demands, public and social added value)
• Sales pitch on upcoming concrete projects of participants (one per country)
• Bidbook and experience exchange from participants to improve the sales (tenders and redevelopment)  

More information about the WT can be found under the login section soon.

NEFPP and PuRE-net webinar

NEFPP and PuRE-net webinar was held on April 6 at 17:00 CET (one hour commencing at 8:00 a.m. Pacific, 9:00 a.m. Mountain, 10:00 a.m. Central, 11:00 a.m. Eastern, 12:00 noon Atlantic, 16:00 (4:00 p.m.)  GMT, 17:00 (5:00 p.m.) Central European and 18:00 (6:00 p.m.) Eastern European Time). The speakers:

• NEFPP - Rob Macdonald, Director, Accommodation Management, Real Property Division, BC Ministry of Citizens’ Services
• PuRE-net – Tuomas Pusa, Chief Operating Officer, Senate Properties, Senaati, Finland, PuRE-net Steering Committee member

Office space hubs were discussed and implemented in many jurisdictions. Hubs are being built outside of the downtown for many reasons, such as to reduce commutes, GHG production and the need for as much downtown office space. For a limited period of time (until May 9) a recording of the session will be available. The link can be found here.   

MoU with the European Commission’s Office for Infrastructure and Logistics

As reported at the 2021 PuRE-net Annual Conference in Copenhagen, the European Commission’s Office for Infrastructure and Logistics in Brussels (OIB) and PuRE-net signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that establishes the terms of their cooperation. 

The mission of OIB is to ensure a functional, safe and comfortable workplace and to provide good quality support and well-being services for the staff of the Commission and the other European organizations OIB has a Service Level Agreement with. OIB services are based on a client-oriented approach in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective way. 

In 2022 OIB will continue with the rationalization, professionalization and digitalization of OIB’s processes and procedures, taking also into consideration the lessons learned following the COVID-19 pandemic. These modernization actions will cover notably the areas of logistics, office space design and management, finance and procurement, mail services, visual design and printing services. 

With PuRE-net, OIB is particularly looking forward to discussions on current delivery models for facility management, best practices and evolution, as well as challenges of change management and post-COVID arrangements for facility management. Another point for discussion could be the certification of FM processes and the definition of Key Performance Indicators. 

The 2021 Annual Conference in Copenhagen

This year’s annual conference took place in Copenhagen on September 19-21 and was hosted by Bygningsstyrelsen. The conference put focus on two themes: Sustainability and Workplace of the Future. Bygningsstyrelsen sends its warmest regards to the 27 people from 13 PuRE-Net countries, who attended the conference and the approximately 12-15 people, who joined via the online streaming platform. 

We look forward to seeing you all next year. More information can be found here.

BImA – new strategic document translated into English

Government Guidelines for the further development of the BImA, the real estate company for Germany’s Federal Government, is the new document which sets out the consensual guidelines of the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) and the Institute for Federal Real Estate (BImA) for the further development of the BImA. It highlights aspects arising as a result of new political priorities. Sharing of this strategic document resulted from WT Portfolio

Portfolio and Asset Management WT - online meeting

On May 20, the Czech Republic and Office for Government Representation in Property Affairs hosted on-line session focusing on state-owned property portfolio and policy implications and issues that arise from a shift from Portfolio Management to Asset management. 30 participants from 12 countries joined the meeting including our colleagues from affiliated NEFPP association. Thank you all for lively discussion and inspiring inputs. Short summary of findings with look ahead will be distributed soon. Materials can be found here (login required).

The Smart Work Network

New network was launched. The Smart Work Network brings together practitioners of Smart Working from large organisations across the UK and Europe. Members are people working in private, public and voluntary sector organisations to roll out substantial programmes of Smart Working.

The Smart Work Network was formed in 2007 in the UK. From an initial launch at Reuters, it’s grown to have more than 200 members drawn from some 170 organisations. The first virtual meeting was held in 2020.

Strategy Working Table – online meeting January 22, 2021

On January 22, Bygningsstyrelsen hosted an online meeting, which was the first part of the PuRE-net Strategy Working Table. The title was "Workplace for the future" with an emphasis on how public real estate organizations strategically adapt to future trends as well as the anticipated consequences of the covid-19 crisis. The meeting served as a catalyst as the participants in collaboration scoped, refined and finally chose the most interesting themes for the actual Working Table. The online meeting was joining by 20 participants from 10 PuRE-net organizations. All material and presentations from the session are available on the PuRE-net website.

The materials can be found here (log in required).

Portfolio Ownership and Management Working Table

The questionnaire was issued in June 2020 and data have been gathered during the summer time.

Here you can find Report where all the data were summed up offering conclusions and insight on the property management and ownership strategies.

10 countries were participating and the common factors to explore in state-owned portfolio management were Political Climate for change; Assessing Opportunities/Benefits; Blocks, Barriers and Risks; Operational Impacts and Requirements; Special or Sensitive Portfolio.

As the dominant portfolio management strategy was recognised centralization process, so we summarized the major key milestones of this strategy which can be found in a Road map.

Both documents were written by Mr. Robert Lonnon consulting PuRE-net members and the survey was conducted by the Czech Republic as a guidance to new Portfolio Ownership and Management Working Table, most probably shifted to on-line meeting.

Sharing an article

Sharing article. "Central government property asset management: a review of international changes"  from Olga Kaganova:  new paper in Journal of Corporate Real Estate can be find here.

Office Space Solutions 2020 – virtual meeting

Working Table Office Space Solutions 2020 was virtually hosted by RVB, the Netherlands on 24 June 2020. It aimed to continue the discussions of last year’s Working Table on Activity Based Working introducing current visions on ABW, examples of relevant trends, and planning for future work place concepts. Of course, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were a central thread through our discussions, having a significant impact on office life now and the foreseeable future. Working Table was joined by 40 participants from 13 PURE-net organisations and also colleagues from the Canadian affiliated NEFPP- network payed their virtual visit. A WT report, all presentations and video recordings of the sessions will be available on the PuRE-net website/members only section.

Collaboration with NEFPP in Canada

According to the first letter of collaboration with National Executive Forum on Public Property, the cooperation was evaluated by both organizations last year. Finally we had a joint evaluation and agreed to continue the cooperation.
A new letter of collaboration was drafted and discussed this spring. After having been discussed in the governing bodies of both organizations, it was finalized in a joint zoom-meeting on April 29th 2020. The text of the new agreement can be read here. According to the agreement PuRE-net has been invited to access their web site. For information about how go to Body of Knowledge folder.

COVID-19

We have set up a new menu point in the log in section “COVID-19 – related information”.

In this section you will find documents from member countries related to how they give advice on this issue. Most of the information is related to construction activity.

One file contains short information from some member countries on the present situation.

You are all invited to share short information about the situation in your country as well as documents which could be of relevance to other members. This information can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If translation is necessary, please contact us at the same address and specify the content of your contribution.

Activity based working (ABW)

A year ago, we shared this opinion: A lot of research have been done regarding the effects of different working environments. However, there is a lack of relevant, holistic research on the effects of ABW. There is a lot of research on limited aspects of working environments (like psycho-sociological effects, indoor climate, health etc.). Further, there is a lack of comprehensive collection of best-practice cases and a common understanding/definition of what ABW is. 
The Steering Committee informed the Annual General Meeting about their intent to start a project in order to fill this gap. Juriaan van Meel was given the task to conduct the research and provide a guide including best cases, as well as an introduction of what constitutes a good process in order to reach an ABW solution.
The result was presented during the Annual Conference in Edinburgh and you may download the guide here.

Annual Conference in Edinburgh (15-18 September 2019)

This year’s annual conference took place in Edinburgh between 15-18 September 2019 and was hosted by Scottish Futures Trust, the Scottish Government’s infrastructure centre of expertise. The title of this year’s conference was ‘Fit for the Future’ where we shared how we are all preparing for the future as well as explore current and emerging themes, technologies and innovations which are already changing the way we plan, deliver and manage our properties. More information can be found here.

Office Space Solutions (ABW) in Oslo (23-25 June 2019)

More than 40 participants from 12 different countries met in Oslo June 23rd-25th and discussed activity based working solutions. Siri Hunnes Blakstad and Ane Gjerland gave lecturers on the arena “WHY”. Whilst Juriaan van Meel concentrated on “HOW”. He is the researcher working on the PuRE-Net documentation which will be presented at the Annual Conference in Edinburgh. The participants contributed with their experience and knowledge in order to give more input to this documentation. For more information click here.

Strategy Working Table in Oslo (25-26 April 2019)

 A meeting of the Strategy Working Table took place in Oslo April 25.-26. 2019. There were 20 participants present from 11 member countries. Information from the lectures and presentations will be added to the website soon.

 Sales Working Table in Vienna (21-22 March 2019)

 On 21-22 March the 2nd Working Table Sales took place in Vienna. A very fruitful meeting where 11 organisations shared their best practices on sales strategies. Main topics of this meeting were digital tools, sale of historic assets, incorporating State policy in sales procedures (Social value – sustainability).

The group is currently working on a summary of the meeting, to be shared with the PuRE-net community in the summer. Next proposed meetings of this Working Table are during the Munich Expo Real (7 to 9 October – short get together) and in spring time of 2020 in Vilnius, Lithuania (3rd WT).

 Annual Conference 2018 in Prague (9-12 September 2018) 

The Annual Conference 2018 took place in Prague on 9-12 September. The meeting was organized and hosted by The Office for Government Representation in Property Affairs (OGRPA), Czech Republic.

The theme for this conference focused on Transactions and Transitions of State-owned Real Estate and the intention was to look at this topic from many different perspectives. Starting at the decision-making point of which asset is appropriate to sell and which is not. We learnt from those who have implemented innovative sales methods or participated in interesting projects.

During the newly implied activity called Round Table, we learnt from each participant what is their most challenging agenda, shared our recent achievements and introduced summary of future priorities. Together with Annual Survey elaborated yearly, this gave a comprehensive overview on the most topical agenda of institutions and organizations gathered in PuRE-net.

For more details please log-in.

Sales Working Table in The Hague (20-21 June 2018)

On 20 and 21 June the first PuRE-net Working Table on Sales was hosted by the Dutch Central Government Real Estate Agency (RVB)

The Working Table was aimed at creating more insights into the sales portfolios and the sales methods used by PuRE-net members. The information was exchanged on tasks and methods of sales, and  the challenges that we face. 

 On the 2nd day, we visited one of RVB's recent sales projects, the Bijlmer prison in Amsterdam. On site we explained the sale of this large scale project from the perspectives of various stakeholders involved in the sales process.

 For the presentations please click here or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Working Table on Efficient Office Space Solutions in Berlin (13-14 June 2018)

The Working Table took place in Germany and was hosted by the Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben (BImA). The meeting was attended by 24 participants from 10 member countries (Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Norway, Scotland and Spain) and was located at BImA’s in 2017 recently completed construction Futurium.

 The different member states discussed about new constructions, Public-Private-Partnership and Activity Based Workplaces and visited the new building of the Ministry of Education and Research. A guided tour through Berlin’s parliament quarter rounded off the event.

The given presentations are available on the password-protected log in area.

Strategy Working Table - digital maturity

March 8th-9th 2018 the Strategy Working Table took place in Helsinki and seven members of PuRE-net participated. The theme was digitalization and how the organizations adapt to the new technologies.

Prior the Strategy Working Table a survey has been sent out to all the members of PuRE-net and it explored the level of digitalization in each organization. Professor Seppo Junnila and his research team from Aalto University were in charge of the analysis.

During the two days there were presentations by the research team, group discussions and workshops. The first day focused on the results of the survey and the participants discussed digital strategies, back office assets, smart buildings and digital customer service.

The second day focused on how the PuRE-net members can create value by the new technologies. The discussion was based on a platform theory that combines data suppliers and data consumers and the participants talked about the opportunities for data distribution.

There were a lot of interesting discussions and digitalization might be a topic PuRE-net will explore further in the future.

The final report is available at the website under a login and the Strategy Working Table will be presented at the annual conference in Prague, 9-12 September 2018. For further information, please contact Peter Torp or Katrine Marie Bork Davidsen from the Danish Building and Property Agency.

Annual Conference 2017 in Brussels

The Annual conference took place in Brussels from the 8th till the 10th of October 2017 and was hosted by the Belgian Buildings Agency.  17 countries attended: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Scotland, Slovak Republic, The Netherlands, Norway. The National Executive Forum on Public Property from Canada was a special guest.

The theme of this year (10th anniversary of PuRE-net) was ‘Workplace as a service, workplace at your service’ (Service Design, Workplace design and Relocation strategy) and it included interesting topics, a benchmarking and member updates. The visit of ‘Europa’, the new office building of the European Council was very much appreciated.

At the annual general meeting, Harald Nikolaisen, CEO of Statsbygg (Norway) was elected as new president of the Steering Committee.

For more information on the conference please click here.

Working Table on KPIs in Prague (11th – 12th May 2017)

The WT was chairing by Statsbygg, Norway while the Office for Government Representation in Property Affairs (OGRPA), Czech Republic, was the host. Impressive attendance of 33 representatives from 14 different countries showed how important topic KPI is to most of the PuRE-net members. 

All participants shared their knowledge in lively discussions and by giving presentations. The work in groups which were sorted systematically according to the different types of organisational models launched the way to find and evaluate KPIs which can be compared between our organizations.

For more information please click here.

Annual Conference 2016 in Oslo

From 25 to 28 September 2016 the annual conference was held in Oslo, Norway. This year it was joint TWN and PuRE-net event, organised by Statsbygg (Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property) and Forsvarsbygg (Norwegian Defense Real Estate Agency).

The 200 year anniversary of Statsbygg gave a special touch to the program. Statsbygg is both PuRE-net and TWN member, Forsvarsbygg is TWN member. Themes touched upon in this conference were, among others, Efficiency, BIM and Security. For more information on the conference please click here.

Working Table on Strategy and Business Models in Brussels (7th – 8th of September, 2016)

Since 2013, the “Strategy and Business Models” working table has been focused on describing the different agencies based on their commonalities and their difference from a strategic point of view. 

After comparing their different paradigms (2013), their business models (2014) and the game changer in public real estates (2015), the participants analysed this year the different rent models, their goals and identified strategies to reduce the total cost of ownership for public real estates. 

Working Table on Efficient Office Space Solutions in Berlin (14th – 15th of June, 2016)

The working table took place in Germany and was hosted by the Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben. The meeting was attended by 22 participants from 10 member countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Spain, United Kingdom) and was located at the historical building Kronprinzenpalais.

The different member states presented their measures for an effective space management of governmental buildings to reduce costs and create synergies.

PuRE-net Annual Conference – 9 and 10 November 2015

The 2015 annual meeting has been kindly hosted by BIG (Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft) in Vienna, Austria. 25 delegates from 12 member organizations gathered to discuss trending topics in public real estate.

During the general meeting, Mrs Yvonne van der Brugge-Wolring, the Netherlands, was elected as the new PuRE-net president and chairman of the Board (Steering Committee). Mr Kristian Lyk-Jensen, Denmark, and Mr Vaidotas Aleksius, Lithuania, were appointed as new members of the Steering Committee. All have been elected for a period of 2 years. According to tradition, the PuRE-net secretariat will follow the president, and will therefore be taken up by RVB, the Netherlands, as of 1 January 2016.
The materials regarding the conference can be found here.

Working table on Strategy in Copenhagen on 22nd - 23rd October 2015 

Bygningsstyrelsen (Danish Buildings Agency) hosted the worktable moderated by David C. Lottenbach on the subject "Game Change in European Public Real Estate 2016-2020". After having studied the Strategy paradigms in 2013 and business models in 2014 from the point of view of models and CEO perspective, the 2015 worktable focused on the dynamics side, i.e. on the "game changers" of European public Real Estate of the next 5 years - identifying the triggers of change, the impacts on the PuRE agencies' business models and assessing likely adaptation paths by the agencies.

The working table used guided "Delphi" method and the meeting preceded three phases of Delphi on-line surveys with the participation of 9 countries - Bygningsstyrelsen (DK), Direccion General del Patrimonio del Estado (ES), Úřad pro zastupování státu ve věcech majetkových (CZ), Statsbygg (NO), Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft (AT), Cabinet Office - Government Property Unit (UK), Regie des Batiments (BE), Senaatti Kiinteistöt (FI), Office for Public Works (IE).

Participants identified trigger factors that are most likely to challenge the performance of the public real estate sector, defined PuRE impact scenarios and PuRE adaptation paths. All the participants expressed common wish to continue the work of Strategy working table in 2016 and prepared a list of topics to be discussed in PuRE-net in the coming years, which will be submitted to the upcoming Annual Conference Meeting.

Working Table: Energy Strategy (October 5 - 6th, 2015, Brussels)

Geoffroy Magnan (Belgium) hosted and Andreas Juen (Austria) organized the Working Table on Energy Efficiency on October 5.-6. in Brussels. A total of 16 participants from 7 different countries participated.

The focus was on the exchange of experiences with the implementation of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive in the seven countries and to find answers to the following questions: What are key reasons for customers to pay more for energy efficient buildings? What can “we” offer thus customers contribute to higher cost?

Working Table: Office space solutions (Lithuania)

The Working Table on Office space solutions was presided and hosted by Lithuanian Turto Bankas. The Working Table met in Vilnius on September 17-18th, 2015 to discuss PPP projects.

16 representatives from 7 countries presented existing legal environment of Public Private Partnership in their countries and shared best practice in managing PPP projects focusing on administrative buildings.

There were also presented non-traditional students’ dormitory project with implementation of renewable energy solutions in Lithuania as an efficient space planning example and real estate tendencies in three Baltic countries focusing on business centre market and development.

Working Table on measures and KPIs 11 – 12 May, 2015 in Prague

The WT was presided by Statsbygg, Norway while the Office for Government Representation in Property Affairs (OGRPA), Czech Republic, was the host. 24 representatives from 11 different countries participated in the meeting. The focal point of this WT was the measures and KPI’s in the management of public real estates.

The WT was aimed at sharing experience with measures and KPIs on the level of the real estate and on the corporate level. Detailed discussion on measures and KPIs is expected for different groups (kinds) of buildings as well as for the three basic processes (acquisition, management and disposal) of the life cycle of the building. Also the way of the use and implementation of the KPIs in the everyday business of the state real estate companies is worth to study.

In memoriam - Carsten Jarlov

It is with immense sadness that we inform you about the unexpected death of Carsten Jarlov, our president of PuRE-net and CEO of Danish Building and Property Agency.

From the early days of existence of PuRE-net, Carsten has been actively involved in our European Real Estate network. First as well-respected member of our Steering Committee and since 2012 as president of our network.

His enthusiasm and vision made him a unique leader of our network, whose commitment and dedication have helped PuRE-net to develop into the strong network that it is today.

We lose a great leader, but more importantly, we lose a great friend. He will be severly missed by us all.

Sincerely, on behalf of the network,

Steering Committee of PuRE-net 

Annual Meeting 2014 (Estonia)

The 2014 PuRE-net annual meeting took place 7-9 September in Tallinn, Estonia. The meeting was a joint adventure with The Workplace Network, TWN , and kindly and excellently hosted and organised by Riigi Kinnisvara AS – the Estonian state real estate company. 

The combined meeting of the two networks gathered some 60 CEOs, managers and specialists in public real estate from a total of 21 different countries. 16 out of 20 PuRE-net members were present, which is record. The meeting demonstrated that PuRE-net is a thriving network with vitality and momentum, which was underlined by an ambitious work plan for the coming year.

Working Table: Core Business Information Systems (The Netherlands)

The Working Table on Core Business Information Systems was jointly organised by the Office of the Government Representation in Property Affairs of the Czech Republic together with the Dutch Central Government Real Estate Agency. The Working Table met June 19-20 in The Hague to discuss the subject "Reporting tools and KPIs in the software used for RE Management".

22 representatives from 11 countries discussed the summary of the answers that were given to a questionnaire on this specific subject. All of the responding countries use management reports and KPIs while a vast majority are using these in their information systems. Regardless of choice of real estate management software, most countries use readymade Business Intelligence reporting tools available on the market.

Despite the variety in legal conditions and in portfolio composition among the different countries and agencies, the participants agreed that there are similar requirements on reports and KPIs. However, different tools are used in order to meet these requirements.

To become an outstanding public Real Estate Manager the participants specified the following targets: 14 measures at the portfolio level, 18 measures at the building level as well as 10 KPIs at portfolio level and 7 KPIs at building level. The discussion showed that some countries have started to implement managerial dashboards gradually, both on portfolio and building level as an additional tool of the software.

The main message of the Working Table is that securing correct and updated data and comprehensive data definitions are the basic preconditions for applicable management reports and KPIs.

The Working Table recommends that the meeting in 2015 should discuss the evolution that the real estate management information systems have seen over the past five years. Additionally, the meeting should debate the intended upgrades for the nearest future and generally continue the subject of management reporting and KPIs in further detail.

Working Table: Strategy and Business Models (Denmark)

The Working Table on strategy and business models met June 12-13 2014 in Copenhagen to exchange insights from the studies of the business models of the participating agencies and to make comparative analyses. The analyses of the business models had been carried out by an external consultant, David Lottenbach, who also supported and moderated the session in Copenhagen.

The project built on the results' of the 2013 Working Table on strategy paradigms. Whereas in 2013, the group looked at differences of owner paradigms, focus in 2014 was on practical commonalities in business model design and implementation. The Working Table identified common strategic challenges and how they can be tackled, and in doing so, finding common points of implementation (e.g. organisation setups).

Nine countries were part of the working table in 2014 as the team of 7 organisations who began the work in 2013 were joined by BImA (Germany) and OPW (Ireland) this year. 15 people from 9 different countries participated in the joint meeting in Copenhagen.

The Working Table is expected to continue in 2015, building on the results from 2013 and 2014 while focusing more on the practical implementation challenges of the business models.

Working Table: Efficient office space solutions (Germany)

The meeting took place in Bonn and was hosted by the The German Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben.  The event took place from the 4th to the 5th of June 2014. 28 representatives from 12 countries compared economic calculations and tools in order to find the most efficient accommodation for state agencies.

Meeting on Building Information Modelling (BIM)

The meeting took place in Brussels and was hosted by the UK BIM Task Group. The event took place from the 25th to the 26th of March 2014. For more information regarding this meeting please contact:

Adam Mattews
UK BIM Task Group
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.bimtaskgroup.org

Strategies for cultural heritage properties (Norway)

Many PuRE-net members have a portfolio of cultural heritage properties. Some of these properties serve clear goals and needs of the state, while other properties can be sold at the market. In between – in the “grey zone” – there are a number of properties that need to be kept in reserve or are obsolete but not marketable. The question is what to do with these kinds of cultural heritage properties in times of tight budgetary restrictions?

The working table met on November 21-22 2013 in Oslo, Norway. Representatives from 6 countries shared cases and exchanges experiences with “grey zone” cultural heritage properties, comparing strategies and policies. Read the report here. The Working table will continue its work in 2014.

Annual meeting 2013 (Germany)

The annual meeting took place in Berlin from 1-3 September 2013.

Efficient office space solutions II (Belgium)

The Working Table took place in Brussels 23 August, following up the working table held last year in Berlin. The Working Table had focus on occupancy standards, shared workspaces and new ways of working and other means to reduce office space usage. More concretely, the meeting concentrated on KPIs and the successes and challenges of initiatives to increase portfolio performance and usage. 
For more informtion please contact:

June 2013: Steering committee meeting (Denmark)

The PuRE-net steering committee met on June 19 for the second time of the year. Farid Azarkan (The Netherlands) replaced Alex Vermeulen for the meeting.

It has been a successful year for PuRE-net so far. The membership has increased from 15 to 20 organisations as the following organisations have joined the network since the 2012 annual meeting:

• Office of Public Works (Ireland)
• Turto bankas (Lithuania)
• Valsts Nekustamie Ipašumi (Latvia)
• The Turkish Ministry of Finance
• The Government Property Unit (United Kingdom)

Three successful Working Tables have been organised, and a fourth Working Table takes place in Brussels in August.

June 2013: Organisational strategy and business models (Denmark)

The Working Table took place in Copenhagen 19-20 June.

May 2013: PuRE-net Working Table (Estonia)

PuRE-net Working Table in Tallinn

On the 16th and 17th of May, the Information management and core processes workgroup gathered in Tallinn, Estonia. Working table meets regularly from 2010 and the 4th working table in Tallinn elaborated information systems support to maintenance management process.

17 representatives from 7 countries participated in Tallinn. In addition to long-time members (Denmark, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Finland, Estonia) there were Latvia and Lithuania participating for the first time in PuRE-net working table.

Two days passed by listening very meaningful and interesting presentations. Five countries presented information system solutions of the real estate maintenance management in their agencies.

Jindrich Novak from Czech Republic, the presiding country of the Information management and core processes working table, has summarized the outcomes:

• Top maintenance priority for the participants in general is to keep buildings in functional status for business operations. Running costs reduction, customer satisfaction, environment impact and market value enhancing (in this order) have lower priorities.
• The use of different information systems for three maintenance management sub-processes (planning, assignment and execution) is quite common. Only a few institutions use special Maintenance management system or Building management system.
• Quite often picture is: registration of plenty of maintenance data in a number of information system modules. As a result keeping of updated data is a problem. Horizontal integration between individual information system modules is a challenge for all.

Thanks to The Netherlands, whose exhaustive presentation gave us an overview of implementation of Oracle eBusiness Suite_v12, we have learnt that it is useful to have one platform for all the business processes. It is important not to customise the processes of the information system but adjust own business processes.

In addition to official part, we had an interesting visit to Estonian Seaplane harbour to hear Estonian maritime and military history. The museum is located in architecturally unique seaplane hangars, which include structures that were part of the Peter the Great Naval Fortress between 1916-1917 and now maintained by Estonian State Real Estate Ltd. We also had an enjoyable talk while having medieval dinner in Tallinn Old Town and we finished our day with ghost tour on the haunted streets of the Tallinn Old Town. No ghost was seen, but still we learnt a lot about the history of Tallinn.

May 2013: Energy Strategy - What needs to be done? (Austria)

PuRE-net Working Table „Energy Strategy – What needs to be done?“

On 23.+24. May 2013 fifteen representatives from 7 PuRe-net member states (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, The Netherlands and Czech Republic) met for the PuRE-net Working Table „Energy Strategy – What needs to be done?” in Vienna.

The programme of the WT comprised the following contents:

• New Energy Efficiency Directive of the EU
• Developing new Life Cycle Cost Models
• Case Studies (Examples of refurbishment achieving high levels of energy efficiency)
• Energy Efficiency in PPP’s
• BIG’s experiences with Energy Performance Contracting (EPC)

The WT had a special interactive “touch” thanks to various interactive “sessions” („Visual Talk“, „Vienna Coffee House Tour“, „Action Space“, etc.) addressing questions concerning experiences with building certificates, special focus programmes of the respective PuRe-net organisations with respect to energy efficiency, procuring and implementing EPC, energy audits, etc. and thus contributing to a very productive atmosphere.

Of course, BIG’s „Business Model“ was also in the focus of interest.

The first day of the WT was rounded off by a tour of the new campus of the Vienna University of Economics and Business and a subsequent informal dinner at a traditional Austrian restaurant.

The second day the participants focused on the question “What needs to be done?“ and worked out a “supersized” mind-map representing their individual approaches and answers.

Additionally, all representatives committed themselves to providing individual feedback on a specific action or next step concerning the outcome of the WT in their respective organisation until mid-August.

The results and insights shall be presented to the plenary session at the annual conference in Berlin at the beginning of September 2013, where the direction of future activities will also be decided.

Annual meeting, September 2012

PuRE-net Annual Conference took place in The Hague on 16-18 September 2012 combined with TWN Annual Meeting.

Documents and presentations are available inside login area.

Working Table "Efficient office space solutions" 

28-29 August 2012

The meeting took place in Berlin in the building of the German Ministry of Finance, gathering 17 people from 8 different countries. See the agenda.

 "Cost savings" & "Energy strategy and management" Working Table

21-22 June 2012

The meeting took place in The Hague with one day dedicated each of the topics with the aim of sharing knowledge, experiences and practical solutions on effective ways to contribute to cost savings in the public real estate domain. See the agenda.

11 October 2011

The 5th PuRE-net Annual Conference in Prauge closed its workson Tuesday, October 4.

All presentations and conference documents (including agenda and participants list) are now available in the PuRE-net Virtual Headquater inside the 5th Annual Conference Building.

30 March 2011 - Portfolio Management Working Table, Vienna 11-12 April 2011

The agenda and list of participants to the Portfolio Management Working Table are now available.

14 January 2011 - Steering Committee Meeting in Prague

The first 2011 meeting of the PuRE-net Steering Committee took place in Prague on January 14. One of the main issues of the meeting concerned the PuRE-net registration as an association, which occurred according to the Finnish legislation.

2010 November 18 - Public Procurement and Portfolio Management WT meeting

On April 11/12/13 2011, a meeting is scheduled in Vienna concerning two Working Tables: Public Procurement (see in attachment a provisional agenda and the related template) and Portfolio Management (click to read a provisional agenda and the template).

2010 September 13

The 4th PuRE-net Annual Conference took place in Helsinki, hosted by Senate Properties on September 5-7 2010. The venue of the meeting was the Hilton Helsinki Strand Hotel.

13 countries attended: Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.

The three-days meeting was focused on several topics. Some key-issues were:

• Overview of the 2009/2010 PuRE-net activities and proposals/programmes for the next year. In that respect it is important to highlight that a new framework for the existing and future working tables has been defined.
• Election of PuRE-net President and Steering Committee. Mr. Carlo Petagna (Agenzia del Demanio, Italy) is confirmed as President for the next two years. The Steering Committee is made up by the following member countries: Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom.
• Preliminary discussion concerning the definition of the PuRE-net legal status, by verifying the opportunity for registering PuRE-net as an association based in Finland. The registration of PuRE-net is of paramount importance to allow the network to build up economical and commercial relationships.

The conference also saw the participation, as observers, of some organisations belonging to the TWN international network. Some preliminary discussions were made concerning possible ways of collaboration and cooperation between PuRE-net and TWN.

Agenda, presentations and Conference documents are available in the PuRE-net Virtual Headquarters inside the Annual Conference building.

2010 July 23

The 4th PuRE-net Annual Conference will be hosted by Senate Properties in Helsinki on 5-7 September 2010.
The conference will be held in the Hilton Helsinki Strand Hotel, located just half a mile from the city center and close to Senate HQ.

Please see Senate Properties web pages to find the updated Workshop Agenda and the Workshop Registration Form.

2010 April 16

The first meeting of the Working Table on IT Systems has been hold last April 16 in Paris. Six countries attended: France, Belgium, Czech Republic, Italy, Netherlands, Spain. Unfortunately, due to the flights stop caused by the volcanic ash cloud, Estonia, Sweden and United Kingdom were not able to reach Paris to join the meeting.

2010 February 4

The second meeting of Cultural Heritage Working Table is scheduled on February 4 and 5 in Rome. The meeting is hosted in the Agenzia del Demanio headquarters and collects Netherlands, Sweden, UK and Italy: every country presents a cultural heritage redevelopment project. 

In the two-days programme are also planned: a presentation by HERITY (a non-governmental organization with headquarters in Rome) about Herity Global Evaluation System (HGES) to classify monuments, museums, libraries, archaeological sites and archives after they obtain the International certification according to the system; a guided tour to two cultural sites certified by Herity; a workshop on retrievals and anti-trafficking operations carried out by the Carabinieri Special Cultural-Heritage Task Force in charge of protecting Italy's artistic masterpieces.

2009 October 2

The 3rd PuREnet Annual Conference took place in the spectacular scenery of Kronborg Castle, last 28 and 29 September hosted by the Danish Places and Properties Agency (SES). The Castle – located in Elsinore, 50 km north of Copenhagen – is one of the important Renaissance castles in northern Europe and it’s famous worldwide from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.
During the crowded with work two-days meeting, the participants (from sixteen countries) to the conference shared their presentations, joined them in several tables discussions and in specific themes working groups. The overall theme regarded the new tendencies in public real estate administration, particularly focused on energy, financial crisis, cooperation between public sector and building and construction sector and market.
Moreover, the conference produced several ideas and suggestions concerning possible improvements to be carried out for the network itself, especially on working tables: with regards to this, proposals will be worked out.
The hard work of the conference was rewarded by an afternoon guided tour of the castle and by a Danish dinner in Eric of Pomerania’s Chamber with harp background music.

Presentations, pictures and other Conference documents will be soon available in the PuREnet Virtual Headquarter inside the Annual Conference building.

2009 September 21

The 3rd PuREnet Annual Conference will take place at Kronborg Castle, Elsinore (Denmark) on 28-29 September.

The conference will be chaired by Carlo Petagna, Italy, and Carsten Jarlov, Denmark, supported by Maurizio Travaglini, Italy.

Conference Programme 
Participants 
Practical information 
Discover Kronborg

2009 July 1
During Athens, Vienna and Stockholm meetings in June 2009, network members compared their experiences on “Redevelopment & Corporate Social Responsibility”, “Public Procurement” “Strategic Performance Management Systems and Tools” and “Building Performances”. 
Main results and other material from round tables discussions are now available in the ‘Activities’ section.

2009 June 11

PuRE-net working table activities scheduled in June 2009: 

• June 15-16: the first workshop on the theme "Redevelopment & Corporate Social Responsibility" hosted by KED in Athens, at the Royal Olympic Hotel.
• June 22: a one-day meeting on “Public Procurement” in Vienna. Key issues focused on energy efficiency services, and private partnerships for redevelopment projects (PPP) according to public procurement law with a special focus on the recent developments in the case law of the European Court of Justice.
• June 25-26: members meeting in Stockholm for the 4 th meeting of the working table “Strategic Performance Management Systems and Tools”, chaired by Denmark and the 3rd meeting of the working table “Building Performances” chaired by UK. 

For meeting’s agendas and further information please go to activities section.

2008 December 15

(The OGC Office, located in the HM Treasury building)

As scheduled, the Second Annual PuRE-Net Meeting took place in London, December 10-12 hosted by the OGC organisation. 15 European countries attended the meeting and also a delegation from the Brazilian Government participated as observer.

The delegates met on Wednesday evening directly at the OGC Office, located within the very impressive and imposing HM Treasury Building. The 2-day agenda covered all the many activities (working tables, small working groups, exchange programmes, etc) and meetings that were carried out and held in less than 12 months time, but it was above all focused on two of the main working tables (Table 3 Strategic Business Performance and Table 5 Building Performance).

Also new subjects were discussed for possible future working tables such as: European Space Measurement Standards, Conservation & Management of Public Historic Estate and Environments, the National Government as an Active Developer, Public Real Estate as key issue for urban development initiatives and, last of all, Public Procurement and Global Sustainability.

During the conference many important decisions were also taken in order to consolidate the future of the network: a formal PuRE-net Constitution and Working Methods was outlined; it was decided that the network needed a formal Steering Committee with a President chairing it, both elected on a 2-year basis. All delegates decided unanimously that Carlo Petagna, Deputy Director of the Italian organisation Agenzia del Demanio, will be the first President of the Steering Committee for the first 2-year term, on the basis that he started the network project.

Furthermore, the following 7 countries constitute the first Steering Committee: Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, UK. Last of all, Carsten Jarlov, Director of the Danish organisation, kindly offered to host the Third Annual PuRE-Net Meeting in Denmark in September 2009.

(The Admiralty House at Whitehall)

Another element that made the conference a real pleasure was the special locationschosen by Mike Burt and his staff for the different settings of the meeting. The conference has been hosted at the Admiralty House, the former residence of the First Lord of the Admiralty, also known as the “smallest Grand House” in London, created for the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, which is today owned and managed by the Cabinet Office and is especially used for public conferences and Cabinet functions.

(The Tower of London) (The Parliament Houses ) 

Other surprises that enriched the 2-day-stay were a private tour of the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels, topped off with another private tour – usually not opened to the public – of the Parliament Houses. Last treat was the location of the Gala Dinner, held in the House of Lords, and hosted personally by one of the Lords, Lord Howie.

2008 September 24

Working Table in Helsinki, September 22-23 2008. Agenda focuses: Theme N.3 (Strategic performance management systems & tools), Theme N.5 (Data collection, management and utilisation to improve building performances) and the comparison among the different organisations regarding “Public Procurement”.

All documents regarding this meeting can be downloaded in the ‘Activities’ section.

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