Three international conferences held in Vienna between 1998 and 2000 and sponsored by the Government of Austria, UN/ECE, the European Commission and the WB on the issue of real property rights and land market development, and successive discussions with the World Bank resulted in the proposal to create a network, called hereafter the "ECA (Europe and Central Asia) Initiative on Real Property Rights" and subsequently, in the decision to establish a Regional Center to serve as a knowledge management institution concerned with secure land tenure regimes, real property rights and land market development in the region.

The Central European Land Knowledge Center (CELK Center) was formally established on January 31st 2003 in Budapest, Hungary. Its establishment occurred in conformity with a Letter of Agreement between the World Bank and the Government of the Republic of Hungary under the Property Rights and Land Market Development Project for EU Candidate and Balkan Countries.

The CELK Center's mission is to serve Central, Eastern and South-Eastern European countries as a regional land knowledge management information and advisory center on Land Market and Real Property Rights related issues. The vision of the Center is to be acknowledged as the primary source for regional information on Land Market and Real Property Rights related topics.

The main objectives of the Center are:

- To operate as a knowledge management center on land tenure regimes, land market and land management issues.

- To provide technical assistance and advice for beneficiary countries concerning relevant policies, strategies, programs and projects.

Since its establishment the Center has fifteen Beneficiary Countries. The CELK would extend the scope of its influence based on request to the Southern Caucasus countries (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan), as well as to Ukraine and Moldova.