New European Bauhaus: New Actions and Funding to Link Sustainability to Style and Inclusion
On 15 September 2021, the Commission has adopted the Communication that presents the concept of the New European Bauhaus based on the findings from the co-design phase and lays out the next steps.
Building on co-design: A transformational project by all of us for all of us
The New European Bauhaus expresses the EU’s ambition of creating beautiful, sustainable, and inclusive places, products and ways of living and will continue inspiring a movement to facilitate and steer the transformation of our societies along three integrated values:
1. Sustainability, from climate goals, to circularity, zero pollution, and biodiversity
2. Aesthetics and other elements of quality of experience and style, beyond functionality
3. Inclusion, from valorising diversity, to securing accessibility and affordability
This can only happen if people from different backgrounds and areas think and work together in a participatory way. Hence, to achieve the New European Bauhaus goals, the Commission will continue to build a movement of interested people and organisations. By creating bridges between different backgrounds, cutting across disciplines and building on participation at all levels. The initiative's approach is multi-level from global to local, participatory and transdisciplinary. For the implementation, the Commission combines relevant EU initiatives and EU programmes and proposes a set of new actions and funding possibilities. With a function of “accelerator and connector”, the Commission will establish the NEB Lab, the “think and do tank” to co-create, prototype and test the tools, solutions and policy actions that will facilitate the required transformations.
Delivering the New European Bauhaus: From global co-design to local transformation
Creating a movement means working with people and their interests, needs and motivations. The analysis of the input received during the co-design phase identified four thematic axes that the Commission has decided to follow during the implementation of the New European Bauhaus. Four thematic axes that will guide the initiative’s implementation:
1. Reconnecting with nature
2. Regaining a sense of belonging
3. Prioritising the places and people that need it the most
4. Fostering long term, life cycle and integrated thinking in the industrial ecosystem
The Commission, in cooperation with the European Parliament and other EU institutions as well as with the Member States, wants to create an enabling framework of the New European Bauhaus, integrated with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and with relevant EU policies and initiatives. This framework is first about achieving more with the policies and funding instruments that we have already. They can all contribute to a cultural project bringing together sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics in the places where people live and in the ways they live.
The combination of several EU financing instruments with complementary scopes reflects the transdisciplinarity nature of the initiative. The Communication presents plans to build on and mobilise EU funds to support three areas where it has been detected that specific actions should be implemented:
1. Transforming places on the ground
2. Doing things differently in making innovation happen, including by improving our skills and methods
3. Adapting the intentions and the way of thinking that is behind our actions
The Commission will also invite EU Member States to mainstream the New European Bauhaus core values in their strategies for territorial and socio-economic development, and mobilise the relevant parts of their recovery and resilience plans, as well as the programmes under cohesion policy to build a better future for everyone.
Next steps:
- Calling on all EU Institutions to promote the debate further across Europe and beyond.
- Inviting EU Member States to appoint a New European Bauhaus contact to coordinate local efforts and participate in an EU wide informal network for exchange of information and experience.
- Publishing a report on implementation progress in 2022.
The Commission adopts a Communication setting out the concept of the New European Bauhaus. This includes a number of policy actions and funding possibilities. The project aims at accelerating the transformation of various economic sectors such as construction and textiles in order to provide access to all citizens to goods that are circular and less carbon intensive.
The New European Bauhaus brings a cultural and creative dimension to the European Green Deal, aiming to demonstrate how sustainable innovation offers tangible, positive experiences in our daily life. For the funding, there will be about €85 million dedicated to New European Bauhaus projects from EU programmes in 2021-2022. Many other EU programmes will integrate the New European Bauhaus as an element of context or priority without a predefined dedicated budget.
Funding will come from different EU programmes including the Horizon Europe programme for research and innovation (notably the Horizon Europe missions), the LIFE programme for the environment and climate action and the European Regional Development Fund. In addition, the Commission will invite the Member States to use the New European Bauhaus core values in their strategies for territorial and socio-economic development, and mobilise the relevant parts of their recovery and resilience plans, as well as the programmes under cohesion policy to build a better future for everyone.
The Commission will establish a New European Bauhaus Lab: a ‘think and do tank' to co-create, prototype and test new tools, solutions and policy recommendations. The Lab will continue the movement's collaborative spirit that brings together different walks of life and reaches out to society, industry and politics to connect people and find new ways of creating together. The Communication is inspired by the input received during the co-design phase that ran from January to July where the Commission received over 2000 contributions from all over Europe and beyond.
Fostering a growing movement
In January 2021, the New European Bauhaus co-design phase was launched to identify and think about aesthetical, sustainable and inclusive solutions for our living spaces and help deliver on the European Green Deal. The first part of the development called on everyone to join a conversation to rethink the way we live together. These exchanges fed into the New European Bauhaus communication adopted today.
Co-creation will remain essential, and it will evolve in the light of the first concrete results, through assessments and reviews. Therefore, the Commission will further deepen the work with the growing New European Bauhaus Community of committed individuals, organisations and authorities. The movement also takes inspiration from existing beautiful, sustainable and inclusive places and projects in Europe. The first New European Bauhaus Prizes celebrate these achievements, awarding prizes across ten categories, from 'products and lifestyle', to ‘reinvented places to meet and share'. The ‘New European Bauhaus Rising Stars' strand, open exclusively to under-30s, supports and encourages the younger generation to continue developing new ideas and exciting concepts. Winners will receive their prizes at a prize ceremony on 16 September.
President Ursula von der Leyen stated: “The New European Bauhaus combines the big vision of the European Green Deal with tangible change on the ground. Change that improves our daily life and that people can touch and feel - in buildings, in public spaces, but also in fashion or furniture. The New European Bauhaus aims at creating a new lifestyle that matches sustainability with good design, that needs less carbon and that is inclusive and affordable for all”.
Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, noted: “By bridging science and innovation with art and culture, and taking a holistic approach, the New European Bauhaus will create solutions that are not only sustainable and innovative, but also accessible, affordable, and life-enhancing for us all”.
Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, said: “Through its transdisciplinary and participatory approach, the New European Bauhaus reinforces the role of local and regional communities, industries, innovators and creative minds that work together to improve our quality of life. Cohesion policy will transform new ideas into action at the local level”.
The Cyprus Institute (CyI) has joined, as a partner, the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative, which is the flagship cultural initiative of the European Commission for the implementation of the Green Deal for urban environments. The partnership will be coordinated by the CyI Innovation and Entrepreneurship Office, to enable the required cross-disciplinary engagement of its research centres under the common NEB framework. The NEB is a platform for experimentation, creativity, innovation and imagination, with the ultimate goal to influence the thinking and behaviours of society, markets and public procurement towards new sustainable and inclusive ways of living.
More info here: https://europa.eu/new-european-bauhaus/index_en