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Document 52021DC0573
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS New European Bauhaus Beautiful, Sustainable, Together
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS New European Bauhaus Beautiful, Sustainable, Together
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS New European Bauhaus Beautiful, Sustainable, Together
COM/2021/573 final
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Brussels, 15.9.2021
COM(2021) 573 final
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS EMPTY
New European Bauhaus
Beautiful, Sustainable, Together
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Building on co-design: A transformational project by all of us for all of us
3. The shape of the New European Bauhaus
3.1. From the historical movement to the New European Bauhaus
3.2. Three key principles
3.2.1. A multilevel approach: from global to local
3.2.2. A participatory approach
3.2.3. A transdisciplinary approach
3.3. Thematic axes of the transformative path
3.3.1. Reconnecting with nature
3.3.2. Regaining a sense of belonging
3.3.3. Prioritising the places and people that need it the most
3.3.4. The need for long-term, life-cycle thinking in the industrial ecosystem.
4. Delivering the New European Bauhaus
4.1. Working with the New European Bauhaus Community: the NEB Lab
4.2. A threefold transformation
4.2.1. Transformation of places on the ground
4.2.2. Transformation of the enabling environment for innovation
4.2.3. Diffusion of new meanings
5. Next steps
1.Introduction
The New European Bauhaus expresses the EU’s ambition of creating beautiful, sustainable, and inclusive places, products and ways of living. It promotes a new lifestyle where sustainability matches style, thus accelerating the green transition in various sectors of our economy such as construction, furniture, fashion and in our societies as well as other areas of our daily life.
The aim is to provide all citizens with access to goods that are circular and less carbon-intensive, that support the regeneration of nature and protect biodiversity.
The New European Bauhaus (NEB) is a project of hope and perspectives. It brings a cultural and creative dimension to the European Green Deal to enhance sustainable innovation, technology and economy. It brings out the benefits of the environmental transition through tangible experiences at the local level. It improves our daily life.
This can only happen if people from different backgrounds and areas think and work together in a participatory way. That is why the Commission started the project with a six month co-design phase where everybody could contribute with ideas, visions, examples and challenges for the New European Bauhaus.
This Communication presents the concept of the New European Bauhaus based on the findings from the co-design phase and lays out the next steps. More details on the co-design process can be found in Annex 1.
To achieve the New European Bauhaus goals, the Commission will continue to build a movement of interested people and organisations. For the implementation, the Commission combines relevant EU initiatives and proposes a set of new actions and funding possibilities that are summarised in Chapter 5 of this Communication. They cover for example:
·The creation of the NEB Lab to grow the community and prepare policy actions
·Seed funding for transformative NEB projects in the EU Member States
·Funding for social housing projects that follow the New European Bauhaus values
·A new approach to the Commission’s own building strategy
·The co-creation of green transition pathways for the construction and the textiles ecosystems
·Calls for Start Ups and citizen initiatives
·A yearly New European Bauhaus Festival and Prize
·eTwinning and DiscoverEU 2022 on the topic of the New European Bauhaus
Change will not happen from one day to another. The New European Bauhaus will create the space to explore and test policy, funding and other tools for designing and building a better everyday life for all generations.
2.Building on co-design: A transformational project by all of us for all of us
As a first step of this participatory project, the Commission reached out to civil society and stakeholders as part of the co-design phase. After the announcement of the project by President Ursula von der Leyen in September 2020 1 , this co-design phase was an open invitation for anyone to say what the New European Bauhaus should be about, to share the challenges it should address and ideas and expertise on how this can be done 2 . The concept of the New European Bauhaus is based on the various inputs received during this phase.
The co-design process relied on interested people, organisations, political institutions and companies to organise events, conversations and workshops. The official Partners of the New European Bauhaus 3 have contributed to multiply the messages and activities. Eighteen thinkers and practitioners formed a New European Bauhaus high-level roundtable to act as a sounding board for the initiative and to give their input on a regular basis 4 . The first ever Conference on the New European Bauhaus in April 2021 was the culmination of this global conversation, with some 8,000 online participants from around the world, highlighting the need for the movement to connect globally.
Most of the activities took place in EU countries, but there is also a growing interest in other parts of the world; whether in the close neighbourhood or in South and North America. To underline the global dimension of the project, the Commission also invited explicitly contributions from beyond the EU .
The New European Bauhaus is growing on fertile ground, where buildings, public spaces, businesses and social practices, cultural activities and education programmes are beacons of the initiative and inspire new ideas. The first New European Bauhaus prize 5 was launched as part of the co-design phase to put the spotlight on those inspirational examples and ideas by young talents.
3.The shape of the New European Bauhaus
3.1.From the historical movement to the New European Bauhaus
Several features of the historical Bauhaus served as a basis for the vision of the New European Bauhaus.
The historical Bauhaus, created in 1919, emerged at a moment of deep transformation – towards the modern societal and industrial era. The founders addressed this transformation in their work and searched for solutions of the new challenges. It quickly became a global cultural movement. It brought together artists, designers, architects and craftspeople. This transdisciplinary approach is also very much needed for the challenges of our times where we are once more facing profound transformation.
Like one hundred years ago, the question of innovative materials remains key. While at that time, the solution was cement and steel, we now need to explore more nature-based materials that are produced sustainably, and to develop low-carbon production solutions for all materials. This goes for construction as well as for fashion, design, furniture, transport or energy. A triangle of values
A triangle of three core inseparable values guides the New European Bauhaus:
·sustainability 6 , from climate goals, to circularity, zero pollution, and biodiversity,
·aesthetics, quality of experience and style, beyond functionality,
·inclusion, valorising diversity, equality for all, accessibility and affordability
The challenge is to address all three values simultaneously to develop the creative solutions that best address people’s needs at a lower overall cost.
3.2.Three key principles
Three key principles, emerging from the co-creation process were taken up by the Commission and should guide the New European Bauhaus:
·Combination of global and local dimension
·Participation
·Transdisciplinarity
3.2.1.A multilevel approach: from global to local
The New European Bauhaus endorses a multilevel approach to transformation – from global to local. Climate change and the green transition bring challenges that should be addressed globally. At the same time, it is at the local level that change is happening and makes sense for people 7 . The New European Bauhaus therefore addresses different levels of the transformation, from the global to the neighbourhoods, village and city.
Delivering on the New European Bauhaus means reaching out to local areas, following a place-based approach. Successful small-scale projects show that transformative initiatives, no matter their size, are doable for everyone, everywhere. The New European Bauhaus will explore ways to support small-scale initiatives by individuals, neighbourhoods and local communities.
This cannot be limited to the European Union. The New European Bauhaus will reach out further beyond European borders over time with the aim of spreading its principles of sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics globally.
3.2.2. A participatory approach
The European Commission is a strong advocate of a participatory approach, as evidenced by the on-going Conference on the Future of Europe, which has the vocation to deepen and sustain engagement with citizens. The Commission will continue to listen to and work together with those on the ground and explore together where policy, funding and other tools are really making a difference. This will mainly happen in the NEB Lab. The participatory approach involves civil society and people of all ages and in all their diversity, including women (under-represented in certain key sectors) and disadvantaged groups 8 . This necessary focus on inclusion aims at leaving no one behind and acknowledges that the most creative solutions are born from collective thinking. New solutions should solve everyday problems and improve the quality of life for all.
3.2.3. A transdisciplinary approach
The New European Bauhaus is about bridging silos between viewpoints and professions. Culture and technology, innovation and design, engineering, craft, the arts and science working hand in hand have the power to create a better tomorrow.
The coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated that, more than ever, integrated approaches are needed to tackle the complex problems our planet and our society face. Meaningful transformation requires bringing in many different competences and knowledge. Working and learning across disciplines facilitates a cross-fertilisation of ideas, knowledge, skills and methods.
3.3.Thematic axes of the transformative path
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 decided to follow during the implementation of the New European Bauhaus.
3.3.1.Reconnecting with nature
Contributions have pointed out to more awareness and more willingness to address climate change (mitigation and adaptation) and to reduce exposure to pollution.
What people feel as a need to reconnect with nature, including for health and well-being, is supported by research: greater opportunities for contact with green public spaces translate into better health indices for the population and reduce income-related health inequalities 9 . Nature-based solutions in cities can help addressing floods and other extreme weather events while making the built environment more attractive.
Climate action is no longer seen as an abstract fight, but as an integral part of our daily lives that can improve air, water and soil quality and overall living conditions. This experience has been reinforced during the pandemic where our living spaces got limited and where people rediscovered their cities, villages, green spaces. The pandemic underlined the direct link between nature protection and physical and mental health for all of us.
There is a need to go beyond a human-centred to a life-centred perspective, getting inspired by nature and learning from it. The ways are manifold: from making cities greener and using sustainably sourced nature-based materials to innovative solutions based on “mimicking” elements found in nature; from taking care of the soil to re-using or recycling waste; from building urban green corridors for active mobility to rethinking transport infrastructure.
The reconnection to nature starts at a young age. Millions of young people have called for more action for a better planet and woken up our environmental consciousness. The contributions of the co-design phase highlight the crucial role education and culture play in the shift of paradigm towards new behaviour and values. Educating and empowering children and young people in a participatory way to understand, experience and embrace sustainability and inclusion will create strong connections to nature for the future generations.
3.3.2.Regaining a sense of belonging
The New European Bauhaus movement is about our collective and private experiences. Building bridges between people is a strong aspiration expressed by contributors.
It implies encouraging intergenerational solidarity, developing links between education and the arts in local environments, improving our common spaces and places to meet. The proximity economy, with concepts like the “15 minute cities” 10 for citizens to access key services and amenities within walking distance, is also a way to strengthen connections and foster healthy, sustainable, active mobility.
Cultural assets (heritage, arts, local craft, know how, etc.), natural assets (landscapes, natural resources, etc.) as well as social assets (social economy enterprises, local organisations and associations etc.) make a place unique. Cultural life, arts events, concerts are opportunities for connection and social interaction, the binding element that creates a sense of belonging.
3.3.3.Prioritising the places and people that need it the most
The co-design phase showed that the New European Bauhaus must be inclusive. This does not relate only to people but also to the places where they live.
Beautiful and sustainable solutions have to be affordable and accessible for all. Due consideration should be given to the specific situation of groups and individuals who are the most vulnerable, for instance, at risk of exclusion or poverty or experiencing homelessness. For example, 800 000 social housing units (5% of the total social housing stock) require renovation per year, and 450 000 new social homes are needed annually in the EU 11 . Disadvantaged groups are at greater risk of energy poverty and air pollution and have less access to public transport.
Inclusion also implies pursuing a Design for All approach to remove accessibility barriers to the built and virtual environments and to goods and services.
The New European Bauhaus clearly goes beyond large city centres and encompasses places in all their diversity, including small villages, rural areas, shrinking cities, degenerated city districts and de-industrialised areas. This calls for territorial development avoiding spatial segregation of social groups to create a sense of togetherness. The various parts of a city, a village or neighbourhood should be connected. Missing connections between rural and urban areas should be addressed. Digitally connecting people is an essential enabler for independent living, access to information, or attending cultural events as we experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Delivering access to digital connectivity to all people 12 is an essential enabler for independent living and being actively involved in the green transition, access to information, or attending cultural events as we experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
3.3.4.The need for long-term, life-cycle thinking in the industrial ecosystem.
Respondents in the co-design phase identified a clear need for more circularity to tackle unsustainable use of resources and waste, including uses for obsolete buildings or infrastructures. Addressing these challenges concerns the entire industrial ecosystem, from production to delivery and consumption, with a circular economy mind-set.
For example, re-use, regeneration, life extension and transformation of existing buildings should be prioritised over the construction of new buildings whenever feasible. . Circular, sustainable design and architecture should become the new normal.
Recovered and renewable materials should be better recognised by all relevant disciplines and become part of design paradigms. The use of sustainably produced and procured nature-based building materials, such as wood, bamboo, straw, cork or stone should be improved. New production technologies should help reduce the carbon footprint of steel or cement, recycle otherwise wasted textiles and accelerate the green transition of energy intensive industries.
New business models, bioeconomy, social economy approaches and Design for Sustainability 13 can support the transformation of sectors such as textiles, tourism, waste management or energy production. The digital transition will play a systemic role in the development and implementation of the New European Bauhaus. Digital tools e.g. 5G, Artificial Intelligence, data-based tools, robotics and 3-Dimensional printing technologies or digital twins in the construction industry, can improve the sustainability performance of materials, products and buildings.
4.Delivering the New European Bauhaus
The Commission, in cooperation with the European Parliament and the 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 enabling framework is designed to create a space to develop and test policy and funding instruments for the transformation of our societies and economy.
This framework is first of all about achieving more with the policies and funding instruments that we have already. Synergies among existing and planned EU policies or programmes should be intensified so that they can support the New European Bauhaus objectives. They can all contribute to a cultural project bringing together sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics in the places where people live and in the way they live.
The New European Bauhaus triggers issues that cannot be adequately addressed by a single instrument and which often “fall between the cracks”.
In addition, the New European Bauhaus puts in place specific and dedicated actions that will help make the transformation happen.
This first delivery framework will evolve in the light of the results, through iterative assessments and reviews.
4.1.Working with the New European Bauhaus Community: the NEB Lab
In order to support the implementation of the New European Bauhaus, 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 transformation on the ground. The Lab will function as an “accelerator and connector”.
Starting with the High Level Round Table and the official partners, the Lab will pursue its community-building journey to embrace the concrete projects inspired by the New European Bauhaus - whether supported by EU funds or by other initiatives – and connect them for mutual support and learning. It will also link up with established communities already working on relevant topics and reach out to politics, industry and society to bridge silos and experiment how they can work together.
While setting up the enabling infrastructure, including a digital platform, the Commission will invite the New European Bauhaus community to cooperate on the following topics and develop concrete recommendations:
·Labelling strategy: How to characterise and recognise concrete initiatives to match the ambition of the New European Bauhaus? What makes a project a New European Bauhaus project? How can an EU New European Bauhaus label be integrated with access to funding for projects?
·Innovative funding: Can crowdfunding be usefully combined with public financing to reach out to grassroots initiatives and improve project selection? What approach could best mobilise private funding, including from philanthropists, to support New European Bauhaus projects? How to incentivise investors in various sectors such as real estate, tourism infrastructures, etc. to embrace the ambition of the New European Bauhaus? How can the social economy support the New European Bauhaus?
·Regulatory analysis and experimentation: How can the regulatory framework support the development of New European Bauhaus projects in construction, energy intensive industries, mobility, proximity and social economy, cultural and creative industries, tourism, textiles? How can the NEB make a full use of new technological development including the digital transformation? What are the remaining obstacles and regulatory bottlenecks? How can public procurement and regulatory simplification promote New European Bauhaus priorities at the European, national and regional level? Can regulatory experimental settings be envisaged in cooperation with Member States and local authorities to test new regulatory approaches driving more ambition along the New European Bauhaus axis?
·Key performance indicators How can the success of the New European can be measured both in 2024 and 2030? What are the deliverables that we want to see at the different stages of the project? How can we evaluate the results in a meaningful way?
The Commission will follow up on the results of the work in the NEB Lab with further action as well as initiatives involving the Member States, the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions and other partners. It will monitor and analyse developments, facilitate connections between stakeholders, collect and validate positive results and findings. It will identify new topics to explore through the Lab and contribute to the adaptation of the EU support framework over time.
4.2.A threefold transformation
Considering the many stories, conversations and essays collected during the co-design phase, three leverage points have been identified, where specific actions should be implemented: (i) making change happen in specific places on the ground, (ii) the need for doing things differently in making innovation happen, including by improving our skills and methods and (iii) the need for adapting the intentions and the way of thinking that is behind our actions. 14 The support and funding instruments are designed around these three points.
Creating a sense of community and showcasing innovation is key for the New European Bauhaus. In order to allow visibility for the change makers, to share and debate progresses and results, and to foster the engagement of citizens, the Commission will convene a ‘New European Bauhaus Festival’ for the first time in spring 2022.
It will be a gathering – both physical and virtual - for the entire community to meet, debate, share, learn and celebrate.
The Festival will include three components:
·A Forum with debates to shape the project. It will gather thinkers, policy makers and practitioners in a global conversation from science and technology to culture and education, from regional and local development to international perspectives;
·A Fair to showcase projects, prototypes and outputs contributing to the New European Bauhaus and award the New European Bauhaus prize;
·A Fest with a cultural programme combining physical and virtual exhibitions, performances and art works.
The first edition of the festival will take place in Brussels and will be organised and financed by the European Commission. From 2023 onwards, based on the experience from the first edition, the Commission will envisage a concept for a yearly event that should ideally include places in- and outside the EU
4.2.1.Transformation of places on the ground
The Commission’s building strategy
The Commission has started integrating all three dimensions of the New European Bauhaus in the development of its presence and actions in the places where it services are established. In Brussels, those values will be implemented in the renovation of the Commission Visitors’ Centre, and the Commission will propose a partnership in the design of the new European Quarter Urban planning to the relevant authorities of the Brussels region. Consultations are to be launched in autumn 2021 and will ensure a citizens dialogue around the European neighbourhood. The New European Bauhaus values will also be implemented in the new construction and refurbishment projects proposed by the Commission for the Joint Research Centre sites’ in Sevilla and Geel.
Changes should happen in specific places and in as many places as possible, at the levels of homes, neighbourhoods, urban and rural areas, physical and virtual meeting spaces. The successful deployment of the New European Bauhaus will require an effective learning and sharing from innovative and emblematic projects. Putting such “pilot demonstrators” in the spotlight spurs enthusiasm to engage and repeat. At the same time, initiative often comes from the grassroots actors, and support for small-scale projects will also be needed.
The European Commission will
- launch calls for proposals, starting in September 2021 to select innovative pilot projects that are emblematic of the New European Bauhaus values, including dedicated calls under Horizon Europe on lighthouse demonstrators and on social, affordable and sustainable housing districts demonstrators. In 2022, additional New European Bauhaus demonstrators will be supported by cohesion policy’s European Urban initiative 15 . Beyond 2022, the approach will be pursued through synergies with the activities launched under the Horizon Europe Missions 16 ;
- provide technical assistance to support interested stakeholders, such as regional and local administrations, to develop and deliver New European Bauhaus projects, with a first focus on citizen engagement and interdisciplinary methods for project incubation and co-design;
- introduce a dedicated urban development financial instrument leveraging EU and private investment to support New European Bauhaus projects in Member States. Beyond project financing, it will also grant support for training and project implementation;
- explore how to best support small scale projects building on the work of the European Institute for Innovation and technology 17 .
- establish a New European Bauhaus Seal of Excellence to highlight projects of high quality that could not be financed by EU programmes because of budgetary constraints. The Seal of Excellence can be seen as a first step towards a New European Bauhaus label. Selected projects will be integrated in the New European Bauhaus community and promoted towards other potential funders.
Beyond Commission-led initiatives, the funding of transformative New European Bauhaus projects will require strong cooperation with Member States. The place-based and community-led local development approaches of cohesion policy can promote New European Bauhaus projects at the regional and local level with the participation of local communities.
The European Commission will invite Member States to:
- introduce the New European Bauhaus in their socio-economic and territorial development strategies and to reflect their commitment to support and mainstream the New European Bauhaus in the implementation of cohesion policy 2021-2027 as part of the Partnership Agreements and relevant operational programmes;
- take up the New European Bauhaus financial instrument to finance projects on the ground
- mobilise the relevant parts of their recovery and resilience plans (e.g. on renovation or infrastructures) on New European Bauhaus transformative projects.
4.2.2.Transformation of the enabling environment for innovation
New European Bauhaus transformation depends on the industrial ecosystems, from construction to lifestyle and creative industries, from materials to business models, from digital to farming, to provide tailored and affordable solutions. As the design phase has shown, innovation plays a key role. This is not only innovation in the sense of new technologies, but can also be a combination of new and traditional technics or a new adaptation of local crafts and knowledge.
The diversity and complexity of relevant legislation and the length of administrative processes can become a challenge for transformation projects and even an obstacle to innovation. Innovative approaches should be tested and implemented in experimental settings in close cooperation with Member States national, regional and local authorities.
The effective use of new materials, production process and other tools, will require (re-)skilling, also through Vocational Education and Training, in several sectors and on different levels.
The Commission will:
- co-create, by 2022, transition pathways towards (i) a green, digital and resilient construction ecosystem through the High Level Forum on Construction, (ii) a green, digital and resilient ecosystem on proximity and social economy, to complement the EU Action Plan on social economy, and (iii) a green, digital and resilient textiles ecosystem, to complement the EU strategy on textiles;
- develop a self-assessment tool to measure to what extent a project is sustainable, inclusive and aesthetic and help to identify where improvement is possible. This would combine all existing standards, rules and guidance in the relevant areas. In addition, develop digital tools for e-learning and assessment to support the use of the Level(s) framework that promotes life-cycle and whole life carbon assessment for the environmental performance of buildings
- mobilise further the Horizon Europe programme to support the New European Bauhaus through research and innovation. The Commission will organise a high-level workshop on “research and innovation for the New European Bauhaus’ to bring together leading experts to provide a forward-looking research and innovation agenda supporting the New European Bauhaus and feed into the co-creation process of future Horizon Europe Work Programmes;
- mobilise the European Institute of Innovation and Technology 18 (EIT) and the European Innovation Council 19 (EIC) capacities to launch a first set of coordinated calls for proposals to address the key innovation challenges that will emerge from the transformation projects on the ground;
- integrate the New European Bauhaus among the priorities of the LIFE Programme 20 to support in particular projects promoting circularity, zero pollution and biodiversity;
- mobilise the Single Market Programme 21 and its COSME pillar 22 to support business partnerships in the lifestyle sector (fashion, design, furniture etc.) between designers, manufacturers, craftsmen and -women and technology providers (Worth Partnership Project) 23 and to support partnerships on Social Economy and Local Green Deals 24 ;
- foster trans-disciplinary innovation for sustainability, inclusion and well-being among the cultural and creative sectors under the Creative Europe Programme, notably through Creative Innovation Labs;
- mobilise Digital Innovation Hubs in the relevant sectors (including the construction sector) to develop real and virtual environments and experiences involving deep digital technologies (AI, High Performance computing, big data) to support the New European Bauhaus;
- propose, as from 2021, topics and priorities contributing to the New European Bauhaus initiative in the Digital Europe Work Programmes;
- promote innovative procurement in the context of the New European Bauhaus to foster an approach based on quality, sustainability, inclusion rather than just cost, including through the ”Big Buyers” initiative 25 ;
4.2.3. Diffusion of new meanings
Inspiring a movement starts with values. It is essential to work with those who reflect on, study and convey our values, such as artists, social scientists, educators and education institutions and youth organisations.
In close collaboration with the Education for Climate Coalition (*), the Commission will launch a call for expression of interest for places of education and knowledge (from public libraries to schools and universities) to develop their own New European Bauhaus projects. The Commission will connect these projects and provide them visibility. A dedicated New European Bauhaus prize in 2023 will allow the best projects to shine. (* https://education-for-climate.ec.europa.eu/_en )
Artists and creative professionals from all fields have long contributed to raise awareness of the socio-economic and environmental challenges of our times. Their critical stance and challenging works on contemporary society can act as eye-openers and help reshape our future world. This is also true for the notions of aesthetics and beauty, for which there are no universal standards or canons any more.
Together with education, training and youth organisations, cultural and creative industries and sectors are new sources of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and jobs. Their contribution to innovation is increasingly driven by non-technological factors such as creativity, design and new organisational processes or business models and cooperation. This is why sustainability is a major focus for EU youth and education policy, including higher education and support framework, allowing many synergies with the New European Bauhaus initiative.
The Commission will:
- propose to include under Erasmus + a dedicated priority on the New European Bauhaus in the 2022 call for Alliances for innovation 26 , targeting both higher education and vocational education and training sectors and propose a priority for the New European Bauhaus in the Erasmus+ European Youth Together 2022 call for projects supporting transnational partnerships for youth organisations
- propose to support through Creative Europe ‘artists’ residencies and other types of place-bound cultural activities in spaces identified or labelled by the New European Bauhaus;
- organise the New European Bauhaus prize annually, highlighting different dimensions of the New European Bauhaus each year;
- develop a peer learning action to help local authorities to integrate and implement quality principles in the built environment as developed by the Davos process 27 and the Member States’ expert group 28 established under the New European Agenda for Culture. ;
- focus the eTwinning 2022 29 annual theme on topics related to the New European Bauhaus
- propose topics related to the New European Bauhaus as part of the thematic priorities for the European Innovative Teaching Award 2022
- link the annual theme of the 2022 DiscoverEU action 30 to the New European Bauhaus;
- for the European Solidarity Corps 2022 annual call, propose projects that can contribute to the New European Bauhaus initiative.
5.Next steps
The New European Bauhaus will build on the strength of its growing community. Over the past six months, the initiative gathered enthusiasm and thousands of ideas, which this communication builds upon. The mobilisation of interested actors will continue and the conversation will widen both across Europe and beyond, in cooperation with the European External Action Service, European Union Delegations as well as the interested international organisations and networks. In this respect, synergies with relevant policy and cooperation frameworks will be identified in particular in the EU’s neighbourhood.
The European Commission will count on the cooperation of the European Parliament, the Council, the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee to raise awareness and promote the debate in their constituencies, mobilise citizens and private sector actors and share available resources to support the New European Bauhaus.
The cooperation of Member States and of the public authorities at international, national, regional and local levels, including participation of civil society and representatives of diverse communities, will be crucial. From the promotion of participatory co-design processes to the ability to support the financing of local transformation projects, the New European Bauhaus will require strong cooperation across this multilevel governance framework.
As a starting point, Member States will be invited to entrust an entity as a contact point for the New European Bauhaus initiative to connect and coordinate efforts in their respective country and participate in an EU wide informal network for exchange of information and experience.
The European Commission will report on the progress of the initiative in 2022.
Annexes:
1. Report on the co-design phase
2. Mobilising EU programmes
3. New European Bauhaus policy ecosystem
Credits
COVER:
·Tree-House School © Valentino Gareri
·Architecture © Adobe Stock – lilymary
·Top view of people are resting on the lawn in the park © Adobe Stock – Watman
Internal pages
·Nautilus shell © Adobe Stock – Dean Pennala
·Green foliage texture © Adobe Stock – Vera Kuttelvaserova
·Top view of people are resting on the lawn in the park © Adobe Stock – Watman
·Laracha Health Centre © H. Santos-Díez
·Domo - sustainable architecture education in secondary school © Dolores Victoria
·La Ferme du Rail © Myr Muratet.
·The Arch © O.S.T. & Constructlab
·Wunderbugs © Francesco Lipari
·Palaluxottica © Simone Bossi
·Holmes Road Studios © Peter Barber Architects
·Proto-Habitat © Flavien Menu
·Rain gardens at Rundelsgatan in Vellinge © Source: edges
·Tree-House School © Valentino Gareri
·Domo - sustainable architecture education in secondary school © Dolores Victoria
·Gleis 21 © H. Hurnaus
·Garden house © C. Pavlou
·Garden house © C. Pavlou
·The Salt House © R. Hofmanis
http://revistas.unisinos.br/index.php/sdrj/article/view/sdrj.2021.141.02
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Brussels, 15.9.2021
COM(2021) 573 final
Report on the co-design phase
ANNEX
to the
Communication from the European Commission to the European parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions
New European Bauhaus : Beautiful, Sustainable, Together
Table of Contents
REPORT ON THE CO-DESIGN PHASE
1. The Co-design phase timeline
2. Key principles:
2.1. Starting with values
2.2. Get inspired by existing projects and ideas
2.3. Spread the Conversations as key tool
2.4. Growing a community
2.4.1. Partners
2.4.2. High-Level Roundtable
3. Methodology and tools
3.1. The New European Bauhaus website as a first engagement tool
3.1.1. The short stories collector
3.1.2. The free from collector
3.1.3. The harvesting of conversations
3.2. Analysing data: general approach
3.2.1. Principles
3.2.2. Enablers and Scales: a matrix
4. Activities and Findings
4.1. Activities
4.2. Outreach
4.2.1. Digital communication
4.2.2. New European Bauhaus official Partners
4.2.3. Stories collected
4.2.4. Geographical and sectoral balances
4.3. Findings
5. Emerging axes
5.1. Reconnecting with nature
5.2. Regaining a sense of belonging
5.3. Prioritising the places and people that need it the most
5.4. The need for long term, life cycle and integrated thinking in the industrial ecosystem
6. Ideas for action
6.1. Attention to small scale interventions
6.2. Working on multiple scales at the same time
6.3. Working with transdisciplinary for an integrated approach
6.4. Starting from a participatory approach
6.5. Innovation beyond a technology push
6.6. Between past and present
6.7. New forms of financing
7. VII. Conclusion & Next steps
REPORT ON THE CO-DESIGN PHASE
For the New European Bauhaus initiative, the Commission chose an unusual approach: It conceived a bottom-up project based on participation and inclusion. After the launch of the project in September 2020 1 by Commission President von der Leyen, the Commission went into listening mode and gave the opportunity to all interested people to share ideas, examples, visions and challenges that should be taken on board for the project.
In this annex, you will find a report on this “co-design phase” that has informed the concept of the New European Bauhaus presented today in the Commission communication. Over six months, the Commission has conducted an extensive collaboration with citizens, professionals and organisations and harvested from it the key challenges and ideas that will guide the New European Bauhaus in the short and long term.
In total, more than 200 multidisciplinary conversations took place, and more than 2000 contributors directly shared their ideas, challenges and visions via the New European Bauhaus website. Furthermore, about 12.000 people followed and interacted with the initiative on Instagram and more than 8500 viewers followed the New European Bauhaus Conference online 2 . In this phase, the support of both the official New European Bauhaus Partners and the Members of the High-Level Roundtable was essential, as they have been working as amplifiers, activating their networks and stimulating new conversations.
This document summarises the main findings of the co-design phase. It also outlines the methods and tools used..
1.The Co-design phase timeline
·January to Mid-February: Official launch of the initiative on 18 January 2021 with the opening of the dedicated website. Development of a strategy to activate conversations around the initiative (information webinars, call for partners, reach out for networks). Selection of the High-Level Roundtable Members.
·Mid-February to Mid-March: weekly webinars and workshops to amplify the involvement of organisations and communities; the High-Level Roundtable takes shape. The first batch of Partners is selected.
·Mid-March to Mid-April: start of the screening of incoming contributions: extraction of trends, key topics, challenges, from the collected inputs; organisation of the New European Bauhaus Conference (22-23 April). First meetings of the High-Level Roundtable; activities of partner organisations.
·Mid-April until end of June: collection and screening of the contributions. The High-Level Roundtable meets every two weeks. Selection of a new batch of Partners each week.. The first results from the sense-making of the website contributions are shared, discussed, tested and enriched in many events organised by partners and other independent stakeholders.
·End of June: Close of the co-design phase.
2.Key principles:
2.1.Starting with values
Since the beginning, the New European Bauhaus has been associated to three fundamental values - aesthetics, sustainability, and inclusion – with a strong focus on living spaces and lifestyle. The ambition to make the Green Deal a cultural, human-centred, and positive, tangible experience is built on this precise set of values.
Flowing from the triangle Beautiful – Sustainable - Together, the co-design phase set out to answer key questions:
·What do the concepts of aesthetics, sustainability and social inclusion mean for people in relation to places and forms of living?
·What are the most pressing challenges faced by citizens in relation to their living environment?
·What are the concrete ideas that could support a New European Bauhaus movement?
·What should be the ultimate scope and the main priorities of the New European Bauhaus initiative?
2.2.Get inspired by existing projects and ideas
Many good initiatives at the interplay of sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics already exist. This is true for sustainable architecture as illustrated by the 2021 Pritzker Prize winners 3 , for the transformation of social housing blocks in Bordeaux 4 . It is also reflected, for example, in the growing number of community gardens where neighbours participate in the transformation of the public green, or in cultural festivals that raise awareness on environmental issues through art.
To activate those who are already working on the dimensions of the New European Bauhaus, value their projects and harvest their ideas, the co-design phase put one focus on existing projects that can inspire the initiative. Overall, about 1800 examples were submitted to the website.
The New European Bauhaus Prizes 5 2021 reinforced this approach.
Ten different categories were established to cover the diversity of dimensions relevant for the New European Bauhaus. In each category, a special prize for the younger generation was awarded:
1.Techniques, materials and processes for construction and design
2.Buildings renovated in a spirit of circularity
3.Solutions for the co-evolution of built environment and nature
4.Regenerated urban and rural spaces
5.Products and lifestyle
6.Preserved and transformed cultural heritage
7.Reinvented places to meet and share
8.Mobilisation of culture, arts and communities
9.Modular, adaptable and mobile living solutions
10. Interdisciplinary education models
The response has been impressive with more than 2000 applications received from throughout the EU within the one-month deadline. The selection process was also participatory with public voting and an evaluation by the official partners of the New European Bauhaus. The final winners will be announced on the 16 September in a prize ceremony in Brussels.
2.3.Spread the Conversations as key tool
We all know from our dinner tables and office meetings that the best ideas emerge from conversations. And they get even better, when you bring people from diverse backgrounds and with different opinions together. That is whythe key tool for the co-design phase was conversations at various levels.
The emphasis was put on seeking the collaboration of different sectors, institutional actors, or groups as diverse as possible, in order to break established ‘silos’ and start new connections based on cooperation towards shared objectives.
The Commission supported these conversations with a tool kit made available on the website, and by participating in them.
The conversations spanned those organised at local level, by national governments and pan-European initiatives. The results of these conversations were shared with the Commission..
In April, the Commission organised a global conversation: the New European Bauhaus Conference, a hybrid event with more than 40 international speakers and facilitators. The conference gathered more than 8500 viewers from 85 countries. Multiple panel discussions and eight workshops enabled fruitful dialogues between the participants. The results of the workshops were collected during the sessions and fed into the sense-making.
2.4.Growing a community
The New European Bauhaus builds on a growing community around two actions to inspire a movement: the call for official partners and the High-Level Roundtable.
2.4.1.Partners
From the start of the co-design phase, the Commission launched a call for official partners of the New European Bauhaus on the website.
The official partners are non-profit organisations that share the values of the New European Bauhaus and have proposed concrete actions to support its further development and implementation for example events, reports, conversations.
From a first group of 20 partners on the 25 March, the community of official partners reached more than 200 by the end of the co-design phase. The call for partners will remain active throughout the implementation phase to help grow the community further. 6
2.4.2.High-Level Roundtable
From an initial group of nearly 80 experts identified by the Commission to form the High-Level Roundtable for the initiative, 18 Members 7 were selected because of their personal experience and expertise covering the different dimensions of the New European Bauhaus. They do not represent organisations or countries. In the selection process, special attention was paid to geographical, sectoral and gender balance.
The role of the High-Level Roundtable is to share and express their ideas on key themes, innovative ideas and challenges. The Members exchanged ideas on a regular basis with the President and the two lead Commissioners and worked together through a series of workshops. They also acted as community ambassadors, engaging with their networks to spread the conversation and gather insights in their home countries and beyond.
Building on their exchanges, the High-Level Roundtable members shared their vision and their ideas for action in a concept paper 8 .
3.Methodology and tools
3.1.The New European Bauhaus website as a first engagement tool
Given the restrictions caused by the pandemic, granting the public direct access to the co-design phase meant setting up a digital platform where people could easily share their ideas and their experience. Since its inauguration on the 18 January 2021, the website offered two main entry points for contributions: one designed to collect short stories and one for free-format contributions.
3.1.1.The short stories collector
This entry point was designed to gather short inputs (about 2000 characters on average). It was possible to share them via three separated channels, each one of them tackling a different dimension:
·Existing examples and projects: what have been already realised and developed.
·Visions and ideas: project proposals not yet implemented.
·Challenges: wishes and needs of citizens.
3.1.2.The free from collector
An additional entry point offered the possibility to fill a form upon the submission of a contribution, structured with four open questions to support the framing of the input inside the NEB initiative.
3.1.3.The harvesting of conversations
Throughout the whole co-design phase, many conversations were organised around the New European Bauhaus initiative. Especially in the first weeks, dozens of “activation sessions” were organised by the Commission to stimulate the participation among specific networks. While these first meetings were closely followed and curated by the NEB Team in itself, a growing number of cross-pollinated events started to pop-up autonomously week after week, especially after the New European Bauhaus Conference in April. In many cases the events’ organisers shared the result of the conversations on the website.
3.2.Analysing data: general approach
3.2.1. Principles
The co-design phase, and specifically the activities related to the harvesting of the contributions, were built around a number of key principles.
3.2.1.1. Transparency
For the process to be fully open and participative, it is necessary for it to be consistently transparent. This principle has been ensured through the website of the New European Bauhaus, where, together with the fundamental links to the participation tools, it is possible to find information about the High-Level Roundtable, the partners, and a calendar to keep track of the main events happening around the initiative. Furthermore, all the contributions have progressively been made accessible to the public 9 through the development of a visualisation system. Thanks to this tool and its research features, any interested user or organisations has the possibility to conduct their own “sense making” and analysis.
3.2.1.2. Diversity and equal treatment
The profiles of the contributors are truly diverse, ranging from short testimonials to long summaries of series of events up to essays, position papers or research articles. Despite the disparity in complexity, wording, and length, it was important to screen every entry with the same level of attention.
3.2.1.3.Clustering
Another fundamental point that guided the screening was the idea of avoiding forcing the contributions under specific, pre-defined categories, and then to proceed on a quantity-based approach that would have limited the analysis to how many entries talk about a certain topic.
The method was continuously adapted in function of the content that was collected over time, grouping stories and ideas under different clusters of topics and questions they could answer.
After the identification of specific trends, it was crucial not to lose single voices in the big numbers and to value with extra attention the unique entries, so to counter-balance the weight of large groups of similar contributions.
3.2.2.Enablers and Scales: a matrix
Beyond the identification of trends and outliers, the clustering process also aimed at the identification of a set of enablers, a typology of resources required to support the transformation (Networks, Culture, Education, Research, Infrastructures, Places, Technology, Policies & regulatory framework, Strategies and Programmes). The list of enablers was crossed with scales of application, starting from the local dimension and “zooming out” until the global context (Building, Neighbourhood, Village & Urban, Regional, National, European, Worldwide and Multiple).
The combination of enablers and scales into a matrix was an important milestone to connect the overall trends in the aspirations with the more concrete ideas about how to progress towards the desired transformations.
4.Activities and Findings
4.1.Activities
There was a huge variety and diversity in the activities that took place. The Commission did not control the activities that were proposed by other organisations to keep the conversation as inclusive and open as possible. It is impossible to mention all organisations and activities in this document. The examples stand for many more.
A wide variety of audiences were reached: it ranged from architects to scientists, from social housing organisations to industry, from children and art students to public authorities.
Local grassroots organisations teamed up and held events in their neighbourhood or region (Galicia in Spain, Gdynia in Poland). In other cases, partners reached out to their European networks to establish European wide conversations around a certain theme (Housing Europe 10 , The Bureau of European Design Associations (BEDA) 11 , IFLA Europe (International Federation of Landscape Architects), New European Bauhaus Collective 12 , Europeana 13 , Europa Nostra 14 , Triennale Milano 15 , Wood4Bauhaus Alliance 16 ).
In some Member States the initiative was adopted by national players or ministries (Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Lithuania, Germany, Slovenia, Estonia, Italy, and others). Other cities and Member states reached
out to their peers in neighbouring countries to organise regional conversations (Nordic Bauhaus 17 , Bauhaus of the Sea 18 or ‘NEB goes South’, a platform gathering architecture departments of six universities 19 )
The official partners and the members of the High Level Round Table of the New European Bauhaus played very often a crucial role in these initiatives.
The New European Bauhaus stimulated the development of many activities involving children and young people, often with the objective of bringing their creativity into the co-design phase. For example, the Bavarian State Ministry for Housing, Construction and Transport launched a competition for children under 14 years, asking them to submit a picture to inspire the future of constructing homes and living together. The Saxon State Ministry of Justice and Democracy, Europe and Equality together with the city of Chemnitz and its State Office for School and Education organised a similar competition, offering a prize to young citizens from 14 to 18 years of age for the best vision for the future, to be represented with drawings, paintings, graphics, sculptures or models.
Arkki, a Finnish cultural platform, launched an art competition to reflect upon the NEB initiative, while Architektūros Fondas , a non-profit organisation from Lithuania, will organise five-days workshops in seven small towns around the country to enhance young people's understanding of their living environment, encourage creativity and foster a sense of personal responsibility.
The New European Bauhaus also triggered a lot of interest in the industrial community. Several sectorial organisations applied as partners for the New European Bauhaus, organising events and workshops (e.g. Fashioun Council Germany, LafargeHolcim foundation or the concrete initiative. The European wood industry created the Wood4Bauhaus alliance, the first time ever that the sector tries to join forces in a common project. The European Roundtable for Industry organised two sessions on the New European Bauhaus focusing mainly on the construction sector. The community of renewable energy joined the conversations and brought interesting insights to the process.
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) activated its ecosystem of partners located across the EU, to raise awareness on the New European Bauhaus and to co-create interdisciplinary activities in cities and rural areas on topics such as green transition through architectural, cultural and historic sites, circularity and urban resilience, universal mobility as a key enabler for social inclusion.
National governments and regional entities participated actively in the co-design phase. For example, the Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda organised a conference to investigate the role that Spain can play in the definition and implementation of the New European Bauhaus and initiated an institutional dialogue and an exchange of experiences between relevant projects and actors. A similar case is the one of the 'Nordic Bauhaus’', where over 1600 people from different Nordic countries under the steer of the Finnish Ministry of the Environment discussed important topics for the Nordic climate, drawing inspiration from the traditional local wooden towns and the Nordic welfare state. In Germany, the Ministry of the Interior organised a workshop to gather input from different actors on the ground. In Lithuania, the Ministry of Environment together with the Ministry of Culture organised The New European Bauhaus National Discussion.
The New European Bauhaus triggered a lot of interest in the European Parliament: The Committee for Culture and Education (CULT) and Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee organised a series of events around the Bauhaus from informal exchanges with the Commission to an official hearing with experts from different Member States 20 . A cross-party and cross-committee Friendship group was founded, reflecting the holistic approach of the New European Bauhaus and gathered more than 30 MEPs. They participated with input to the Co-design phase and organised a public event with the civil society.
The Committee of the Regions organised a conversation among mayors of European Capitals of culture and European Capitals of innovation and its own members with support and participation of the Commission.
The European Commission organised a series of webinars to inform different communities and to gather input as well as the New European Bauhaus Conference 21 . The different services of the Commission that work on certain aspects of the New European Bauhaus reached out to their respective communities and organised workshops and events for example with representatives from the youth or from coal regions to explore how the New European Bauhaus could help the transition in their views.
Most of the conversations and events focused on a European audience. But there was also activity outside of the EU, for example in Turkey, South America and the US. The Commission chose deliberately to include non- Europeans in the High-Level Roundtable to underline the global ambition of the project. In addition, several of the partners from outside Europe organised events where they connected with European counterparts.
4.2.Outreach
4.2.1.Digital communication
The key principles for the communication strategy are openness, engagement and co-creation, with content based on the stories shared by the people. The visual identity of the co-design phase was very light, around sketches . The objective was to give people the chance to take ownership of the concept and get creative.
Since January 2021, the campaign has reached and engaged a significant audience across Europe:
·Instagram: The account (elected as the main communication platform due to its visual nature) reached more than 12 000 followers.
·Twitter: Without a dedicated twitter account, conversations using the hashtag #NewEuropeanBauhausgenerated about 23 000 engagements
·The official website registered more than 350 000 visits
·The newsletter counts more than 20 000 subscriptions.
·A Pinterest page was activated.
·The Webinars generated an audience of 4300 participants.
4.2.2.New European Bauhaus official Partners
By the end of the design phase, 750 entities had applied for official partnership among which 270 were accepted and published on the web site.
The outreach of the community of official partners ranges from organizations active on a local scale to EU-wide networks encompassing multiple entities. The cumulative reach of the organisations that are until now official partners can be estimated in the order of millions.
(networks refer to partner organisations having members in various countries whereas activities refer to partners established in only one state but developing some of their activities in other countries)
The partners represent a great diversity in terms of sectors and fields of expertise.
The Community counts partners in most of the Member States and 36 % of them are transnational networks with members in many Member States and beyond, improving the geographical reach and balance.
Partners geographical distribution including the coverage of networks
4.2.3.Stories collected
4.2.3.1.The short stories collector
In total about 1800 contributions were collected through the short-stories collector. Some were long explanations of research; others were short remarks about an idyllic place, a memory or a certain building or technique.
Number of contributions: Examples (1145), Ideas (452), Challenges (167)
4.2.3.2.The free form collector
About 200 contributions were shared via the free form collector. This entry point reached a wide variety of participants: professionals, researchers and research groups, private companies, school and universities, cultural organizations, Governmental and Non-Governmental organizations, regional and national agencies, networks and hubs. Among the groups and associations that submitted their contributions, their scale of engagement also varies, and it goes from the local dimension to the international and global level.
4.2.4.Geographical and sectoral balances
The Commission paid special attention to geographical and sectorial balance: During the first weeks of collection, Italy, Spain and Germany were the countries with the highest number of submitters and activities. Stimulated by interventions by the Commission, partner organisations, High Level Roundtable Members and others, the project could reach a wider audience throughout events, conversations and activation sessions.
For what regards the role of the contributors, the New European Bauhaus attracted naturally a large interest from the building sector (architects and engineers), mainly because of the explicit reference to the architectural world embedded in the name of the project. A series of topical events planned directly with and for specific groups of organizations supported the reach out for unrepresented (or less represented) sectors. This, along with the integration of partners from various fields, has improved the sectoral diversity.
What is your role?
Most contributions came from the local level.
4.3.Findings
The analysis of the findings is based on the data gathered from the short story collector, the free form collector, the harvested conversations and events that the European Commission has organized and/or participated in.
Looking at what the concepts of aesthetics, sustainability and social inclusion mean for people in relation to places and forms of living required disentangling the entries and the multiple dimensions.
Sustainability was mostly associated to the ‘green’ aspects, such as circular economy, energy efficiency, re-use of materials. Inclusion was linked to greater attention to the needs of marginalized or vulnerable groups, participation in decision-making of all groups of society, increased affordability and accessibility in the housing stock, bridging and connecting people. Aesthetics is usually related to a rediscovery of history and architectural heritage, places that feel familiar, or are in harmony with the natural world, places or forms that appeal to people’s creativity and imagination.
“Trusting in new, however, it should not mean rushing blindly into a future without roots, rather exploring the positive interaction of the identity background of a country (its genius loci), with languages, materials, technical and production ways of today’s world.”
“The inhabitants are not only concerned with the practical knowledge of the renovation works. They are also emotionally involved and they feel the need of a poetic and sensitive relation to the places in which they live during these transitional periods.”
(New European Bauhaus Website, short story collector)
Most of the topics are interconnected: for example, having access to green spaces can also make people come together; affordable houses need proximity to the labour market to create a healthy and functional living ecosystem. Local improvement of a place cannot be done without taking the DNA of the place into account.
5.Emerging axes
The clustering of the entries has led to four fundamental axes as explained in the present communication:
·Reconnecting with nature
·Regaining a sense of community and belonging
·Prioritising the places and people that need it the most
·The need for long term, life cycle and integrated (circular) thinking in the industrial ecosystem
5.1.Reconnecting with nature
A recurrent aspiration identified in the entries is the fundamental need to re-connect and re-build a relationship with nature. The general tendency reverts to a holistic thinking that tackle lifestyle and mind-set, economy and society and planetary boundaries through an eco-centric approach.
“People in urban centres have been alienated from nature for decades. Today the need for open green spaces is more important than ever before.”
“Inside the Nature (vertical green, green buildings, green plazas, urban vegetable gardens .... the green it hasn't to be any more something outside and different from the city but one of its principal materials)”
“The objectives of Barcelona Superblocks program are to make a city healthier, more liveable and of short distances. It does so by putting people's health in the foreground, reorganizing the mobility, making it more efficient and safe, while promoting active and sustainable mobility, gaining space for social relationships and aiming to a greener and more naturalized city with rich biodiversity.”
“My proposal is based on the development of permanent educational programs in schools, for children, to involve them from an early age in the development and protection of the environment.”
"We've invented nothing. We're only carrying on our ancestors' vision by respecting nature and allowing it to coexist with us."
(New European Bauhaus Website, short story collector)
Several voices argued that the built and the natural environment should not be treated as separate elements, but as interconnected parts of the same ecosystem. In the cities, nature should be an inherent part of the urban fabric, with interventions ranging from small-scale gardens to larger projects, with the common objective of ‘re-naturing’ the city and letting nature take over. Tackling degraded city areas is one of the recurring ideas, especially where left-over spaces have the potential to be turned into high-quality living, active spaces, able to foster biodiversity and regeneration.
In spatial terms, urban planning should give equal attention to multiple dimensions at the same time. Restoring biodiversity and habitats must be tackled in conjunction with shifting mobility patterns from car-dominated to walkable and connected layouts for healthier and more liveable cities. Improving air and water quality by addressing unsustainable use of resources and waste management will also lead to improved quality of life and health for urban inhabitants and for nature.
” The square’s green belt was treated as the beginning of an urban forest, the starting point of a reflection on the whole city as an urban ecosystem.”
(Skanderbeg Square, Tirana, Albania - New European Bauhaus Website, short story collector)
Outside the urban realm, the loss of biodiversity, environmental vulnerability, the loss of local knowledge and farms are challenges that many rural areas face. In those cases, the proposed solutions mainly refer to sustainable tourism practices, permaculture or agroforestry models, smart or ecological villages, biodiversity restoration and integration of rural-urban dynamics.
“We would like to introduce sustainable planning strategies that can be used by local and regional actors in Alpine regions when converting former industrial locations into good working and living environments. Such a complex task needs to take the local economic, ecological and social context into account and cannot be mastered by a single expert alone.”
(Alpine Industrial Landscapes Transformation project - New European Bauhaus Website, free form entry contribution)
5.2.Regaining a sense of belonging
A key topic emerging from the entries is the need to foster a sense of belonging, and to rediscover the spirit of a place reconnecting people with their living environments and with the local cultural and history.
“Lack of creative cultural public spaces. Spaces that will bridge art and society. Spaces for cultural social growth. Spaces for public discussions and conversations. Spaces for co-creation and collaboration. Spaces for skill development and workshops. The Space for total inclusivity.”
“There is a clear desire for community life, a desire to be together, to be part of something.”
“For immigrants, it's important to find back a family dimension for sharing moments with others. Usually these occasions are built around food, and common spaces in shared housing.”
“Cultural activities will be helpful to create a shared narratives and values linked to the respect of the environment in a common space as a Forum where new cultural approaches could help solving social problems to reach a common wellbeing. We all know that cultural activities support 4 axes of sustainability: economic, social, environmental and above all human capital.”
“Capturing the DNA of a community. Inspired by the principles of Bauhaus – renewed and reimagined for our age – this idea proposes a pilot project that combines research and visioning with consultative methods, to engage the community in the definition of their own unique experience signature. Through this, the proposal aims to assist in the development of more relevant and meaningful architecture and public space that reflect and refamiliarize the elements that are loved and valued in a given place or time, and that define its identity.”
(New European Bauhaus Website, short story collector)
A good example on this matter is represented by the conversations carried out between different stakeholders from coal regions in transitions. They brought to attention the fact that transition policies focus on sustainability, innovation and creating new jobs, but they often overlook the dimension of community-building, cultural and architectural heritage and purpose. The transition must re-centre around the community’s needs and vision for the transformation of their surroundings.
Another important challenge people have expressed is the lack of places of quality that could allow them to meet, exchange ideas and socialize with others, which negatively affects both social unity and individual well-being. It is for example the case of the former Soviet districts and buildings, where the process of renovation should not focus only on the actual (re)construction, but also on finding a new sense of identity and promoting well-being.
“We must humanize the Soviet yards and neighbourhoods. Currently, there are no proper public spaces that could stimulate community engagement, recreational activities or local businesses. This issue calls for a search for an innovative, out of the box urban design, tools, and solutions.
-” Urban spaces and typologies that are common in city centres or old towns will never be adapted to Soviet districts, because these districts were built fundamentally differently. Accordingly, we have to almost reinvent these spaces and create new urban spaces for communities to enjoy and live in.”
(New European Bauhaus Website, Free Form entry point)
Culture and art play a paramount role in reconnecting people with the character, the history and traditions that form the distinguished ‘feel’ of a place. In addition, they function as catalysts for bringing people together and bridging social distances through sharing different viewpoints and experiences and can also play a role in revitalizing neighbourhoods or even territories.
Expanding the concept of culture, the preservation of architectural heritage and cultural landmarks could play a significant role, especially inside projects of redevelopment and renovation. Using local knowledge and techniques is a way to reconnect people with the places they live in, but it also has the potential to rejuvenate economy.
Furthermore, people have expressed the ambition to become active in supporting the local business ecosystem and the decentralisation of several supply chains, from food production to distributed manufacturing of various goods. Supporting an ‘economy of proximity’ and a ‘15 minutes city’ model (or “complete communities”) can create more local opportunities and vibrant, mixed-use communities where all necessities are within reach for everyone
5.3.Prioritising the places and people that need it the most
Key dimensions that have emerged in this area are:
·The importance of equal participation of citizens in decision-making and the need for an inclusive approach that takes into account experiences and needs of different groups in both public and private contexts.
·The need to connect rural areas with cities, but also bridging the digital divide,
·The need to tackle homelessness and to enhance housing affordability and accessibility for the groups that face the most difficult challenges.
“But (recalling the Bauhaus) house is nothing without services, without sociality, collective and public space. Here it is, focusing on housing means working on the very core of our society: it means to take care of people, all of the people, no matter the colour of the skin, the place they come from, sex or religion they believe, if they are native or migrants.”
“Inclusion - word with one meaning, but thousands of ways to be really included in our society. People with visual, hearing or moving impairment are not fully included in these modern days.”
“Small cities and villages that could not stand the economic changes saw their younger generations leaving, their elder inhabitants more isolated and their built environment progressively abandoned.”
“In Europe there are a large number of municipalities and small nuclei of rural population that are in decline and are disappearing. However, many of them hold great potential by bringing together essences of historical, cultural, heritage and natural authenticity.”
“people with disabilities experience a strong self-isolation phenomenon due to: the attitude of the people around them (a subjective factor related to prejudice) - inaccessible built environment (objective factor directly affecting mobility). This phenomenon appears during childhood, at playgrounds - the place where children become self-conscious and aware of the differences between them.”
“Young people and the elderly are particularly excluded from the current [housing] offer. The former mainly because of their income, the latter because of a series of factors (accessibility, distance from the urban centre, loneliness, need).”
(New European Bauhaus Website, Short story collector)
Enhancing social inclusion requires tackling the needs of marginalized or vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, people with disabilities or immigrants, and ensuring equal access for everyone to services, green spaces and digital tools. On this last subject, many entries refer to them as good instruments to empower people and democratize the participation in decision-making.
Many rural areas are suffering from depopulation, which in turn leads to economic and/or social deprivation and degradation of the natural and built environment. Rural areas often suffer from the lack of (physical and digital) connectivity and a consequential lack of opportunities in terms of jobs or potential for innovation. Tackling connectivity and accessibility as a way to improve social inclusion holds true also for urban areas, where certain neighbourhoods are physically and/or socially disconnected and thus suffer from marginalisation and unequal access to services. In urban areas, the issue of ‘shrinking’ cities also has negative economic, social and infrastructural consequences that require a long-term strategy.
A significant number of entries and conversations affirm that the focus should not be solely set on housing and the built environment alone, but also on facilitating the access to services and infrastructures.
5.4.The need for long term, life cycle and integrated thinking in the industrial ecosystem
There is an urgent need to tackle the unsustainable use of resources and waste in different industries (e.g., construction, fashion, manufacturing).
“As the Bauhaus opened a discussion about we think and realize buildings, the new one has to consider how the building process put strain on ecosystems that we are part.”
“The use of dry Posidonia as thermal insulation reminds us that we do not live in a house but an ecosystem.”
“Life cycle data and regulations as the base of a sustainable industry - with timber as an example.”
“We are proposing to adopt mycelium (plutorus spp.) and waste into a composite material to replace current highly toxic building materials.”
“Upcycling could reduce the dependency on imports and help to create jobs in local manufacturing practices.”
“The approach of architects towards the furniture projects of new houses should be more disruptive and creative, assembling and combining refurbish furniture items.”
(New European Bauhaus Website, Short story collector)
In the construction industry, the main message is to avoid demolition by focusing on the rehabilitation and adaptive re-use of old buildings.
Nature-based solutions and materials are essential for a new way of thinking in industrial ecosystems. Solutions inspired by the natural world can contribute to a more integrated and circular approach. Buildings and industrial processes should be seen as part of the natural ecosystem. Examples of circular practices, upcycling, avoiding and re-using different kinds of waste can be transferred and upscaled.
Regarding urban renewal or rehabilitation of housing, several key elements need to be taken into account for an integrated, long-term approach.
“One of the biggest challenges in Flanders and in Europe is the urban renewal of existing buildings. What is typical in Belgium is that there are many private owners. This makes it a challenge to find solutions to renew and renovate this existing building in collaboration with the private owners. How can we stimulate this by giving the means for these private owners to be involved, to participate, and to find ways to renovate? How can we adapt the system by taking into account the Belgian specificity?”
(New European Bauhaus Website, Free form entry point)
New techniques and materials could offer solutions for a long-term perspective in the construction sector. Using upcycled materials or waste from demolition, as well bio-based materials for rehabilitation in terms of reinforcing the structural integrity or improving the thermal insulation of old buildings. Aside from nature-based and circular solutions, other technologies and innovations can play a significant role. For instance, heat recovery and renewable energy, 3D printing, data collection and sharing tools for improved energy efficiency, water usage and waste management. Digital tools can play an effective role in capturing the ‘life’ of communities and foster collaboration and community engagement in urban development or provide insightful information regarding the needs of residents in relation to their living environments.
The transformation of certain economic sectors needs better training and re-skilling the workforce towards the integration of life cycle thinking and practices in all the dimensions and processes of the industrial ecosystem. A re-evaluation and more research into the cost of unsustainable practices should be conducted in order to set priorities and shift the most damaging cycles.
Life cycle thinking should be applied at all scales: at the neighbourhood scale, by working and re-using local materials, such as transforming discarded materials into urban furniture or shared spaces, or at the national or international scale by effecting change across the value chain of key industries.
6.Ideas for action
Contributors highlighted different needs to enable the transition and implement the New European Bauhaus. It ranges from funding to networking and a better visibility of promising projects and products:
Beyond this horizontal indication, some clear recommendations for action merged from the contributions.
6.1.Attention to small scale interventions
The New European Bauhaus should pay particular attention to actions and changes on street and neighbourhood level, because even the smaller actions can make a big difference. In addition, neighbours are experts in their own neighbourhoods. Successful small-scale projects also lower the threshold for change: small initiatives are already there and just need to be reinforced. It is often difficult for them to apply for EU funding because of the design of the calls.
6.2.Working on multiple scales at the same time
There is a growing awareness of the fact that the actions undertaken inside Europe, influence the rest of the world – and the other way around. There is also an awareness on the interconnectedness of smaller and larger scales and the potential to work with the same principles across different structures. The New European Bauhaus conversation and cooperation is therefore expected become global and some contributions developed concrete ideas in this field.
6.3.Working with transdisciplinary for an integrated approach
A meaningful transformation of places requires not only to involve many different competences and knowledge, but also to engage them in transdisciplinary dialogues and exploration. Multidisciplinary ways of working are often mentioned, but many stories go beyond the concept of inter- or multidisciplinary. for them, true innovation lies in combining and accepting knowledge support from experts and non-experts, giving to ‘doing’ and ‘thinking’ the same level of importance. Ideally, this is matched by working in safe environments based on mutual trust and collaboration.
6.4. Starting from a participatory approach
Successful inclusive design and urban planning should start with inviting all people into the conversation. Too many times, contributors wrote that in this framework participatory process is partial, or even symbolic. Making sure that the process is driven by the people who will also benefit from its design, is the key to make sure that solutions fit the needs and the place of intervention in the best conceivable way. Among the tools for achieving higher participation the contributors often mention crowdfunding and other cooperative financing possibilities for citizens.
6.5.Innovation beyond a technology push
A new paradigm of innovation is needed to go beyond strictly technological models and achieve a harmonious relationship between technology and society. Technological innovation has a lot to bring to the New European Bauhaus ambition, from the smart use of digital tools to new materials. However, the impact of innovation does not necessarily stem from the novelty or the technology itself: the innovation challenge might come for example from new industrial methods cutting down costs and making available solutions more affordable or from waving new technology and traditional craft and local-based solutions to fit specific contexts or aesthetical choices. The ‘art and science’ field has also been mentioned as a promising axis to nourish a broader approach of innovation.
6.6.Between past and present
Recognising and understanding the importance of heritage, local knowledge and traditions and their role in shaping a sustainable future. The need to re-assess the practices that are unsuitable to the current social and environmental challenges, while considering old forms of knowledge that might contribute to shaping up new future directions.
6.7. New forms of financing
Innovation can come in the form of financing solutions. New public-private partnerships, managing projects differently, new opportunities that will allow citizens and smaller enterprises to become more involved.
7.VII. Conclusion & Next steps
The co-design phase was the first important step for the New European Bauhaus initiative. It shaped its identity – both process and content wise.
In the next phases, the New European Bauhaus will continue with a participatory approach and will work further on deepening the axes emerged from the co-design phase. To ensure a wider audience and an even more inclusive approach, it will intensify the efforts of reaching out to people.
The tools that were used to reach out to collect experiences and visions have been suitable given the limitations imposed by the pandemic. However, digital tools exclude certain groups or people from sharing their voices. The next phases should enable different settings and conditions that will enable working with people on the ground.
The community of partners will grow and become more diverse, and a special focus should be given to partners outside of Europe to shape and strengthen the global dimension of the initiative. It will also involve political actors and the industry more closely as key actors in enabling a transformation of the industrial ecosystem.
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our sincere appreciation to all the people and organisations who took the effort to share reports, views and expertise and organise and participate in conversations. Together we make this initiative.
Credits
Page 3
·Nautilus shell © Adobe Stock – Dean Pennala
·Green foliage texture © Adobe Stock – Vera Kuttelvaserova
·Top view of people are resting on the lawn in the park © Adobe Stock – Watman
Page 8
· https://www.nordicbauhaus.eu/digital-bauhaus#/page=1
· https://www.up.pt/neb-goes-south/
· https://bauhaus-mar.pt/en/conference/
· https://www.janvaneyck.nl/news/het-nieuwe-bauhaus
· https://www.activehouse.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Active-House-Newsletter-February-2021.pdf
· https://www.daysoforis.com/en/homepage-spring-en/
· https://centrumdesignu.gdynia.pl/
· https://www.arcticdesignweek.fi/en/
· https://europa.eu/new-european-bauhaus/events/bauhaus-north-rhine-westphalia-focus-europe_en
· https://www.dcci.ie/consumers/blog/new-european-bauhaus
· https://www.uni-weimar.de/en/media/news/news/titel/open-call-for-a-new-european-bauhaus-weimar-2/
· https://triennale.org/bauhaus
Page 15
·Wunderbugs / © Francesco Lipari
·Tree-House School / © Valentino Gareri
·The Arch / © O.S.T. & Constructlab
·Protegemos las escuelas © Barcelona City Council
·Palaluxottica / © Simone Bossi
·Street Carnival in Clonakilty / © Cork County Council
·UMAR unit / © Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
·Ljuba in Drago / © Ksenja Perko
·Rain gardens at Rundelsgatan in Vellinge / © Source: edge
·Gyermely / © Balázs Danyi
·© Ireland’s Greenest town initiative
·House of Blivande / © Ketter Raudmets
·Backyard / © CC BY-NC-SA In My Backyard - rioneiva.com/nomeuquintal
·Pupils of Sustainable Dream City © Navet Science Center
·Reincarnation project © Akna Márquez
·Proto-Habitat / © Flavien Menu
·3D printed house / © Source: Prvok
·Workshop in Salak / © Keliaujančios dirbtuvės
·Housing solution / © A. De Smet, B. Pak & Y. Schoonjans (KU Leuven Faculty of Architecture), G. Bruyneel & T. Van Heesvelde (Samenlevinsopbouw Brussel), B. Van Hoecke (CAW Brussel)
·Projekthaus Potsdam / © Natalia Irina Roman
·Group using the toolkit / © Dan Lockton
·Shot from the 2019 "Bag from banner recovery" workshop / © Open Design School
·Home for The Homeless © xystudio
·Holmes Road Studios © Peter Barber Architects
·© De Ceuvel
·Domo - sustainable architecture education in secondary school / © Dolores Victoria
·The Salt House © R. Hofmanis
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/ov/SPEECH_20_1655
https://europa.eu/new-european-bauhaus/co-design/conference_en
Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal Receive the 2021 Pritzker Architecture Prize, honouring their works on the renovation of existing buildigs.
See details at EUMiesAward
https://europa.eu/new-european-bauhaus/partners-0/partners_en
https://europa.eu/new-european-bauhaus/about/high-level-roundtable_en
https://europa.eu/new-european-bauhaus/high-level-roundtable-visions_en
https://europa.eu/new-european-bauhaus/co-design/co-designing-new-european-bauhaus-0_en
https://www.housingeurope.eu/blog-1558/the-new-european-bauhaus
https://www.ace-cae.eu/activities/new-european-bauhaus-collective-nebc/
Athens, Zagreb, Valencia, Porto, Bologna and Toulouse
https://europa.eu/new-european-bauhaus/co-design/conference_en
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Brussels, 15.9.2021
COM(2021) 573 final
Mobilising EU programmes
ANNEX
to the
Communication from the European Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions
New European Bauhaus : Beautiful, Sustainable, Together
Table of Contents
MOBILISING EU PROGRAMMES
NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS’ DEDICATED CALLS
A.1. TRANSFORMATION OF PLACES ON THE GROUND
A.1.1. Horizon Europe - Pillar 2 Global challenges and European industrial competiveness
A.1.2. European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
A.1.3. Single Market Programme
A.2. TRANSFORMATION OF THE ENABLING ECOSYSTEM FOR INNOVATION
A.2.1. LIFE Programme
A.2.2. Horizon Europe - Pillar 3 Innovative Europe
A.2.3. Single Market Programme - COSME Pillar
A.3. DIFFUSION OF NEW MEANINGS
A.3.1. LIFE-New European Bauhaus Knowledge Sharing Platform
A.3.2. ERASMUS+ activities for youth, school education and teachers
NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS’ CONTRIBUTING CALLS
B. 1.TRANSFORMATION OF PLACES ON THE GROUND
B.1.1. Horizon Europe - Pillar 2 global challenges & European industrial competiveness
B.2. TRANSFORMATION OF THE ENABLING ECOSYSTEM FOR INNOVATION
B.2.1. Single Market Programme
B.2.2. Horizon Europe - Pillar 2 global challenges & European industrial competiveness
B.2.3. Creative Europe – Cross-Sectoral Strand
B.2.4. ERASMUS+ Partnerships for Innovation – Alliances for innovation
B.2.5. ERASMUS+ Partnership for Excellence - Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVE)
B.3. DIFFUSION OF NEW MEANINGS
B.3.1. Horizon Europe - Pillar 2 global challenges & European industrial competiveness
B.3.2. Creative Europe – CULTURE Strand
B.3.3. European Solidarity Corps
MOBILISING EU PROGRAMMES
Commission services have defined the first elements of a support framework for the implementation of the New European Bauhaus with a number of pilot actions starting in September 2021. A collective effort will be necessary in the financial dimension, hence at EU level, the combination of several EC financing instruments based on their complementary scope will be the essential element. The financial impact of the proposal related to the EU contribution will be accommodated within the current financial envelopes 2021-2027 of the programmes concerned and within the agreed staff resources.
There will be a need to reinforce the financial support offered by the EU programmes with other local, regional, national funds under shared management to ensure the diffusion of the concept on the ground. Especially the changes in the built environment require a massive funding that can only be achieved by combining all possible sources. The Commission will devote particular attention to the coordination of the different programmes during their deployment.
The support framework can be divided in two components: a first set of calls has been dedicated specifically to the financing of New European Bauhaus projects; a second set of calls has included the New European Bauhaus as a priority or as an element of context, providing opportunities for projects to contribute to the initiative while not focusing exclusively on it.
NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS’ DEDICATED CALLS
A.1. TRANSFORMATION OF PLACES ON THE GROUND
The first layer of the support framework should aim at supporting local concrete transformation on the built environment in accordance with the core values of aesthetics, sustainability and social inclusion. Achieving the goals of New European Bauhaus through the implementation of local transformation projects will require extensive support to capacity building of regional and local authorities and managing authorities
A.1.1. Horizon Europe - Pillar 2 Global challenges and European industrial competiveness
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FOR: All eligible entities under HE |BUDGET: EUR 25 million |WHEN: September 2021- January 2022 |
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HORIZON-MISS-2021-NEB-01-01: Support the deployment of lighthouse demonstrators for the New European Bauhaus initiative in the context of Horizon Europe missions: The lighthouse demonstrators will tackle NEB-relevant challenges using a mission-oriented approach (impactful, measurable, targeted), taking into account the three core NEB principles (sustainability, inclusion, aesthetics). Deployment of at least five ambitious and highly innovative ‘lighthouse demonstrators’ across the EU. |
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FOR: All eligible entities under HE |BUDGET: EUR 10 million |WHEN: September 2021- January 2022 |
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HORIZON-CL4-2021-RESILIENCE-02-32: Social and affordable housing district demonstrators (IA): Demonstrators of innovative solutions for a sustainable and inclusive renovation of social and affordable housing districts following an integrated neighbourhood approach, in line with the objectives of the Affordable Housing Initiative, will contribute to the implementation of the New European Bauhaus. |
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FOR: All eligible entities under HE |BUDGET: EUR 2 million |WHEN: 2022 |
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HORIZON-MISS-2021-CIT-01-02: Collaborative local governance models to accelerate the emblematic transformation of urban environment and contribute to the New European Bauhaus initiative and the objectives of the European Green Deal: the call will aim at supporting innovative and collaborative models of local governance involving all citizens to think about climate-neutral urban transformation while promoting the New European Bauhaus principles.
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FOR: All eligible entities under HE |BUDGET: EUR 1 million |WHEN: September 2021 - January 2022 |
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HORIZON-CL5-2021-D4-02-03: Strengthening European coordination and exchange for innovation uptake towards sustainability, quality, circularity and social inclusion in the built environment as a contribution to the New European Bauhaus (this topic will be implemented under the Built4People Partnership). The call will aim at supporting a coordination and support action for: increasing the uptake of innovative solutions for a sustainable, human-centric and inclusive, quality built environment; intensifying peer-learning; increasing awareness on benefits from innovation and synergetic cross-border cooperation in the built environment sector; better acknowledging and integrating quality architecture and design principles; strengthening networking and co-financing of innovation. |
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FOR: All eligible entities under HE | BUDGET: EUR 6 million |WHEN: January 2022 – April 2022 |
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HORIZON-CL2-2022-HERITAGE-01-10: The New European Bauhaus – shaping a greener and fairer way of life in creative and inclusive societies through Architecture, Design and Arts: The role of quality architecture as considered by focusing on sustainable and inclusive architecture and design as a means to embrace human diversity and ensure well-being, accessibility and safety for all. The interconnection between virtual and physical spaces should be taken into consideration, including with a view to the emerging concept of “hybrid environment”. |
A.1.2. European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
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FOR: Public authorities | BUDGET: EUR 2.5 million |WHEN: February 2022 |
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Technical Assistance: Capacity building, identification of funding sources, developing methodologies and sound processes underpinning the participatory co-design at local level, investigating wider horizontal angles such as enabling/inhibiting factors for the generation of New European Bauhaus projects. |
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FOR: Public authorities | BUDGET: EUR 20 million | WHEN: Q3 2022 |
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European Urban Initiative: Support an additional number (4 or more) of highly innovative projects. The call will fund projects to deliver tangible, real-life examples of New European Bauhaus interventions integrating the three core values of the NEB. |
A.1.3. Single Market Programme
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FOR: eligible under Single Market Programme |BUDGET: EUR 1.2 million |WHEN: July 2021 – October 2021 |
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SMP-COSME-2021-HOUS-01 Affordable Housing Initiative: Set-up an Affordable Housing Initiative partnership at EU level that will deliver support to local industrial partnerships (local authorities, social housing providers and construction SMEs, investors) for better access to funding opportunities, financial and technical assistance, as well as capacity building, exchange of best practices and knowledge transfer. This partnership will mobilise affordable and social housing actors at local level to roll-out lighthouse renovation projects at district level targeting social and affordable housing and following an integrated neighbourhood approach (sustainability, liveability, access to local and social services, innovation, business opportunities). |
A.2. TRANSFORMATION OF THE ENABLING ECOSYSTEM FOR INNOVATION
Our production systems must be fully based on a more thorough understanding of the societal and cultural impacts of products and services, relying also on “design for all” approaches that can cut across disciplines. Innovation should also be aiming at the integration of sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics into new solutions and products.
A.2.1. LIFE Programme
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FOR: All eligible entities under LIFE |BUDGET: EUR 13 million (estimated budget for New European Bauhaus projects) | WHEN: July 2021 – November 2021 |
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LIFE-2021-SAP-ENV-ENVIRONMENT: The LIFE projects will support the New European Bauhaus initiative to make the Green Deal a cultural, human centred and positive, “tangible” experience. Specific incubator projects targeting transversal environmental challenges with the involvement of the relevant scientific, governmental, civil and entrepreneurial communities in view to design future ways of living, situated at the crossroads between science, environment, art and culture. These projects will integrate the three dimensions of the New European Bauhaus. Non-exclusive specific areas of intervention could encompass, for example, the urban, recreational, living and working environments, buildings and building fabrics, mobility schemes, sustainable materials, recycling, sustainable soil use, green space development and biodiversity protection, etc. |
A.2.2. Horizon Europe - Pillar 3 Innovative Europe
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FOR: Start-ups | BUDGET: EUR 700 000 |WHEN: October 2021 |
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Acceleration of the New European Bauhaus start-ups by the EIT: identify the most promising European start-ups and scale-ups with innovative solutions able to support the New European Bauhaus. Accelerate them with the most fitting services to grow European champions that can support the NEB initiative to propel job creation, innovation, growth for Europe |
A.2.3. Single Market Programme - COSME Pillar 1
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FOR: Designers, creative professionals, SMEs, tech providers |WHEN: October 2021 | BUDGET: EUR 4 million |
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Worth Partnership Project: One of the calls for expression of interest under the Worth Partnership Project will be dedicated to New European Bauhaus. This incubation and acceleration action provides dedicated support (mentoring, coaching and visibility) to business partnerships between designers, manufacturers/craftsmen and tech providers. The selected partnerships receive support to develop new business ideas (products, services, production processes or business models) in lifestyle industries, including furniture home décor, interior design and architecture, as well as fashion. |
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FOR: public buyers (cities, regions, hospitals, central purchasing bodies, etc.) |WHEN: Open BUDGET: no pre-established amount allocated to the New European Bauhaus |
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The Big Buyers collective intelligence and action programme (Big Buyers 3 – BB3) aims to foster cooperation between participants to improve procurement practice, share expertise, jointly engage the market, and foster the use of innovation procurement. The participants should prepare elements for the relevant procurement procedures. Moreover, their aggregate weight should be used to pull the market towards developing innovative solutions. This project aims at contributing to the economic recovery of the EU, stimulating innovation and start-ups. At least one of the 10 Working Groups that will be established must be set in the area of the New European Bauhaus. |
A.3. DIFFUSION OF NEW MEANINGS
A more systematic application of co-design processes involving communities and civil society and relying on inter-generational and multidisciplinary collaboration (including, among others, science and technology, digital applications, sociology, social sciences, political science, economics, culture, education, design) seems to be a key element to address social and environmental challenges as reported by the contributors to the New European Bauhaus co-design phase.
A.3.1. LIFE-New European Bauhaus Knowledge Sharing Platform
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FOR: ALL | BUDGET: EUR 150.000 | WHEN: November 2021 |
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A platform meeting to showcase projects financed through LIFE and H2020 programmes which are good examples of already deployed New European Bauhaus’ realities to provide inspiration for new projects to support a wider diffusion of the New European Bauhaus values. |
A.3.2. ERASMUS+ activities for youth, school education and teachers 2
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FOR: any public or private organisation active in the field of youth |WHEN: 2022 |BUDGET: (tbc) : no pre-established amount allocated to the New European Bauhaus |
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The European Youth Together action supports transnational partnerships for youth organisations aiming to reinforce the European dimension of their activities, enabling young people across Europe to set up joint projects, organise exchanges and promote trainings. This action can contribute to New European Bauhaus related activities. |
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FOR: School staff in ECEC 3 , primary, secondary, VET (e.g. teachers, headmasters) | WHEN: 2022 |BUDGET: n.a. 4 |
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The eTwinning 2022 annual theme will be ‘Our future beautiful, sustainable, together: Schools and the New European Bauhaus: Imagining a creative learning environment in green and inclusive schools’. Teachers and school staff will be invited to reflect with their students about their school in the "post-Covid" time. They will develop their vision of the ideal school. The annual eTwinning theme is prominently covered by campaigns throughout the year, the eTwinning annual conference in October, and the eTwinning annual book. In addition, major New European Bauhaus events relevant for school education stakeholders will be added to the calendar on the School Education Gateway as such relevant for adult education professionals will be added to the Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe (EPALE calendars. The respective social media channels of all platforms will cover these equally. |
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FOR: Organisations having completed an Erasmus+ project including outstanding teaching practices |BUDGET: No specific budget for awardees | WHEN: T2 2022 |
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The European Innovative Teaching Award 2022 could focus on topics related to the New European Bauhaus, in particular the link between sustainability, participation and inclusion, as well as innovative teaching and learning and the whole school approaches that would bring together all actors at community level. It would highlight successful projects in the Erasmus+ programme and provide these projects an opportunity to connect and work together. |
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FOR: DiscoverEU participants |BUDGET: no pre-established amount allocated to the New European Bauhaus |WHEN: 2022 |
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Every year, DiscoverEU promotes activities around a certain theme. In 2022, the annual theme of DiscoverEU will be linked to the New European Bauhaus initiative. |
NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS’ CONTRIBUTING CALLS
Some other actions will contribute to achieve the New European Bauhaus’ objectives by including the initiative as an element of context in their calls.
B. 1.TRANSFORMATION OF PLACES ON THE GROUND
Research and experimentation in relation to the construction, renovation and heritage sectors can contribute to the new European Bauhaus in developing new tools and new solutions which can be embodied in transformation projects.
B.1.1. Horizon Europe - Pillar 2 global challenges & European industrial competiveness
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FOR: All eligible entities under HE |BUDGET: no pre-established amount allocated to the New European Bauhaus | WHEN: June 2021 – September 2021 |
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HORIZON-CL4-2021-TWIN-TRANSITION-01-10: Digital permits and compliance checks for buildings and infrastructure (IA): 3 projects to enhance a) efficiency and productivity gains, fewer errors in design and construction processes; b) Automated, faster, more accurate and more efficient permitting and compliance for construction works (e.g. regulatory, health and safety, performance); c) Improved build quality and resource efficiency in construction, in line with the aims of the New European Bauhaus initiative. |
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FOR: All eligible entities under HE |BUDGET: no pre-established amount allocated to the New European Bauhaus |WHEN: October 2021 – March 2022 |
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HORIZON-CL4-2022-TWIN-TRANSITION-01-09: Demonstrate the use of Digital Logbook for buildings (IA): 2 projects to work on a) Improved resource efficiency and decarbonisation of buildings; b) Improved linkages of existing databases, tools and sources for digital building logbooks; c) Improved usability of digital building logbooks through user eXperience, taking into account issues of accessibility as well as inclusivity; d) New or improved tools for collection and update of relevant data; e) Demonstrate other benefits of using digital building logbooks e.g. safety and health in buildings and construction for instance by structural health monitoring; cost effectiveness, efficiency gains in terms of time; enhanced climate resilience. |
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FOR: All eligible entities under HE |BUDGET: no pre-established amount allocated to the New European Bauhaus | WHEN: October 2021 – February 2022/ September 2022 |
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HORIZON-CL6-2022-CIRCBIO-02-01-two-stage: Integrated solutions for circularity in buildings and the construction sector (IA) to contribute to the New European Bauhaus by: 1) projects on increased deployment and market uptake of innovative solutions a) for construction, waste prevention, lifetime extension and improvement of lifecycle performance of buildings and their components; b) to design and manufacture for disassembly, waste prevention and management, reuse and recycling in the construction sector, including production and assembling; 2) Enhanced diffusion of advanced digital solutions; 3) Increased recovery and recycling rates of construction and demolition waste; 4) Improved elimination of hazardous substances from secondary materials; 5) Increased upcycling of reused and recycled material in construction; and 6) Increased knowledge about the overall environmental footprint of buildings and construction materials and increased practical application of the Commission’s Product Environmental Footprint method. |
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FOR: All eligible entities under HE |BUDGET: no pre-established amount allocated to the New European Bauhaus |WHEN: September 2021 – January 2022 |
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HORIZON-CL5-2021-D4-02-02: Cost-effective, sustainable multi-functional and/or prefabricated holistic renovation packages, integrating RES and including re-used and recycled materials (Built4People). Should cover large-scale, real life demonstration of promising technology innovations that respect sustainability life cycle principles, are useful for a wide range of environmental conditions and lead to an improvement of indoor environment and user comfort, satisfaction, as well as accessibility while keeping respect of the aesthetic, the historical value and/or the local architectural identity. |
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FOR: All eligible entities under HE |BUDGET: no pre-established amount allocated to the New European Bauhaus |WHEN: September 2021 – January 2022 |
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HORIZON-CL5-2022-D4-02-03: Sustainable and resource-efficient solutions for an open, accessible, inclusive, resilient and low-emission cultural heritage: prevention, monitoring, management, maintenance, and renovation (Built4People). To deliver technically and socially innovative, sustainable, energy and resource-efficient solutions for the cost-effective improvement and preservation of cultural heritage built environment along all relevant aspects: inclusion, accessibility, resilience, environmental and energy performance and along all life cycle. The involvement of relevant stakeholder groups (e.g. civil society organisations, associations, cultural heritage stakeholders such as cultural heritage protection bodies) and citizens’ acceptance and socially innovative ideas should be ensure. |
B.2. TRANSFORMATION OF THE ENABLING ECOSYSTEM FOR INNOVATION
Transformation of places along the New European Bauhaus principles will also require the adaptation of business models and the developments of new approaches. In this context, the social economy can bring an important contribution to the initiative.
B.2.1. Single Market Programme
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FOR: eligible under Single Market Programme | BUDGET: EUR 4 million | WHEN: September 2021 |
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Social Economy and Local Green Deals supporting SMEs to be more resilient: This call for proposals will support building partnerships across regions and cities on Local Green Deals and on social economy to boost territorial resilience and re-design of local economic growth. Focus on capacity building for cities/local authorities’ & social economy enterprises, citizens’ participation & empowerment The action will support partnerships in implementing Local Green Deals, and in fostering social economy community resilience for sustainable and inclusive local development and the twin transition. New European Bauhaus is one among the priority themes. |
B.2.2. Horizon Europe - Pillar 2 global challenges & European industrial competiveness
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FOR: All eligible entities under HE |BUDGET: no pre-established amount allocated to the New European Bauhaus |WHEN: June 2021 – September 2021 |
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HORIZON-CL4-2021-RESILIENCE-01-31: European Technological and Social Innovation Factory (RIA): Financial and capacity building support for social innovators to develop their ideas into concrete solutions that will contribute to the New European Bauhaus. |
Innovation involving the creative and education sector can also contribute to the objectives of the New European Bauhaus.
B.2.3. Creative Europe – Cross-Sectoral Strand
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FOR: Organisations active in Culture and Creative Sectors |WHEN: June – 5 October 2021 BUDGET: no pre-established amount allocated to the New European Bauhaus |
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CREA-CROSS-2021-INNOVLAB Creative Innovation Labs support the design and testing of innovative digital solutions with a potential positive long-term impact on multiple cultural and creative sectors. The Labs facilitate the creation of innovative solutions (e.g. tools, models and methodologies) that should be easily replicable and have a potential for market penetration. Projects can focus on Greening of the value chain across the cultural and creative sectors, including actions that contribute to the New European Bauhaus. |
B.2.4. ERASMUS+ Partnerships for Innovation – Alliances for innovation
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FOR: public and private organisations active in the fields of education and training |BUDGET: TBC 5 | WHEN: 2022 |
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The Alliances for innovation under Erasmus+ (targeting cooperation between a wider range of stakeholders: students, universities, companies, NGOs, civil society etc.) will contribute to the New European Bauhaus related activities through a dedicated priority. It would target both higher education and VET sectors. |
B.2.5. ERASMUS+ Partnership for Excellence - Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) 6
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FOR: Vocational Education and Training (VET) providers, higher education institutions , research institutions, science parks, innovation agencies, companies, chambers and their associations, social partners, social enterprises, sectoral skills councils, among others |WHEN: September/October 2021 |BUDGET: no pre-established amount allocated to the New European Bauhaus |
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The CoVE initiative supports a bottom-up approach to Vocational Excellence involving a wide range of local stakeholders. It enables VET institutions to rapidly adapt skills provision to evolving economic and social needs, including the digital and green transitions. They could contribute to the delivery phase of the New European Bauhaus initiative by collaborating with the communities involved in the local transformations fostered by the initiative. CoVEs operate in a given local context, being the linchpin of skills ecosystems for innovation, regional development, and social inclusion, while working with CoVEs in other countries through international collaborative networks. |
B.3. DIFFUSION OF NEW MEANINGS
Working with communities in a collaborative will be a fundamental learning space for the new European Bauhaus.
B.3.1. Horizon Europe - Pillar 2 global challenges & European industrial competiveness
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FOR: All eligible entities under HE |BUDGET no pre-established amount allocated to the New European Bauhaus |WHEN: June 2021 - October 2021 |
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HORIZON-CL4-2021-HUMAN-01-19: Testing innovative solutions on local communities’ demand (CSA): Co-create and test societal solutions, so that research and innovation developed in Europe can be tested with local communities, supporting the collaborative approach promoted by the New European Bauhaus. |
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FOR: All eligible entities under HE |BUDGET: no pre-established amount allocated to the New European Bauhaus |WHEN: October 2021 – February 2022 |
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HORIZON-CL6-2022-GOVERNANCE-01-08: A successful proposal will contribute to the wide deployment and added value of environmental observations by improving the uptake and validation of data collected by citizens, and by increasing citizen involvement and engagement, thus contributing to the European Green Deal objectives and a strengthened Global Earth Observation System of Systems. Due to the focus on the urban environment and the request for consideration to be given to the social and cultural dimensions of citizen observation and engagement, projects should seek to contribute to the New European Bauhaus. |
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FOR: All eligible entities under HE |BUDGET: no pre-established amount allocated to the New European Bauhaus |WHEN: October 2021 – February 2022 |
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HORIZON-CL6-2022-COMMUNITIES-01-05: Assessing the socio-politics of nature-based solutions for more inclusive and resilient communities: Projects should seek to contribute to the New European Bauhaus initiative by supporting the green and digital transitions in communities’ living environments through merging sustainability, inclusion and quality of experience. Small-scale pilots could be envisaged to explore nature-based solutions that are innovative, either in their functional scope, socio-economic reach, integrative approaches or application in new settings. |
Cultural, education and youth volunteering projects can usefully contribute to the New European Bauhaus.
B.3.2. Creative Europe – CULTURE Strand 7
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FOR: Organisations active in Cultural and Creative Sectors |BUDGET: no pre-established amount allocated to the New European Bauhaus |WHEN: 2022 |
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European cultural cooperation projects aim to foster cooperation between organisations active in the culture field, to increase the European dimension of creation and circulation of European artistic content as well as to encourage the development, experimentation, dissemination or application of new and innovative practices. European cooperation projects are also meant to contribute to the implementation of emerging EU policy initiatives in the field of culture such as the New European Bauhaus. The appropriate calls will include topics and thematic priorities relevant to the New European Bauhaus. |
B.3.3. European Solidarity Corps
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FOR: Organisations and young people eligible to participate in the actions of European Solidarity Corps |BUDGET: (tbc) 8 | WHEN: 2022 |
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For the European Solidarity Corps 2022 annual call, the New European Bauhaus initiative is part of the horizontal priority on environmental sustainability and climate goals. |
https://eufundingoverview.be/funding/cosme
The Erasmus funding may be complemented by other national or European funds, such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility, European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) the European Social Fund (ESF+), the Technical Support Instrument (TSI), Horizon Europe, and InvestEU.
Early Childhood Education and Care
The annual eTwinning theme is organised and implemented by the eTwinning Central Support Service financed by Erasmus+. All related activities, publications, and campaigns are integral part of the respective service contract.
The budget for this action is part of the Erasmus+ annual work programme 2022, including the split of the yearly budget between actions, to be validated by the Erasmus+ Committee and decided by the Commission on a yearly basis.
Centres of Vocational Excellence webpage
The budget for this action is part of the Creative Europe annual work programme 2022, including the split of the yearly budget between actions, to be validated by the Creative Europe management Committee and decided by the Commission on a yearly basis.
The budget for this action is part of the European Solidarity Corps 2022, including the split of the yearly budget between actions, to be validated by the European Solidarity Corps+ Committee and decided by the Commission on a yearly basis
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Brussels, 15.9.2021
COM(2021) 573 final
The New European Bauhaus policy ecosystem
ANNEX
to the
Communication from the European Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Commitee and the Committee of the Regions
New European Bauhaus : beautiful, sustainable, together
Table of Contents
THE NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS POLICY ECOSYSTEM
1. The Green Deal
1.1. The Renovation Wave
1.2. The Fit for 55 package
1.3. The Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP)
1.4. The Zero Pollution Action Plan
1.5. The EU Strategy on Green Infrastructure
1.6. The European Adaptation Strategy
1.7. The EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030
1.8. The Farm to Fork Strategy
1.9. The EU Forest Strategy
1.10. The Textile Strategy
1.11. The Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability
1.12. The EU Bioeconomy Strategy
1.13. The European Climate Pact
1.14. The Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy
2. Territorial Policies
2.1. The Cohesion Policy
2.2. The long-term Vision for the EU’s rural areas
3. Cultural and Creative sectors
3.1. The New European Agenda for culture
3.2. The European Framework for Action on Cultural Heritage
4. The Social dimension
4.1. The Strategies for a Union of equality
4.2. The European Pillar of Social Rights
4.3. The EU Strategy on the rights of the Child and the European Child Guarantee.
5. Education and Skills
5.1. The European Education Area
5.2. The Education for Environmental Sustainability
5.3. The European Skills Agenda 2030
6. The Digital Decade
6.1. The 2030 Digital Compass
6.2. The Digital Europe Programme
6.3. The Data Governance Act
6.4. .4 The AI package
7. The Research and Innovation
7.1. The Horizon Europe
7.2. The Horizon Europe missions:
8. Industrial and entrepreneurial dimension
8.1. The New Industrial Strategy for Europe
THE NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS POLICY ECOSYSTEM
The New European Bauhaus aims at the integration of sustainability with social inclusion and with aesthetics, and other elements of the quality of experience. It is therefore transversal by nature and transdisciplinary by design.
The New European Bauhaus aims at creating bridges and connections between disciplines, places and people, using the collective intelligence and knowledge to address the complexity of the challenges ahead of us. Integrated approaches are also able to optimise policies’ impacts, by fostering synergies for mutual reinforcement.
The New European Bauhaus is building on a rich EU policy context, which brings strategic objectives and reference points in the various dimensions that the initiative will aim at integrating. While often focusing on only one of the New European Bauhaus dimensions, many policy initiatives already contribute to creating enabling conditions for its development. The present annex aims at presenting this relevant policy frameworks,
1.The Green Deal
1.1.The Renovation Wave 1
The Renovation Wave Communication COM(2020) 662 illustrates the aims of the proposed New European Bauhaus. The Renovation Wave sets out a number of relevant principles for decarbonisation towards 2050, such as: life-cycle thinking and circularity; decarbonisation and integration of renewables; affordability; energy efficiency first; high health and environmental standards; safety; accessibility; tackling the twin challenges of the green and digital transitions; respect for aesthetics and architectural quality. It identifies the most vulnerable people and the worst-performing buildings in the residential, administrative, educational and healthcare segments as the key priority areas for renovations.
The Renovation Wave Action Plan includes a set of follow-up initiatives in different policy areas. Amongst those, the 2050 Roadmap for the reduction of Whole Life Carbon of buildings (ready 2023), under the Renovation Wave, shall serve as a basis for future policy and market developments for a long period of time and at all geographical levels – EU, national and local. It will be based on life cycle thinking and specifically take into account the potential that circularity has to reduce carbon emissions overall, thereby supporting the achievement of climate objectives. It shall provide a vision and in this way set out the direction of travel for the sector and public authorities.
1.2. The Fit for 55 package
Two elements of the Fit for 55 package are in particular interesting for the New European Bauhaus: The Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency and the Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings. Both support the transformation of the built environment in line with the climate targets of the European Union.
Beyond those, the New European Bauhaus will contribute to the implementation of the Fit for 55 legislative package by bringing new innovative ideas for increasing energy efficiency in built environment, sustainable infrastructure and integration of renewable energy and nature based solutions into built environment. It combines climate change considerations and sustainability with quality of our living experience.
1.3.The Circular Economy Action Plan 2 (CEAP)
The second CEAP adopted in 2020 aims at increasing resource efficiency, reducing consumption footprint and overall environmental and climate impacts. In addition to a series of legislative measures, it put forward a series of voluntary instruments, including Green Public Procurement (GPP), EU Ecolabel and Level(s), to foster sustainable production and consumption of resources thus contributing to the EGD objectives. Of particular relevance for the New European Bauhaus, existing GPP criteria for sustainable buildings are being revised, to be firmly based on circularity concepts, via the Level(s) 3 indicators. The scope focuses on typical public buildings such as offices, social housing and schools, and covers both new built and renovation. The criteria covers circularity, health and comfort, resilience to climate change and life cycle cost, and will support public procurers in leading the way towards more sustainable buildings. This activity will contribute to the development of the New European Bauhaus self-assessment tool for guidance to measure how far a project is sustainable, inclusive and aesthetic. Businesses and consumers can contribute to the New European Bauhaus initiative by purchasing EU Ecolabelled products and services which meet high environmental standards throughout their lifecycle EU Ecolabel criteria are available for hard covering products, wood-, cork- and bamboo-based floor coverings, paints and varnishes, textile products, furniture and bed mattresses. The CEAP announced a modernisation of EU waste legislation and reiterated that the Commission will consider the setting of preparing for re-use and recycling targets for construction and demolition waste and its material-specific fractions.
1.4.The Zero Pollution Action Plan 4
The EU Action Plan “Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil” sets out the ambition to ensure that pollution, including indoor, does not harm our health and ecosystems. This is particularly relevant in the places where we live. Therefore, it sets out flagships to identify key urban greening and innovation needs and to use of Local Digital Twins to prevent pollution, indoor as well as outdoor. It will therefore contribute to the sustainability dimension of the New European Bauhaus
1.5.The EU Strategy on Green Infrastructure 5
Green Infrastructure reconnects vital natural areas to urban hubs and restores and improves their functional roles. It is an essential planning concept towards protecting natural capital and simultaneously enhancing quality of life and with this it makes an essential contribution to sustainability which is a key element for the European Bauhaus Initiative.
1.6.The European Adaptation Strategy 6
The new EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change aims to increase and accelerate the EU’s efforts to protect nature, people and livelihoods against the unavoidable impacts of climate change. It therefore will contribute to the sustainability dimension of the New European Bauhaus in facilitating the integration of climate resilience considerations into the construction and renovation of buildings and critical infrastructure. The Horizon Europe mission on Adaptation to Climate Change is a key implementation vector of the Strategy. Tailor-made and place-based responses and measures, closely involving citizens in their design, development, and testing, will be one area where both the New European Bauhaus and climate adaptation policy can align.
1.7.The EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 7
The EU’s Biodiversity Strategy stressed the multiple benefits from Green urban spaces including green roofs and walls, which are a major element for the New European Bauhaus Initiative both for the important contribution to sustainability and for their aesthetic aspect. The recent lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic have shown us the value of green urban spaces for our physical and mental wellbeing. In addition, vegetation will help to cool urban areas and mitigate the impact of natural disasters. The implementation of the Biodiversity Strategy and the deployment at scale of nature-based solutions will contribute to the New European Bauhaus as the design by nature is one of the most efficient, sustainable and definitely aesthetical.
1.8.The Farm to Fork Strategy 8
The Farm to Fork Strategy aims to make food systems fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly. It aims at making sure that everyone has access to sufficient, safe, nutritious, sustainable food and to decrease the food loss and waste prevention. The Farm to Fork Strategy contributes to the New European Bauhaus goals of sustainability and inclusion, for example through urban food systems, edible gardens and circular food systems.
1.9.The EU Forest Strategy 9
The EU’s Forest Strategy strives for bigger, healthier and more diverse forests than we have today, notably for carbon storage and sequestration, halting loss of habitats and species and delivering on forests’ socio-economic functions for decades to come. It also argues that when building a sustainable and climate-neutral economy, we ensure an optimal use of wood in line with the cascading principle. This means that wood should be used as much as possible for long-lived materials and products. The current low market share of wood as construction material needs to be increased, replacing energy intensive and fossil fuel-based materials. To roll out the sector at scale, further research and innovation on Long-lasting and safe wood-based construction material will be needed. This includes wood for buildings, which will play a role in the New European Bauhaus Initiative.
1.10.The Textile Strategy 10
This strategy will change how we produce, use and reuse textiles. The younger generations will have a specific role to bridge generations, refashion our textiles and to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. This will be encouraged by supporting new business models for durability, repairability and sharability, development of innovative materials, recovery of materials for furniture or construction products in line with the waste hierarchy and the New European Bauhaus principles, demonstrations and awareness raising projects funded via EU funding programmes such as LIFE and Horizon Europe .
1.11.The Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability 11
There are significant concerns by the EU population about harmful chemicals and related consequences for health and the environment. Materials and products used in construction for interior and exterior design, textiles, low-carbon mobility, batteries, wind turbines, renewable energy sources and consumer products include a large variety of chemicals, not few of them are harmful and may affect our quality of life. The actions under the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability towards a toxic-free environment aim at better protecting citizens and the environment, and promote chemicals and materials, that are safe- and sustainable-by-design, by developing relevant criteria to support the green transition, thus also ensuring that future buildings, infrastructures and other products will be safer contribute to sustainable future and reduce the overall environmental footprint.
1.12.The EU Bioeconomy Strategy 12
The bioeconomy seeks new ways of producing and consuming resources while respecting our planetary boundaries and moving away from a linear economy based on extensive use of fossil and mineral resources. Renewable bio-based material and green environments can support: (1). Reaching carbon neutrality, circularity, and sustainability goals; (2). Creating employment, especially rural jobs and livelihoods; and (3). Peoples’ quality of life (e.g. in terms of building materials, wood is considered to be aesthetically pleasing, to reduce stress, and to have good acoustic properties).
1.13.The European Climate Pact 13
The New European Bauhaus is closely linked to the European Climate Pact, an EU-wide initiative inviting people, communities and organisations to participate in climate action and build a greener Europe. The Pact encourages pledges, measure progress and facilitate discussions between the various actors involved in the supply chain leading to renovation. It will co-create solutions with citizens through Horizon Europe, and distil ideas that might contribute to the New European Bauhaus. The European Climate Pact already has more than 500 Ambassadors 14 that will accelerate climate action and hence contribute to certain areas highlighted by the New European Bauhaus.
1.14.The Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy 15
The ‘Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy’ sets out a blueprint for the EU transport system to achieve its green and digital transformation and become more resilient to future crises. This strategy contributes to the New European Bauhaus by making transport a key enabler for ensuring social interaction, and by bringing people and regions in Europe closer together. It also provides solutions to make transport and mobility more sustainable, contributing to making our cities and towns a healthier place to live. It also aims to make mobility more available and affordable to all, including those with reduced mobility, in line with inclusiveness principle of the New European Bauhaus
2.Territorial Policies
2.1.The Cohesion Policy
Cohesion policy is a key instrument supporting the green and fair transformation across cities and regions in Europe thus contributing to the European Green Deal and the Renovation Wave. As the cohesion policy operates under shared management, it offers an important potential and opportunity for New European Bauhaus’s rooting in urban and regional development ecosystems and further buy-in from the national, regional and local authorities. The integrated territorial development promoted by cohesion policy and dedicated instruments allow national, regional and local stakeholders to apply New European Bauhaus principles to investments in a territorially sensitive manner. Furthermore, Cohesion Policy offers a unique opportunity to create new solutions through cross-border and transnational cooperation
The support for sustainable urban development through the obligatory urban earmarking of the European Regional Development Fund (8% of the total national allocation) and the European Urban Initiative (EUR 400 million) offer possibilities for addressing complex urban challenges, which require interdisciplinary policy responses to the green transition along with the New European Bauhaus principles, by fostering place based, integrated and inclusive approach and engagement of local stakeholders.
Furthermore, Cohesion policy is expected to invest more than EUR 100 billion in projects related to climate and environment in the 2021-2027 period. In addition, it will finance research into greening of the economy. Concerning investments in buildings, cohesion policy can support projects targeting public buildings, multi-apartment blocks, and ‘social housing’. Cohesion policy can also help regions boost RD&I in the construction and building sector and support development of new materials and solutions for affordable and durable renovations.
2.2.The long-term Vision for the EU’s rural areas
The Commission Communication on the long term Vision for the EU’s rural areas identifies the main challenges that rural areas are facing and highlights the opportunities that are available.
The Vision aims to address those challenges, by building on the emerging opportunities of the socially sustainable green and digital transitions and on the lessons learnt from the COVID 19 pandemic, and by identifying means to improve rural quality of life, achieve balanced territorial development and stimulate economic growth. Based on foresight and wide consultations with citizens and other actors in rural areas, the Vision proposes a Rural Pact and a Rural Action Plan, which aim to make our rural areas stronger, connected, resilient and prosperous; it calls for all Funds to work together for the sustainable development of rural areas.
Among the proposed actions, the Flagship on support to rural municipalities in energy transition and fighting climate change encompasses actions to improve the quality of rural housing and other buildings and it promotes the use of structural funding to finance the renovation wave, specifically connecting to the New European Bauhaus initiative.
3.Cultural and Creative sectors
3.1.The New European Agenda for culture 16
One of the guiding principles of the New European Agenda for Culture and the Council Work Plan for Culture 2019-2022 is the contribution of culture to sustainable social and economic development. This is reflected in several ongoing Member States’ expert groups coordinated by the Commission (on high-quality architecture, cultural heritage and climate change and the cultural dimension of sustainable development) while others address the wider ecosystem (artists’ working conditions, gender equality…).. In addition, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) will set up a Knowledge and Innovation Community specifically in the field of Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries (CCSI). Another strategic objective of the Agenda is to harness the power of culture and cultural diversity for social cohesion and well-being. The Agenda thereby contributes to the objectives and the three dimensions of New European Bauhaus.
3.2.The European Framework for Action on Cultural Heritage 17
As a legacy of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, the European Framework highlights, through 60 actions, the potential of cultural heritage to enhance social capital, boost economic growth and secure environmental sustainability. As a distinctive part of our (built) environment, cultural heritage and historic buildings can help achieve the New European Bauhaus objectives of inclusive, beautiful and sustainable development.
4.The Social dimension
4.1.The Strategies for a Union of equality
The European Commission is engaged in achieving a Union of equality. Dedicated strategies 18 set out mechanisms and actions to create the conditions for everyone to live and thrive regardless of differences based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. In addition to targeted actions, enhanced mainstreaming of equality and accessibility in all relevant EU policies, legislation and funding programmes, including the New European Bauhaus, will be key in achieving a Union of Equality.
The Strategy for the rights of the persons with disabilities 2021-2030 19 highlights that accessibility to the built and virtual environments is a precondition for persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life. Accessibility is also a key element of sustainability of buildings, making them more inclusive, usable by more diverse people and more durable, as better suited for the changing needs of an ageing population. Relevant for the New European Bauhaus is also the objective set out in the EU Roma strategic framework to increase effective equal access to adequate desegregated housing and essential services up to 2030.
4.2.The European Pillar of Social Rights 20
With the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, the Commission has set out the ambitious target of reducing by at least 15 million the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU by 2030 – including at least 5 million children. The New European Bauhaus will contribute to favour social inclusion by promoting accessibility principles, not only for physical accessibility, but also for accessibility to the information and to the decision making processes. Particular attention will also be devoted to affordability related actions. Both initiatives are therefore closely interlinked.
4.3.The EU Strategy on the rights of the Child 21 and the European Child Guarantee 22 .
Fighting child poverty, and promoting inclusive and child-friendly societies, health and education systems are key elements of the EU Strategy on the rights of the Child as they are for the New European Bauhaus too. Asserting that each child has the right to an adequate standard of living from the earliest stage of life, the Strategy underlines that children from low-income families are at a higher risk of severe housing deprivation or overcrowding, and are more exposed to homelessness. The Council recommendation establishing a European Child Guarantee calls on the Member States to provide effective access to adequate housing (as well as to several other key services, some of which should be free) to all children at risk of poverty or social exclusion. The national action plans on how to implement the European Child Guarantee should cover the period until 2030 and should be combined with those aiming for territorial transformations in the frame of the Green Deal.
5.Education and Skills
5.1.The European Education Area
The Education for Climate Coalition 23 seeks to co-create a participatory education community to support the changes needed for a climate-neutral society. Via its online platform, and in general, through its community interaction, the Education for Climate Coalition can host conversations and participatory challenges (“pledges”) around New European Bauhaus related priorities. Concretely, the Education for Climate Coalition can encourage actions promoting cross-fertilization between green schools, as physical structures, and all the other elements of a learning environment (innovative pedagogies, project-based learning, cross-subject teacher teams, etc.).
European Universities 24 alliances can contribute to the New European Bauhaus by encouraging students from different disciplines and countries to work together with architects, artists, engineers and designers to make sustainability happen. They will also promote a whole-institution approach where sustainability is embedded in all activities, in line with the New European Bauhaus.
5.2.The Education for Environmental Sustainability
A proposal for a Council Recommendation on education for Environmental Sustainability is foreseen for end 2021. Its objective is to support the integration of the green transition and sustainability into all phases and stages of education and training, including school, higher education and professional training.
Erasmus+ provides various ways of support to school and higher education actions on education for environmental sustainability, including the support of whole-institution approaches to sustainability, as well as creativity and innovation in line with the New European Bauhaus.
5.3.The European Skills Agenda 2030 25
The combined effects of rapid technological change, digitalisation, climate change, demographic trends, and new forms of work, call for innovative ideas to ensure that education and vocational training not only adapts to change but is also at the forefront of mastering and driving this change. The European Skills Agenda will be fundamental for the implementation of the New European Bauhaus since its aims to improve the relevance of skills in the EU to strengthen sustainable competitiveness, ensure social fairness and build our resilience, spelling out the right to quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning. It is hence firmly anchored in the European Green Deal, new Digital Strategy, and the new Industrial and SME Strategies as skills are key to their success. Moreover, it also supports the proposal for a Council Recommendation on a “Bridge to Jobs – reinforcing the Youth Guarantee”.
6.The Digital Decade
6.1.The 2030 Digital Compass 26
Building on the Shaping Europe’s digital future strategy which set out a programme of policy reform, with the Data Governance Act, the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, the Artificial Intelligence Act, and the Cybersecurity Strategy, the Digital Decade aims at translating EU’s digital ambition for 2030 - to be digitally sovereign in an open and interconnected world, and to pursue digital policies that empower people and businesses to seize a human centred, sustainable and more prosperous digital future – into concrete terms. The targets that are defined for accelerating the provision of cross cutting digital technologies and services (skills, connectivity, digitalisation of business and public services) will contribute to responding to the challenges identified by the New European Bauhaus (connectivity, digital divide, bridging local to global levels). The mobilisation and strengthening of European Digital Innovation Hubs is a key objective of the Digital Decade. Some of the 200 hubs in the network are expected to also focus on the construction sector, or creativity and the arts. Those will be mobilised in the New European Bauhaus context to develop sustainable, inclusive, real and virtual environments and experiences.
6.2.The Digital Europe Programme
The newly established Digital Europe Programme will provide strategic funding to accelerate the economic recovery and shape the digital transformation of Europe’s society and economy, notably via the development and wide use of digital technologies.
In particular, the Digital Europe Programme will support participatory approaches and the deployment of infrastructures for smart communities that will contribute to the implementation of the NEB development. The fostering of Local Digital Twins can foster participatory urban planning for a greener and sustainable living environment. The DEP will also support a number of AI-Testing and experimentation facilities (TEF) which will foster innovation in among others health and smart communities.
Several digital initiatives, through Creative Europe, Europeana, or the S+T+ARTS program will help building bridges between digital innovators and “makers” (artists, cities managers and developers, health sector), that will contribute to NEB success.
6.3.The Data Governance Act
The Commission proposed in November 2020 a Data Governance Act, which sets the framework for data sharing and governance of data spaces. This will provide the legal framework to be able to gather, rely on and use more data to craft the buildings of the future with more friendliness to the environment and the least or zero carbon footprint.
6.4.The AI package
Through the AI package adopted in April 2021, the Commission has put the basis of a first legal framework on artificial intelligence in the EU, as well as launched a coordinated plan with the Member States. The aim of the package is to guarantee the safety and fundamental rights of people and businesses, while strengthening AI uptake, investment and innovation across the EU. The use of AI will be a key component for new business models that will develop within the New European Bauhaus and a source of innovative digital solutions for personalised approaches, while maintaining an optimal equilibrium with both aesthetics and working with and reconnecting with nature.
7.The Research and Innovation
7.1.The Horizon Europe 27
Horizon Europe will support Europe’s green transition based on competitive European industrial and service value chains. Such a transition requires substantial efforts in interdisciplinary research and innovation in the fields of clean technologies and social transitions as the New European Bauhaus promotes. Research and innovation will determine the speed at which this transition can take place, directly affecting the impacts and co-benefits, such as better air quality, increased employment, social inclusion, sustainable resource management, and reduced dependency on fossil fuels. All these measures will benefit society and citizens by offering solutions that address the challenges of our time. Cooperation and creativity – especially scientific, social and technological – are the bedrock of peace and prosperity for all. Research and innovation can also play a role in disseminating the New European Bauhaus beyond the EU, through the Global Approach to Research and Innovation 28 , such as by sharing information on standards, best practice, and new ideas.
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), through its Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), implements activities bringing together the knowledge triangle of education, research and innovation to deliver on the goals of the New European Bauhaus. Through its place-based model of intervention and its ecosystem of more than 2000 partners located across the EU, the EIT engages with citizens and raises awareness on the New European Bauhaus, supports new business ideas integrating the principles of the New European Bauhaus, and accelerates the growth of New European Bauhaus start-ups.
7.2.The Horizon Europe missions 29 :
To help foster ambitious, daring, long-term research and innovation, there are five missions proposed under Horizon Europe. These are: (1) 100 Climate-Neutral Cities by 2030 – by and for citizens; (2) A Climate Resilient Europe: Prepare Europe for climate disruptions and accelerate the transformation to a climate resilient and just Europe by 2030; (3) Caring for Soil is Caring for Life; (4) Mission Starfish 2030: Restore our Oceans and Waters; and (5). Conquering Cancer: Mission Possible. These missions aim to produce European public goods on a grand scale to solve major systemic challenges. Like the New European Bauhaus, the missions aim to inspire the public and capture their imagination, to engage and co-create with citizens and stakeholders, and to develop ideas, prototypes, products and solutions to drive the green and digital transitions. Beyond the launch of New European Bauhaus lighthouse demonstrators, missions on cities and climate adaptation show great promise for developing further synergies with the New European Bauhaus. The Cities mission will launch a specific action to include New European Bauhaus principles and values in the development of the Climate City Contracts.
8.Industrial and entrepreneurial dimension
8.1.The New Industrial Strategy for Europe 30
Industry and enterprises are important players in delivering infrastructure, products, and services enabling and contributing to rolling out New European Bauhaus realisations across Europe and beyond.
The European Commission updated its industrial strategy in May 2021to ensure our industrial ambition takes into account the new circumstances following the COVID-19 crisis, while ensuring that the European industry can lead the way in transitioning to a green, digital and resilient economy. Transition pathways for the 14 identified ecosystems will be crucial to achieve that objective. The construction ecosystem has been prioritised to deliver on that transition which will be based on a co-created roadmap, with stakeholders and different Commission sectors through the High Level Forum on Construction.
The transition pathway of the construction ecosystem is relevant for the New European Bauhaus as it addresses sustainability to help better protect people and the environment by encouraging innovation, better skilled people and by developing safe and sustainable alternatives or sustainability of construction products and improvement of the energy efficiency and environmental performance of built assets. In addition to construction, also “proximity, social economy and civil security”, “cultural and creative industries”, “tourism” or “textiles” industrial ecosystems, identified under the Industrial Strategy, are in particular relevant for New European Bauhaus. Green and digital transformation in these ecosystems, supported by upcoming transition pathways can greatly contribute to advancing the values of the New European Bauhaus in a concrete manner and across different value chains.
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/topics/energy-efficiency/energy-efficient-buildings/renovation-wave_en
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/pdf/circular-economy/new_circular_economy_action_plan.pdf
COM(2021)400: https://ec.europa.eu/environment/strategy/zero-pollution-action-plan_en
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/ecosystems/strategy/index_en.htm
‘EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change’, COM(2021)82 Final
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/strategy/biodiversity-strategy-2030_en
https://ec.europa.eu/food/horizontal-topics/farm-fork-strategy_en
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/strategy/chemicals-strategy_en
https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/eu-climate-action/pact_en
https://europa.eu/climate-pact/ambassadors/meet-our-ambassadors_en
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020DC0789
European framework for action on cultural heritage - Publications Office of the EU (europa.eu)
The Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, the EU Anti-racism Action Plan 2020-2025, the EU Roma strategic framework for equality, inclusion and participation for 2020-2030, the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy, and the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030.
https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en&pubId=8376&furtherPubs=yes
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52021DC0142
https://ec.europa.eu/info/files/communication-global-approach-research-and-innovation_en
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52020DC0102&from=EN
