The importance of culture and inclusion

The New European Bauhaus continues making strides as we near the end of 2021. On 30 November the Council of the European Union adopted conclusions welcoming the initiative and endorsing culture, high-quality architecture and built environment as key elements of it.

This month we spoke to two more members of the New European Bauhaus  high level roundtable to hear about their visions for the initiative.

Alexandra Mitsotaki is an activist, social entrepreneur and cofounder of the World Human Forum. She agrees that culture is central: “Europe needs a cultural identity. The New European Bauhaus, by touching on all aspects of our lives, can provide this.”

Portuguese architect and academic Jose Pedro Sousa says that one of the most notable features of the New European Bauhaus is “the relevance given to culture as a decisive agent of change.” He adds that the initiative “must be a cultural project so that changes can reach each one of us and last in time.”

Drawing inspiration from a wide range of views

Alexandra notes that for the initiative to be successful in transforming our societies, “we must listen to each other but most importantly our political and corporate leaders must learn to listen to what the so called ‘ordinary citizens’ have to tell them, because it is they who are and will be creating the new civilisation we need. I also hope that small grass roots projects will finally find a way to be acknowledged and funded.”

On top of the several funding opportunities currently open, the New European Bauhaus fits well with the upcoming European Year of Youth. Throughout 2022 the Commission aims to draw inspiration from the actions, vision and insights of young people to further strengthen and invigorate the common EU project. Several activities are in the planning for the New European Bauhaus under this theme including launching a Call for Expression of Interest on Places of Education & Knowledge in the first quarter of the next year, so stay tuned!

Mobilising expertise from across disciplines

Both Alexandra and Jose Pedro agree that a diversity of views and expertise from across disciplines is essential. One key takeaway for Alexandra from the high level roundtable is “the importance of diversity, of collective intelligence and indeed of listening to each other and respecting each other.”

Jose Pedro adds that “the New European Bauhaus is a bold and inspiring movement that challenges us to unite and thus imagine, design and build a more sustainable, pleasant and inclusive future. We have a lot to learn from each other. Collaboration across disciplines is essential to imagine and develop the holistic strategies we need to address the complex and demanding challenges we face.”

Taking this multidisciplinary approach, on 30 November the European Commission organised a high-level workshop on ‘research and innovation for the New European Bauhaus’. It brought together leading experts in many fields relevant to the New European Bauhaus: from the built environment, from climate, from social innovation, and others. The experts will produce a short report to feed into the ongoing discussions on the research and innovation needs of the initiative in the framework of Horizon Europe programme. The report is expected to be published in January 2022.