Community Update

An update for everyone following the New European Bauhaus event of 12 December 2024 - "New European Bauhaus: Updates and Opportunities ahead". The answers to your Slido questions have now been been published on the event's page. Rewatch the recording, download speakers' presentations and find answers to you questions of interest all in one place.

The European Commission launched a call for evidence and opened a public consultation to evaluate the Public Procurement Directives (2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU, 2014/25/EU). 

The evaluation aims to assess whether the directives:

• Foster high competition in the single market
• Boost SME participation
• Simplify and make procurement processes more flexible
• Ensure transparency and integrity in public spending
• Promote a greener, more social, and innovative EU economy It will also explore how well the directives address current challenges like resilience, coherence with other EU initiatives, and opportunities for simplification. 

Share your views by 7 March 2025! The consultation is open to all and available in all EU languages. Learn more and participate by clicking here.

On 28 November 2024, the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE) and Europa Nostra hosted the conference “New European Bauhaus: Heritage & Transformation” in Kraków, Poland. The event showcased exemplary best practices, cutting-edge solutions for conservation, retrofitting, and adaptive reuse, while also addressing the barriers and opportunities that drive innovation in these fields. The event concluded with the preview of the Kraków Declaration (download PDF), a collaborative initiative by ACE, Europa Nostra, and ICOMOS. It puts forward 7 key recommendations for the future of Europe’s built environment, from favouring renovation and adaptive reuse, embracing innovation and traditional knowledge, upskilling and citizens’ participations, to quality criteria, peer-learning and risk management and preparedness.

For more information, click here. 

The municipality of Valverde de Burguillos was awarded by the Regional Government and the College of Architects of Extremadura for its excellence in "Local Sustainable Development" while promoting NEB values and actions (such as the participatory co-creation of its 2030 Rural Agenda, the creation of a local energy community, the restoration of its historical fountains and the promotion and protection of its ancestral water heritage). Valverde de Burguillos is also known for organizing every April a three-day-long "Rural NEB Festival" focused on rural repopulation jointly with two partners of the NEB network: Fundación Repoblación and Compañía Maximalista S. Coop.

CrAFt NEB Pocket Guide is a resource designed to support cities and communities in reimagining the built environment to harmonise with nature, people, and culture. Building on the ideas from the CrAFt Cookbook, this guide shares insights, tools, and good practices gathered from CrAFt Sandbox and reference cities, as well as European project networks. It highlights practical methods and inspiring examples to help cities learn from one another and adapt innovative ideas to their own contexts, fostering climate-neutral, inclusive, beautiful, and sustainable spaces. The NEB Pocket Guide presents new tools that can be practically applied across various groups and stages of local collaboration.

Download the NEB Pocket Guide (PDF)

From 2019 to 2023, the A-place project, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme, engaged residents, artists, students, civic representatives, and local administrators across six European cities to transform urban spaces into vibrant places that foster a sense of belonging and identity in multicultural and interconnected societies. The activities occurred in contexts that combine artistic and educational practices, both onsite and online, and employed a variety of media and techniques (including photography, video, music, literature, object-making, and performances).

The work conducted during the four years across six European cities - Bologna, Barcelona, Brussels, Ljubljana, Lisbon, and Nicosia - is now compiled in a book, which offers a thorough and reflective account of the project's work, serving as a guide to the extensive resources amassed on the website. It aims to inspire readers to embrace placemaking as a tool for building stronger, more connected communities across geographic and cultural boundaries.

Find more information about the project  and download your version of the book via this link.

For some months, a team of 40 people at Solar Solidarity International has been preparing an Encyclopedia of the New European Bauhaus. The Encyclopedia is about to be finalised and you can contribute to it too!

The latest Table of Contents can be found at the following link. Please feel free to contact Odile and Alexandre (info@solarsolidarity.org) before 16 January 2025 with any comments, subjects and/or possible contributions for consideration and review by the editorial team.

Date & Time: 6-7 March, 2025
Place: Brussels
Registration: Click here

In collaboration with fellow European Union funded projects: CrAft - Creating Actionable Futures, AEGIR and INGUMA Biobased, NEBULA is hosting an event to discuss the project's results and lessons learnt on how:

• Clusters can drive innovation for sustainable construction across Europe
• Renovation can become more sustainable, beautiful and inclusive
• Digital tools and education can help implement the New European Bauhaus (NEB)
• The NEB is taken up with municipalities

The coming together of several EU-funded projects will provide a unique opportunity to share findings about sustainable innovation in the built environment. Day one of the event will focus on innovation for the built environment, while day two will focus on NEB impact and skills. Places are limited - register now!

Date & Time: 13 January 2025, 16:00-17:00 CET
Platform: Zoom
Registration: click here

The Brussels Chapter of the New European Bauhaus is inaugurating 2025 with a get-together of all Brussels-based NEB partners and friends, to meet, (re)discover each other and make plans together. If you are interested to join, please save the date for a first 2025 virtual meeting followed by a live workshop. Join to find out what the chapter has done so far and what are the new ideas in the works, get to know participants in the room and take part in setting up thematic tables for follow-up and working together.

NEB local chapters are gaining their role in the New European Bauhaus ecosystem, indicating a growing network and offering opportunities to share insights and best practices across regions.