Community Update

Date & Time: 14 April, 10:00 - 12:00 CET
Place: Online - click here for the streaming link

The NEB Goes to Osaka: Kick-Off & Connect! online event will revolve around 6 flash stories – 3 from Asia and 3 from Europe – on projects that embody the values of the New European Bauhaus: beauty, sustainability, and inclusiveness. Meet the speakers of the event:

1. Alex Hummel Lee, Teaching Associate Professor at the Institute of Architecture, Urbanism and Landscape, Royal Danish Academy
2. Matteo Ward, CEO of Inside Out Fashion, Textiles & Home
3. Seungho Park-Lee, Assistant Professor at the Design Department, UNIST (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology)
4. Takashi Niwa, Founder of Takashi Niwa Architects and Professor of Kyoto University of the Arts
5. Tania Pashynska, Art Director of METALAB and Co-Founder of the CO-HATY project
6. Torben Klitgaard, CEO of BLOXHUB 

Inspired by the famous ‘Pecha Kucha’ format, each speaker will have 20 slides, with 20 seconds per slide to tell their story. Mark your calendars and spread the invitation in your circles!

Date & Time: 11 April 2025, 09:00-10:30 CET
Place: Webex
Registration: Register here before 10 April, 12:00 CET

The Roadmap (PDF download) for implementing the NEB Facility 2025-2027 describes its key objectives, the two components (R&I and roll-out component) and outlines how the Commission, in close collaboration with Member States and NEB stakeholders, will implement this first-ever multiannual financial tool for the New European Bauhaus. The info session will provide you with:

• Comprehensive understanding of NEB Facility's objectives and scope
• Insights into upcoming funding opportunities
• Opportunity to ask NEB Facility-related questions to the NEB team

Please note that the info session will not include a presentation of specific calls that will be published under the NEB Facility. That information will be presented once the calls will be published. If you have any questions about the session do not hesitate to contact Borut Cink.

Last week the European Commission presented a proposal for a revised the EU's cohesion policy. It aims to support key priorities, including competitiveness, decarbonisation, defence, energy transition, water resilience and affordable housing.

The changes aim to make cohesion policy more effective, encouraging investments in strategic areas while reducing economic and social disparities. Notably, the Commission plans to double funding for affordable housing. Member States will also be able to leverage private and public financing by using a new financial instrument set up jointly with the European Investment Bank (EIB). The instrument will combine cohesion funding with the resources of the EIB and of other international financial institutions as well as national promotional and commercial banks

The proposed amendments will now be discussed by the European Parliament and the Council, with the aim of concluding the reprogramming exercise by 2025, allowing new programmes to be implemented in early 2026.
Find more information about the proposal here. 

Date & Time: 29 April 2025, 16:00-17:45 CET
Place: Online, livestream link
Registration: No registration required

More than 240 territories will participate and work side-by-side with the JRC to implement a European Union Preparatory Action on innovation for place-based transformation, supported by the European Parliament, over the next two years.

This Preparatory Action (PA) aims to help territories: enhance their understanding of transformative innovation policies; experiment by using participatory and innovative approaches to address societal challenges; and inform the debate on an EU policy framework fit for the future beyond 2027.

Follow the event to discover which territories are tackling each of the challenges (one of them is New European Bauhaus), what political support is behind this initiative, and the science and data that the JRC can already bring to the table to support territorial transformative innovation. Explore the programme and speakers on event’s website.

The call is open to existing hubs and clusters across the European built environment that are committed to formally engaging with Built4People objectives and being guided by the New European Bauhaus (NEB) principles. Submit your expression of interest here to apply to join the B4PIC Network by 31 May 2025. 

The B4PIC is a network of innovation driven-stakeholders, typically local or regional clusters, accelerating people-centric, EU-scale innovation for a sustainable built environment. Joining the B4PIC Network offers clusters key benefits to enhance their impact and accelerate growth. This includes funding opportunities, research expansion, NEB guidance, high-level networking, increased EU visibility, and the opportunity to communicate directly with the European Commission.

For more details on the B4PIC Network, benefits and the applications process, please access the information sheet here. For additional enquiries please contact by email.

Date & Time: April 24, 12:00–16:30 (lunch served at 12) 
Place: Stockholm, Sweden
Registration: Register here

How can we create cities that are not only sustainable and smart, but also beautiful, inclusive, and human?  
Stockholm Green Innovation District and Stockholm Region EU Office in Brussels invite you to an event showcasing current EU initiatives in sustainability and urban development. Discover concrete examples of how municipalities, property developers, architects, energy and water companies, and others can contribute to the EU’s green transition – while securing future business opportunities. Get to know the event's agenda here. 

The Fundación Repoblación and Compañía Maximalista are launching RuralNEXT, a groundbreaking NEB project to promote rural repopulation. The project consists in rehabilitating historic medieval-era homes in order to offer energy-efficient and affordable homes for youth and families and in transforming the premises of the ancient Templar Church of San Juan in Burguillos del Cerro into a digital technology development center to meet the needs of vulnerable populations, make local rural production more sustainable and productive, and provide training and digital tools to residents. However, the scope of RuralNEXT is not limited to this center—it rather represents a broader rural development strategy, already backed by companies, universities, and local authorities, including the town council of Valverde de Burguillos, a prize-winning example of NEB principles in action. Learn more here (article in the Spanish language) or contact Julia Young for more details.

The challenges of urban development – climate change, social inequities and the transition to a circular economy – can only be tackled through interdisciplinary and cooperative solutions. To this end, ‘Creating NEBourhoods Together’, one of the six lighthouse projects, has been working in co-creative processes with the public, local initiatives, the administration, scientific institutions and companies as well as start-ups since the autumn of 2022 to develop prototypes and solutions in Munich-Neuperlach.

NEBourhoods actions are broad in scope, addressing the challenges of the future. They focus on the design and use of public spaces for all generations, the upgrading of residential buildings and circularity in the building stock. They explore innovations for increased biodiversity, renewable energy, local mobility and sustainable food systems.

The handbook ‘NEBourhoods for Tomorrow’ guide documents the methods, strategies and processes developed in the project’s living labs and serves as both an inspiration and a guide for others who wish to follow similar paths. It provides pointers to jump-start replication, identify potentials and challenges and explain the evaluation with respect to the NEB compass. Insights and success factors from our co-creation and entrepreneurship processes complement the publication.