Today, the Commission announced 15 winners of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) Prizes 2023 and 14 selected projects of the first European Urban Initiative - Innovative Actions call during at a ceremony, taking place at the ‘NEB in Regions and Cities’ event in Brussels with Commissioner Ferreira.
- 22 June 2023
NEB Prizes 2023
Out of the 61 finalists, 15 winners with exemplary initiatives of the New European Bauhaus will receive a monetary prize of up to €30,000 and a communication package to help them further develop and promote their projects and concepts.
The third edition of the Prizes received more than 1,400 applications. To celebrate the European Year of Skills, the Prizes 2023 also included an additional strand focused on education and learning.
For the first time, the Prizes 2023 accepted applications from the Western Balkans in addition to the EU MS. Among the 15 winners, one winner is from the Wester Balkans, which demonstrates a great enthusiasm to the NEB initiative beyond the EU.
The Prizes celebrate and award inspiring examples of existing projects and ideas from young talents, to make Europe more sustainable, beautiful, and inclusive. Discover all about the finalists and their projects on the NEB Prizes webpage.
First EUI – Innovative Actions laureates
The 14 laureates of the first European Urban Initiative – Innovative Actions call dedicated to the New European Bauhaus come from varied EU urban contexts, representing 12 EU countries, with a majority of small and medium size cities, but also four capital cities and mostly ‘new comers’, not having previous benefited from the Urban Innovative Actions (UIA).
Supported by €65 million from the European Regional and Development Fund, the winning projects will serve as a new generation of NEB demonstrators in the areas of constructing and renovating in a spirit of circularity and carbon neutrality, preserving and transforming cultural heritage, adapting and transforming buildings for affordable housing solutions, and regenerating urban spaces.
Each project will receive up to up to a maximum of €5 million ERDF co-financing and project implementation should take place within a maximum period of 3,5 years.
The initiative generated strong interest from all over the EU, with 99 applications from 21 EU Member States and 125 urban authorities involved, 76% of which from small and medium size cities (less than 250 000 inhabitants).
The New European Bauhaus in Regions and Cities event
The New European Bauhaus in Regions and Cities event took place on 21-22 June, in Brussels. Organized around the Awards Ceremony of the NEB Prizes 2023, the event was an opportunity to reflect on the contribution of EU’s cohesion policy to the NEB initiative over the past three years.
With over 350 participants, the event also served as a forum for learning and exchange, bringing together people, institutions, municipalities, and regions that are implementing or have an interest in developing projects following the principles of the New European Bauhaus.
Additionally, event served to reinforce the existing vibrant New European Bauhaus community by actively engaging key stakeholders of cohesion policy. It aimed at effectively bridging the missing link between grassroots and municipalities who are creators of NEB projects and managing authorities of cohesion policy. This interaction aimed at building a stronger connection and collaboration between these two groups, explore funding opportunities, and boost the delivery of the NEB through cohesion programmes.
The first day of the event, 21 June, was dedicated to technical workshops dedicated to the implementation of the NEB, with the support of cohesion policy. The second day of the event featured a high-level panel discussion, and the Awards Ceremony, where we celebrated and announced the winners of the Prizes 2023 and the 14 selected projects of the first European Urban Initiative - Innovative Actions call d
You can watch the Awards Ceremony, and other key moments of the NEB in Regions and Cities event on the NEB Prizes platform (prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu).
Next steps
In April 2024, the Commission will organise the fourth edition of the New European Bauhaus Prizes, in the context of the second edition of the NEB Festival. Interested organisations and individuals can propose their own activities, projects or satellite events to one of the three calls to become a spotlight feature of The Festival. The calls are open until 15 September.
Commissioner for Cohesion Policy and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, who awarded the Prizes and announced the winner of the call said: “For a third year in a row, the NEB Prizes recognise bottom-up initiatives embodying the NEB values: beauty, sustainability, inclusivity. Transforming and improving people’s lives, as well as empowering local communities are also key principles of Cohesion policy. This is why we have been supporting the NEB community from the very beginning. I am glad that this year, beyond the NEB prizes, we will also be announcing additional support for innovative solutions to make cities of all sizes better places to live in through dedicated investment for NEB projects under the European Urban Initiative. The NEB and Cohesion association is turning bright ideas into inspiring projects.”
Xavier Bertrand, President of the Hauts-de-France Region said; "Thanks to the rich work of urban actors from 21 Member States, new ideas and approaches can be developed in Europe by integrating the values of the New European Bauhaus: sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics. The highly innovative and integrated solutions selected by the Region and the Commission will allow citizens to experience new ways of building greener and more inclusive cities. I would like to congratulate the winners of this first call for proposals and encourage cities to submit ideas for the second call, launched at the end of May. The Hauts-de-France Region is fully committed to supporting the implementation and transfer of projects that reflect the diversity of European urban contexts and challenges".