In less than three years, New European Bauhaus (NEB) projects have expanded across every EU Member State and reached countries such as Iceland, Israel, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkiye, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom, the organizers of the festival said in a press release. The New European Bauhaus is taking place in Brussels between April 9 and 13.
The NEB is an initiative launched by the European Commission to translate the European Green Deal into tangible change on the ground that improves citizens' daily lives. It brings about sustainable solutions for transforming built environment and lifestyles for the better under the green transition, matching sustainability with good design that needs less carbon. It makes these solutions inclusive, accessible and affordable for all, while respecting the diversity of places, traditions, and cultures in Europe and beyond.
The European Commission has published a progress report on the state of the initiative in 2024, which reviews its achievements and summarizes main facts and figures.
In only three years after its launch, the NEB has inspired a strong grassroots movement on the ground and the active involvement of Member States, regions and municipalities across the EU. It brought forth numerous activities in every Member State – almost 500 projects in total – in the areas of research and innovation, cohesion, regional and urban development, skills development and culture. There is now a vibrant NEB Community in place with almost 1,400 members to date uniting non-profit organizations, businesses, public authorities, NEB project holders, National Contact Points, and members of the NEB High-Level Roundtable, reaching several millions of Europeans. A strong network of practitioners promotes a growing number of NEB innovation, research and project implementation initiatives across several sectors and policy areas, while the New European Bauhaus Prizes motivate many individuals and organizations to on-board the NEB ideas and values in their projects.
Over the four editions of the NEB Prizes (2021-2024), almost 5,000 applications have been received and, to date, 52 winners have been awarded monetary prizes ranging from EUR 15,000 to EUR 30,000. In 2024, 20 winners are set to receive a total of EUR 390,000 in monetary prizes (over the four editions, more than EUR 1,5 million will have been awarded to 72 winners) at the fourth New European Bauhaus Prizes Ceremony on April 12.
As of March 2024, close to EUR 380 million have been committed to the NEB. In addition, the NEB principles have been used in numerous calls for proposals on various EU policies financed by EU budget in different programmes such as Erasmus and DiscoverEU.
A total of EUR 90 million has been invested in 20 "lighthouse" demonstration projects, focusing on a variety of themes including building renewal, circular economy, arts, cultural heritage, education, smart cities and urban and rural regeneration.
Within the New European Bauhaus, the NEB Lab and the NEB Academy were also launched. Through the dynamic NEB Lab platform, NEB Community members can come together to self-organize, propose projects, and seek partners for the implementation of bottom-up NEB initiatives. The NEB Academy, a flagship initiative of the European Year of Skills, will offer high-quality, well promoted and accessible trainings to boost skills on sustainable construction and accelerate the fair and green transformation of the building sector. It supports the EU’s ambition to upskill or reskill 25% of the European construction industry’s workforce in the next five years (i.e. 3 million workers).
The New European Bauhaus also hosts a number of events in support of Ukraine's sustainable and inclusive recovery.
The second edition of the NEB Festival will kick off, welcoming visitors at the Parc du Cinquantenaire and the Art and History Museum in Brussels. The Festival includes musical performances, dance, theatre, movie nights, along with engaging debates and discussions on how to shape together a more beautiful, sustainable and inclusive future. On the line-up are speakers such as Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of the Museum of Modern Art, sound, and installation artist Emeka Ogboh, and Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban.
The event will be officially opened on April 9 by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, EU Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, European Commissioners Iliana Ivanova and Elisa Ferreira, Belgian State Secretary Thomas Dermine and the Director General of IIASA Hans-Joachim Schellnhuber.
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