New European Bauhaus at a glance

A values-based approach is another way to embed sustainability. The European Green Deal is being brought to life through a place-based approach that aims to develop beautiful, sustainable and inclusive forms of living together.

The European Green Deal aims to transform the European Union into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy.

A new initiative – the New European Bauhaus (NEB) – has been developed to bring the European Green Deal to life.

New European Bauhaus

The European Commission launched the design phase of NEB in January 2021. NEB is an environmental, economic and cultural project, that aims to combine design, sustainability, accessibility, affordability and investment, within initiatives that will help to deliver the European Green Deal and support recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

NEB writes that ‘inspiring a movement starts with values’. NEB’s core values are:

• sustainability: climate goals, circularity, zero pollution, and biodiversity
• aesthetics: quality of experience and style, beyond functionality
• inclusion: valorising diversity, equality for all, accessibility and affordability.

In this video, Xavier Troussard, Head of the NEB Unit at the European Commission’s Joint Research Center explains the NEB movement.

Citizen co-design

The Bauhaus was first created in 1919, emerging during the transition into the modern industrial era. The founders sought solutions to challenges within industrialisation, taking a transdisciplinary approach involving artists, designers, architects and craftspeople.

The Bauhaus became a cultural movement.

In 2021, a six-month participatory, co-design phase commenced to renew the Bauhaus. The co-design phase started with an open invitation for people to:

• contribute their experiences, ideas and visions to inspire its development.
• identify challenges and issues the project should address, including ideas and expertise of how this should be done.

Involving diverse groups

NEB’s approach involves people in all of their diversity including disadvantaged groups so that no one is left behind and to acknowledge that the most creative solutions are born from collective thinking.

Disadvantaged groups include persons at a higher risk of poverty, marginalisation and/or discrimination, such as young and older people, people with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, non-binary, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people and people with a minority racial or ethnic background.

Your task

The NEB states that it will ‘create the space to explore and test policy, funding and other tools for designing and building a better everyday life for all generations’.

• Consider a major sustainability project – this could be one in your city that you have been involved in, or one of interest to you. What core values do they express and were these values developed in a participatory way?
• How do the values reflect the principles of the New European Bauhaus?
• How do you think the NEB can be enhanced to drive towards the development of inclusive, low-carbon, well-governed cities?

Share your ideas in the comment section below.