The New European Bauhaus at the local and regional level.
Date: 2023-08-25
Institutions: Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture
Subjects: EU Member State, EU initiative, artistic creation, case study, circular economy, climate change policy, distribution of EU funding, environmental protection, green economy, innovation, regional and local authorities, regional development, social integration, sustainable development

Commission for
Social Policy, Education,
Employment, Research and Culture

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The New European Bauhaus 
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© European Union, 2023 
Partial reproduction is permitted, provided that the source is explicitly mentioned. 

More information on the European Union and the Committee of the Regions is 
available  online  at  http://www.europa.eu  and  http://www.cor.europa.eu 
respectively. 

QG-04-23-809-EN-N; ISBN: 978-92-895-2908-2; doi: 10.2863/327283 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This report was written by  
Beatrice Errico, Fabio Bisogni, Teresa Levi (Fondazione FORMIT) 

It does not represent the official views of the European Committee of the 
Regions 

.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
Table of contents 

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. 1 
Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 5 
The historical Bauhaus school ................................................................................................ 5 
The New European Bauhaus initiative ................................................................................... 7 

Part 1: The integration of the New European Bauhaus at the local and regional level: 

innovative tools, solutions and funding .................................................................... 9 

Review of local and regional authority implementation of the New European Bauhaus via 
EU funds and programmes to date ....................................................................................... 10 
How the current EU funds and programmes are perceived by the local and regional 
authorities and how their accessibility and user friendliness can be improved ................... 24 
Part 2: The implementation of the New European Bauhaus: how to engage communities, 
develop partnerships and cross-border cooperation ............................................ 37 
Part 3: Case studies ................................................................................................................ 47 
Case 3.1. Eyes Hearts Hands Urban Revolution (EHHUR) (Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, 
Greece, Italy, Portugal) ........................................................................................................ 47 
Case 3.2. Citizen-powered data ecosystems for inclusive and green urban transitions 
(Urban ReLeaf) (Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands) .......................................................... 49 
Case 3.3. Rural Patterns – re-designing the urban space of the city’s centre through 
extended water-permeable paving systems, natural materials, natural elements (Greece) .. 52 
Case 3.4. Social Economy Laboratories for the New Bauhaus in European Rural 
Communities (eLabHauSE.rur) (Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Spain) .......................................... 55 
Case 3.5. Digitally enabled social district renovation processes for age-friendly 
environments driving social innovation and local economic development (drOp) (Estonia, 
Italy, Spain) .......................................................................................................................... 58 
Case 3.6. New European Bauhaus of the mountains (Italy) ................................................ 61 
Part 4: Conclusions, policy recommendations and foresight considerations ................... 65 
Foresight considerations regarding the implementation of the New European Bauhaus at 
the local and regional levels ................................................................................................. 65 
Recommendations to the European Institutions, the Member States and the Local and 
Regional Authorities regarding the implementation of the New European Bauhaus at the 
local and regional level ........................................................................................................ 78 
Annex I – The online consultation ........................................................................................ 85 
Annex II - Script of the interviews carried out to build the case studies (Part 3) ............ 95 
Annex III – Bibliography ....................................................................................................... 99 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
List of acronyms   

AI 
CAET 
CoR/CdR  
COVID-19 
DG R/I 
EIT 
ERDF 
EU 
EUSALP 
IRM 
JRC 
JTF 
LIFE 
LRA 
NEB 
P2P 
PA 
SME 
UAV 
UN 

  Artificial Intelligence 
  Territorial Climate Air Energy Plan 
  European Committee of the Regions/ Comité européen des régions  
  Coronavirus disease 2019 
  Directorate-General on Research and Innovation 
  European Institute of Innovation & Technology 
  European Development Fund  
  European Union 
  EU-Strategy for the Alpine Region 

Integrated Renovation Methodology 
Joint Research Centre 
Just Transition Fund 

  Programme for the Environment and Climate Action 
  Local and Regional Authorities 
  New European Bauhaus 
  Peer-to-peer energy trading 
  Partnership Agreements 
  Small and medium enterprises 
  Unmanned Aerial Vehicles 
  United Nations 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Executive Summary 

The present study aims to analyse the state of the art of the implementation of the 
New  European  Bauhaus  initiative  (NEB)  in  relation  to  the  local  and  regional 
authorities, and how they are delivered it on the ground in adherence with their 
local and regional development strategies.  

On 15 September 2021, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) received 
a  Communication  from  the  European  Commission  on  the  “New  European 
Bauhaus.  Beautiful,  Sustainable,  Together”  (European  Commission  2021)1.  Its 
objective  was  to  introduce  the  NEB  as  an  initiative  enhancing  sustainable 
innovation,  technology,  economy,  and  environmental  transition  through  a 
participatory approach. Therefore, by involving people from different professions 
and  backgrounds,  the  goal  is  to  create  a  movement  that  expresses  the  EU’s 
ambition to create beautiful, sustainable and inclusive places, products and ways 
of living. In doing so, the NEB will create the space to explore and test policy, 
funding and other solutions to design and build a better life for all.  

Against  this  backdrop,  cities  and  regions  play  a  key  role  in  designing, 
implementing and disseminating the NEB. As they have clear responsibilities for 
sustainable  local and  regional policies,  they  are  responsible  for  large  stocks of 
public spaces and buildings and play an important regulatory and funding role in 
their renovation and regeneration processes. Therefore, their participation in the 
NEB is fundamental, to make the initiative more accessible and comprehensive 
of members of the public in the transformation process on the ground.  

On  27-29  April  2022,  the  CoR  adopted  the  opinion  on  the  NEB  (European 
Committee of the Regions 2022)2, outlining that the role of the local and regional 
authorities (LRAs) in implementing the principles of the NEB is acknowledged. 
Since  cities  and  regions  are  at  the  forefront  of  cultural  development,  they  are 
responsible for the implementation of the NEB in public spaces. In its opinion, 
the CoR reaffirmed the importance of the multi-level and place-based approach, 
the identification of bottlenecks and impediments LRAs tackle in the realisation 
of the NEB initiative. Moreover, it proposes new instruments, such as the NEB 
Lab voucher scheme, to support LRAs in financing and organising NEB projects 
in  their  constituency,  to  enhance  cross-border  cooperation  and  partnership  in 
relation to the NEB. 

1 European Commission. 2021. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, 
the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions,  New  European  Bauhaus. 
Beautiful, Sustainable, Together, COM(2021) 573 final, Brussels, 15.9.2021. Accessed July 17, 2023.  
https://new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/system/files/2021-09/COM(2021)_573_EN_ACT.pdf.  
2 European Committee of the Regions. 2022. Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions - New European 
Bauhaus. Beautiful, Sustainable, Together, SEDEC-VII/025. Brussels, 27-29.04.2022. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://webapi2016.cor.europa.eu/v1/documents/COR-2021-05640-00-01-AC-TRA-EN.docx/content.  

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Based  on  the  abovementioned,  this  study  investigates  the  very  recent 
developments related to the NEB at local and regional level, which occurred after 
the launch of the NEB in September 2021.  

The study is based on three main methodological approaches: desk research and 
review of available local and regional level data; wide ranging consultation that 
gathered feedback from 138  LRAs  across the 27 EU Member States about the 
NEB, and interviews with LRAs already involved in the NEB, to build a general 
framework regarding their current and possible future involvement in the NEB as 
well  as  NEB-related  foresight  considerations  and  better  implementation  at  the 
local and regional level.   

Through informed objective evidence, this study is structured in four parts.  

In Part 1, the NEB integration at the local and regional level is analysed. After 
explaining  the  main  key  transformation  actions  of  LRAs  in  the  context  of  the 
NEB,  the  ongoing  and  scheduled  projects  involving  the  LRAs,  thanks  to  the 
financial support of EU funds and programmes, are mapped. The delivery of the 
NEB  is  supported  by  different  dedicated  and  contributing  calls,  to  enable  the 
fostering  of  innovative  and  transdisciplinary  projects  making  places  more 
sustainable, inclusive, and beautiful, which are critically assessed.  

Part 2 is focused on analysing the role of the LRAs in engaging communities, the 
NEB Lab, and developing partnerships and cross-border cooperation in the NEB. 
A set of tools, initiatives and methods is therefore provided, to understand how 
the participatory approach ascribed to the NEB can be exploited at best for further 
cooperation, replicability and dissemination purposes.  

In Part 3, six case studies implementing the NEB at local and regional level are 
described. They provide a better understanding of the ongoing NEB projects and 
a  deep  analysis  of  the  role  of  LRAs  in  delivering  them.  The  case  studies  are 
described considering the NEB three core values (i.e., sustainability, inclusion, 
aesthetics)  and  the  key  principles  of  the  NEB  based  on  the  participatory, 
transdisciplinary,  and  multi-level  approach.  They  support  the  research  by 
explaining the current implementation of NEB projects by LRAs through different 
funding programmes opportunities and intervention areas.  

Finally,  Part  4  is  divided  in  two  subsections.  The  first  one  proposes  foresight 
considerations,  to  explore  possible  implementations  of  the  NEB  at  local  and 
regional  level  that  can  uptake  it  at  best.  Two  scenarios  are  provided,  in  the 
framework  of  the  current  technological  advancements,  to  best  address 
policymakers  in  implementing  strategies  to  satisfy  NEB  place-based  policy 
actions  in  the  future.  The  second  part  presents  concrete  recommendations  to 

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LRAs, Member States and the European Union regarding the implementation of 
the NEB. By way of example, concrete actions should be done in terms of funding 
scheme  and  financing  instruments  to  better  involve  LRAs  in  the  process  of 
implementation of the NEB initiative. Moreover, guidelines to develop specific 
qualitative and quantitative indicators to monitor and evaluate any NEB projects 
should be defined by the EU. 

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Introduction  

The historical Bauhaus school 

Bauhaus’ historic roots lie in the need for housing post World War One and in the 
wake of the changes ushered in by the first two Industrial Revolutions (Rosado-
García, Kubus, Argüelles-Bustillo and García-García 2021, 2)3. It was founded in 
1919  by  Walter  Gropius  in  the  city  of  Weimar,  Germany.  Gropius,  son  of  a 
famous  architect,  had  already  begun  taking  an  interest  in  the  architecture  and 
technology  revolution  then  underway  in  the  early  twentieth  century  (Forgács 
1995, 5)4. At a very young age, he believed that the concept of mass production 
and  industrialisation  might  be  transferred  to  the  field  of  architecture.  In  this 
context, Bauhaus’ main philosophical principle, historically, was “form follows 
function”,  meaning  that  any  work  of  industry  and  technology  is  driven  by  the 
assumption that the functionality of any building should be a deriving factor, and 
form should consequently stem from it as the process goes on. This results in the 
fact that the form should never be considered important (Rethinking The Future 
– RTF website)5. Furthermore, in one of his earliest writings, Gropius developed 
the  idea  of    “the  prosperous  union  of  art  and  technology”  (Forgács  1995,  7)6, 
which remarked the importance of transversality of science, art and technology in 
the architecture field. 

The history of the historical Bauhaus school can be summed up in three distinctive 
stages. The first was directed by its founder, Gropius, who introduced the concept 
of experimenting with ideas, forms and products to combine functionality with 
aesthetics, with a view to merging art and industry, design and craftsmanship, into 
a single movement. Functionality was thus primary to aesthetics, and necessary 
for  its  implementation.  The  school’s  second  period  focused  solely  on 
functionality.  Under  Hannes  Meyer’s  direction  in  Dessau,  the  ideas  emerging 
within  the  historical  Bauhaus  school  were  inspired  by  the  importance  of 
engineering  and  the  social  dimension.  Meyer  was  in  fact  an  ardent  believer  in 
technology's ability to  foster  mass culture,  and  the  importance  of  communities 
rather than individuals to creative work. In architecture, this shift translated into 
functionalism, and a philosophy that Meyer coined “Die Neue Baulehre” (i.e., a 

3 Rosado-García, María Jesús, Renata Kubus, Ramón Argüelles-Bustillo, and María Jesús García-García. 2021.“A 
New European Bauhaus for a Culture of Transversality and Sustainability.” Sustainability 13 no. 21 (October 27, 
2021): 11844. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111844.  
4 Forgács, Eva.1995.“The Bauhaus Idea and Bauhaus Politics.” In  Central European University Press EBooks, 
1995. https://doi.org/10.1515/9789633864968.  
5 Rethinking The Future. 2023. “Theory in Architecture: Form follows function”. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/rtf-architectural-reviews/a3347-theory-in-architecture-form-follows-
function/.  
6 Forgács, Eva.1995. “The Bauhaus Idea and Bauhaus Politics.” In Central European University Press EBooks, 
1995. https://doi.org/10.1515/9789633864968. 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
new way to build) to describe (Astbury 2018)7. The period was therefore marked 
by a denial of the aesthetic concept previously introduced by Gropius, which was 
considered  a  direct  consequence  of  functionalism  (Rosado-García,  Kubus, 
Argüelles-Bustillo and García-García 2021)8. Before its closure in 1933 by the 
Nazis, the historical Bauhaus school underwent a third and final stage. Under the 
direction of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, it was given an architecture education 
imprint and turned itself into a school of architecture based in Berlin (Droste 2002, 
202-203)9.  

The  historical  Bauhaus  school  was  a  milieu  in  which  an  inventive  approach 
addressed  the  need  to  foster  architectural  innovation  by  breaking  down  the 
boundaries between disciplines. It was, therefore, both educational and ground-
breaking,  creating  new  spaces  in  which  design  and  manufacturing  industry 
activities could meld (White-Hancock 2023, 262)10. Barriers between artists and 
craftspeople were thus broken down and artists integrated into manufacturing and 
technological society. This new approach to functionality laid the foundations for 
an intersection between different knowledge dimensions with a new approach to 
architectural innovation fostered by the emerging urgency of the problems and 
conditions  then  facing  Germany.  Its  strongly  pioneering  streak  led  to  the  new 
school’s  approach  turning  into  a  movement  of  international  resonance,  with 
Bauhaus artefacts exhibited all over the world.  

Although the historical Bauhaus school responded to changing needs, it was the 
first  two  Industrial  Revolutions  which  were  instrumental  to  its  birth  (Rosado-
García, Kubus, Argüelles-Bustillo and García-García 2021, 2)11, meaning that it 
is  to  be  contextualised  in  the  era  of  changing  social  and  scientific  paradigms 
ushered in by the Industrial Revolution, demonstrating society's will to find new 
solutions and its yearning for advancement. Since it was closed down in 1933, 
there have been several attempts to regenerate interest in the Bauhaus movement, 
with  limited  success.  It  was  only  in  2018  that  a  need  to  reassess  social, 
technological and environmental conditions led to a co-creation discussion that 
contributed to the launching of the New European Bauhaus in 2021.  

7 Astbury, Jon. 2018. “Hannes Meyer: the “unknown” second Bauhaus director.”  Dezeen, November 12, 2018. 
Accessed July 17, 2023. https://www.dezeen.com/2018/11/12/hannes-meyer-second-bauhaus-director/.  
8 Rosado-García, María Jesús, Renata Kubus, Ramón Argüelles-Bustillo, and María Jesús García-García. 2021.“A 
New European Bauhaus for a Culture of Transversality and Sustainability.” Sustainability 13 no. 21 (October 27, 
2021): 11844. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111844.  
9 Droste, Magdalena. 2002. Bauhaus. 1919–1933. Berlin: Taschen. 
10 White-Hancock, Lorraine. 2023. “Insights from bauhaus innovation for education and workplaces in a post-
pandemic  world.”  In  International  Journal  of  Technology  and  Design  Education  2023;33(1):  261–279.  doi: 
10.1007/s10798-022-09729-2. Epub 2022 Mar 3. PMID: 35261486; PMCID: PMC8890986. 
11 Rosado-García, María Jesús, Renata Kubus, Ramón Argüelles-Bustillo, and María Jesús García-García. 2021.“A 
New European Bauhaus for a Culture of Transversality and Sustainability.” Sustainability 13 no. 21 (October 27, 
2021): 11844. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111844.  

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The New European Bauhaus initiative 

The precursor of the New European Bauhaus is the Davos Declaration12. On 21 
and 22 January 2018, ministers of culture from EU Member States met in Davos, 
Switzerland, to discuss future policies regarding the contribution of urban heritage 
to  enhancing  cultural  diversity  and  achieving  a  holistic  approach  to  its 
development  (Davos  Declaration  2018)13.  Conscious  of  a  loss  of  quality  in 
building and landscape settings across Europe, the meeting acknowledged a need 
to  take  action  to  ensure  future  social,  economic,  environmental  and  climatic 
developments in the light  of the diminishing social cohesion, health, and well-
being (Davos Declaration 2018)14. 

Against this backdrop, the NEB initiative was announced by the President of the 
European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in September 2020, as an extension 
of the European Green Deal, given its desire to connect the latter’s principles with 
our  living  spaces.  The  Green  Deal  tackles  issues  such  as  building  renovation,  
climate  change,  energy  material,  water  use,  life-cycle  costs  and  health.  In 
addition, the inclusion of social and engineering sustainability were further NEB 
turning  points  to  be  considered  when  designing  sustainable  living  spaces 
(European Commission 2020, 19-20)15.  

Based  on  the  ever-increasing  importance  of  putting  in  place  EU  policies  and 
initiatives capable of adding a cultural and creative dimension to the  European 
Green Deal by enhancing sustainable innovation, technological uptake, economic 
growth, inclusion and accessibility for all, on 15 September 2021 the European 
Commission  adopted  a  Communication  setting  out  the  groundwork  for  the 
implementation  of  the  NEB  initiative  (European  Commission  2021).16  In  this 
document the NEB is described as an initiative enhancing sustainable innovation 
and  technological,  economic  and  environmental  transition  via  a  participatory 
approach. By getting people from various professions and backgrounds involved, 
the goal is to create a movement based on tangible action. The first step designed 
to  ensure  this  participatory  approach  was  a  six-month  co-design  phase 

12 Davos Declaration. 2018. “Towards a European vision of high-quality Baukultur.” Conference of Ministers of 
Culture,  Davos  Switzerland,  20-22  January  2018.  Accessed  July  17,  2023.  https://baukultur--production--
storage.s3.amazonaws.com/baukultur/2022-06-09-075742--context-document-en.pdf. 
13 Ibid.  
14 Ibid. 
15 European Commission. 2020. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, 
the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, A Renovation Wave for 
Europe - Greening Our Buildings, Creative Jobs, Improving Lives, COM(2020), 662 final, Brussels, 14.10.2020. 
Accessed  July 17, 2023. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:0638aa1d-0f02-11eb-bc07-
01aa75ed71a1.0003.02/DOC_1&format=PDF.  
16 European Commission. 2021. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, 
the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, New European Bauhaus. 
Beautiful, Sustainable, Together, COM(2021) 573 final, Brussels, 15.9.2021. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/system/files/2021-09/COM(2021)_573_EN_ACT.pdf.  

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
culminating in a conference on the New European Bauhaus in April 2021. This 
shaped  a  new  movement  based  on  three  inseparable  core  values  (i.e., 
sustainability,  inclusion  and  aesthetics)  and  three  principles:  a  multilevel 
approach  -  from  global  to  local  place-based  policies,  a  participatory  social 
diversity engagement and integrated cross-disciplinary professions. The European 
Commission’s  policy  is  designed  to  boost  innovative  strategy,  analysis  of 
obstacles and priorities and evaluation of NEB deliverables via implementation 
of  the  NEB  Lab  community  and  innovative  pilot  project  proposals  (European 
Commission 2021)17. Citizen mobilisation is to generate new solutions through 
inclusive social growth, creativity and synergy innovations.  

During the plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on 
27-29 April 2022, the CoR adopted the opinion on the NEB18. The importance of 
local and regional authorities’ (LRAs) part in implementing NEB principles was 
underlined,  with  LRAs  viewed  as  playing  a  pivotal  role  in  NEB  policy 
development, as well as promoting related environmentally friendly and socially 
fair policies. Their participation in the NEB is thus fundamental, as they must play 
a centre-stage role in the strategy, providing the place-based technical assistance 
and appropriate support and funding essential to making the NEB implementation 
transformation process tangible.  

In this regard, the CoR reaffirmed the importance of implementing a multi-level 
and locally based approach best suited to tackling global challenges by carrying 
out transformative initiatives at the local level, where change is happening and 
matters to people.  

Against this backdrop, this study aims to analyse the NEB state of play as regards 
the LRAs and its consequences for them. There is a particular focus on LRAs’ 
immediate needs and identification of good practices, as well as any challenges 
and bottlenecks getting in the way of the implementation of the initiative, enabling 
recommendations to be made, unlocking the initiative’s full potential and raising 
awareness.  The  study  therefore  critically  assesses  current  EU  action  and 
programmes  promoting  the  NEB  and  their  accessibility  for  LRAs,  as  well  as 
mapping ongoing and planned projects involving LRAs based on EU funding and 
programmes  and  providing  foresight  considerations  regarding  how  best  to 
implement the NEB at the local and regional level in a structured way.  

17 Ibid.  
18 European Committee of the Regions. 2022. Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions - New 
European Bauhaus. Beautiful, Sustainable, Together, SEDEC-VII/025. Brussels, 27-29.04.2022. Accessed July 
17, 2023. https://webapi2016.cor.europa.eu/v1/documents/COR-2021-05640-00-01-AC-TRA-EN.docx/content.  

8 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This study’s challenge is its investigation of the very recent developments which 
occurred after the launch of the NEB initiative in September 2021. It is based on 
three  main  methodological  approaches:  desk  research  and  review  of  available 
local  and  regional  level  data;  wide  ranging  consultation  amongst  LRAs  and 
interviews with a limited number of LRAs already involved in the NEB to build 
a general framework regarding their current and possible future involvement in 
the  NEB  as  well  as  NEB-related  foresight  considerations  and  better 
implementation at the local and regional level.   

Through informed objective evidence, this study is designed to act as a support 
tool  at  all  governmental  levels  (including  the  European  institutions,  Member 
States and the LRAs) in understanding how to make the NEB a success.   

Part 1: The integration of the New European Bauhaus at the local 
and regional level: innovative tools, solutions and funding 

The  NEB  co-design  phase  led  the  European  Commission  to  better  define  the 
concept  and  priorities  any  NEB-related  action  needed  to  address  to  properly 
adhere to it, and how to make implementation feasible.  

It was against this backdrop that  four thematic axes were developed as part of 
overall guidance on the NEB implementation (NEB website)19: 

1.  Reconnecting with nature: enhancing the awareness of, and willingness to 

address, climate change and reduce exposure to pollution; 

2.  Regaining a sense of belonging: connecting people, emphasising the role 

of cultural and social assets as key factors making places unique; 

3.  Prioritising the places and people that need it most: providing affordable 
and accessible solutions for all, with special emphasis on vulnerable groups 
and individuals; 

4.  Fostering  long-term,  life  cycle  and  integrated  thinking  in  the  industrial 
ecosystem, tackling unsustainable use of resources and waste by investing 
in the circular economy.  

By investing  in these  priorities, the NEB initiative  is expected to  contribute to 
achieving three key interconnected transformations:  

19European  Union,  “New  European  Bauhaus”.  Accessed 
bauhaus.europa.eu/about/delivery_en.  

July  17,  2023.  https://new-european-

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1.  Transforming places on the ground: fostering local tangible transformation 
in the built environment according to the three core inseparable NEB values 
of sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics; 

2.  Transforming  the  enabling  environment  for  innovation,  integrating  the 
three core inseparable NEB values in the development of new solutions and 
products and/or in the adaptation of local crafts and knowledge, as part of 
the EU investment in innovation; 

3.  Diffusing  new  meanings,  collaborating  with  communities  to  build  a 

learning space inspired by the three core inseparable NEB values. 

To achieve this, in 2021 the European Commission mobilised a set of EU funding 
mechanisms  with  complementary  aims  reflecting  the  transdisciplinarity  of  the 
NEB.  Several  calls  –  dedicated  or  contributing  to  the  NEB20  –  were  therefore 
launched starting from 2021-2022, differentiated by the key transformation they 
seek to achieve. They are to be considered as part of a support framework so far 
designed by the European Commission to shift the NEB from the co-design to the 
delivery phase on the ground (European Commission 2021, 3)21.  

Review of local and regional authority implementation of the New European 
Bauhaus via EU funds and programmes to date 

As  reported  in  the  New  European  Bauhaus  Progress  Report  (European 
Commission 2023)22, EUR 106.35 million was set aside for the delivery of the 
NEB in 2021 and 2022 through a set of dedicated calls. To enable the NEB to 
foster innovative and transdisciplinary projects making places more sustainable, 
inclusive and beautiful, the European Commission invested in Horizon Europe 
and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as the two  main pillars 
best  fitting  its  purpose.  The  Single  Market  Programme,  the  Digital  Europe 
Programme and the Programme for the Environment and Climate Action (LIFE) 
also contributed to it. Further to this, other EU programmes (i.e., Creative Europe, 

20 i.e., Dedicated calls are designed to enable the EU to implement pilot projects delivering the NEB on the ground. 
As  such,  they  have  budgets  specifically  allocated  to  the  NEB.  By  contrast,  contributing  calls  are  designed  to 
promote  the  NEB,  by  including  it  as  an  element  of  context  or  priority  and  have  no  specific  NEB  budgetary 
allocation.  
21 European Commission. 2021. Mobilising EU programmes. Annex to the Communication from the Commission 
to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the 
Regions, New European Bauhaus. Beautiful, Sustainable, Together, COM(2021) 573 final, Brussels, 15.9.2021. 
https://new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/system/files/2023-01/CP-039%20-
Accessed 
%20Annex%20to%20another%20act%20to%20be%20approved%20by%20the%20Commission%20%281%29
%20%28EN%29%20Part%201.pdf.  
22  European  Commission.  2023.  Report  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council,  the 
European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, New European Bauhaus Progress 
Report,  COM(2023)  24  final,  Brussels,  16.1.2023.  Accessed  July  17,  2023.  https://new-european-
bauhaus.europa.eu/system/files/2023-01/CP-003%20-
%20Report%20from%20the%20Commission%20%28EN%29%20Part%201.pdf.  

2023. 

July 

17, 

10 

 
 
 
 
Erasmus+,  and  the  European  Solidarity  Corps)  were  used,  supplementing  the 
NEB as an additional element of context or priority and allowing organisations 
willing to apply to connect their projects with the initiative.  

The following sections provide an overview of the NEB projects funded under the 
EU NEB dedicated and contributing calls in 2021-2022, with a special focus on 
the extent to which LRAs have participated in their design and delivery process.  

Horizon Europe 

Horizon Europe is the key EU funding programme for research and innovation. 
With a budget of EUR 95.5 billion for the 2021-2027 period, it aims to  tackle 
climate change, help to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals and boost 
EU competitivity and growth. 

At  the  core  of  the  programme  is  a  participatory  approach  encouraging 
beneficiaries  to  join  forces  to  enhance  the  EU’s  contribution  to  research  and 
innovation for better policymaking and further development of the new solutions 
(e.g., knowledge, technologies) that are key to addressing global challenges.  

On 30 November 2021, the Directorate-General on Research and Innovation (DG 
R/I)  and the  Joint  Research  Centre  (JRC)  of  the  European  Commission  held  a 
high-level  workshop  on  “research  and  innovation  for  the  New  European 
Bauhaus”. Leading experts in many fields relevant to the NEB (e.g., architecture, 
design,  energy,  climate,  built  environment,  etc.)  were  invited  to  join  the 
discussion,  which  led  to  the  identification  of  the  key  research  and  innovation 
needs the NEB was to respond to. The results of this session converged in the 
Horizon Europe – New European Bauhaus Nexus Report (European Commission, 
Directorate-General for Research and Innovation 2022)23 which set out its guiding 
principles  in  line  with  current  and  future  Horizon  Europe  objectives24  and 
timeframes. 

In  response  to  the  workshop  inputs,  17  NEB  calls  were  launched  within  the 
Horizon Europe Programme for the 2021-2022 period. The total budget allocated 

23  European  Commission,  Directorate-General  for  Research  and  Innovation.  2022.  Horizon  Europe  –  New 
European Bauhaus Nexus Report. Conclusions on the High-Level Workshopon “Research and Innovation for the 
New  European  Bauhaus”,  jointly  organised  by  DG  Research  and  Innovation  and  the  Joint  Research  Centre. 
Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/9f9acd60-8aec-11ec-8c40-01aa75ed71a1/language-en. 
24 i.e., Promoting open strategic autonomy; restoring Europe’s ecosystems and biodiversity; making Europe the 
first digitally enabled circular, climate-neutral and sustainable economy; and creating a more resilient, inclusive 
and democratic European society. 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
to  NEB  dedicated  calls25  amounted  to  EUR  50.5  mln26.  Additional  9  NEB 
contributing calls were launched during the same period, with a total budget of 
EUR  123  mln27  (European  Commission  2023,  1)28.  One  of  these  is  currently 
awaiting results29. Out of the 16 calls in which LRA participation was possible, a 
total  of  65  projects  have  been  funded.  The  average  number  of  partners 
participating in the consortia as beneficiaries is 9 (5.9 for NEB dedicated calls). 

The  total  amount  of  projects  having  at  least  1  LRA  in  the  consortium  is  34, 
distributed  for  the  NEB  dedicated  and  contributing  calls  for  proposals  in  the 
number of 21 and 13, respectively. The total budget allocated to projects funded 
under the NEB dedicated and contributing calls for proposals having at least 1 
LRA in the consortium is EUR 101.93 mln. The average number of LRAs in these 
consortia is 1.85, while the median value is 1. There are 45 local authorities and 
9  regional  authorities  participating.  The  identified  LRAs  have  the  following 
nationality  (number  of  LRAs):  Belgium  (2);  Bulgaria  (1);  Croatia  (2);  Czech 
Republic (1);  Denmark (1);  Estonia (1);  Finland (1); France  (4); Germany (3); 
Greece  (3);  Ireland  (1);  Italy  (11);  Latvia  (2);  Malta  (2);  the  Netherlands  (5); 
Portugal  (6);  Slovenia  (1);  Spain  (7).  The  LRAs  participating  in  the  funded 
projects with the role of Coordinator are 4, while 50 are Partners. 

25 One of these was not for LRAs, but for start-ups (i.e. acceleration of the New European Bauhaus start-ups by 
the EIT).  
26 It is however important to specify that the total budget of the projects funded is EUR 40.85 mln.  
27 Note, however, that the total budget of the projects funded is EUR 106.54 mln.  
28  European  Commission.  2023.  Annex  to  the  Report  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament,  the 
Council,  the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions,  New  European 
Bauhaus Progress Report, COM(2023) 24 final, Brussels, 16.1.2023. ANNEX 1. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/system/files/2023-01/CP-039%20-
%20Annex%20to%20another%20act%20to%20be%20approved%20by%20the%20Commission%20%281%29
%20%28EN%29%20Part%201.pdf.  
29 i.e., Sustainable and resource-efficient solutions for an open, accessible, inclusive, resilient and low-emission 
cultural heritage: prevention, monitoring, management, maintenance, and renovation (Built4People) (HORIZON-
CL5-2022-D4-02-03).  

12 

 
 
 
 
 
19

46

13

21

106,54

71,64

40,85

30,29

16,5

5,9

Total number
of projects

Total number
of projects with
LRAs

Total amount of 
costs (mln €)

Total costs of 
projects with 
LRAs (mln €)

Average number of
partners in
consortia

Contributing calls

Dedicated calls

Figure 1 – Horizon Europe Programme and NEB projects 

1,4
0,8
Average number of
LRAs in consortia

Out of the projects funded by the Horizon Europe Programme in 2021-2022, the 
six NEB lighthouse demonstrators are pilot projects to be implemented in 12 EU 
Member States30, plus Norway and Turkey, to deliver tangible transformations 
helping the cities involved to adapt their settings according to the challenges they 
face. By addressing topics such as building renovation, circularity, urban and rural 
regeneration and cultural heritage, these will serve as examples of how the NEB 
can be delivered on the ground and be replicated in other cities and/or regions, for 
long-term local, and also global, benefits.  

“Creating  NEBourhoods  Together.  Munich-Neuperlach  as  test-bed  for  urban 
innovation landscapes” (NEBourhoods)31 is one of these projects. Coordinated by 
the city of Munich (Germany), it aims to pave the way to making the borough of 
Neuperlach, in the  southeast of the city, “NEB  ready”.  By  deploying ten NEB 
actions  on  renewable  energy,  greater  biodiversity,  thermal  health,  and  healthy 
food,  the  project  is  expected  to  make  it  future-proof  by  2025  (NEBhourhoods 
website)32.  In  2016,  the  area  was  included  in  federal  and  state  level  urban 
development funding and since then EUR 1.28 mln in urban development funds 

30 i.e., BE, CZ, DE, DK, EL, HR, IT, LV, NL, PT, SE, SI.  
31European Commission, “Creating NEBourhoods Together. Munich-Neuperlach as test-bed for urban innovation 
landscapes”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/how-
to-participate/org-details/999999999/project/101080052/program/43108390/details.  
32  Creating  NEBourhoods  Together,  “Creating  NEBourhoods  Together:  designing  beautiful,  environmentally 
friendly 
2023. 
https://www.nebourhoods.de/en/about.  

neighbourhoods 

future-proof 

together”. 

Accessed 

July 

and 

17, 

13 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
have been already allocated it (Munich 2022)33. As Christian Bernreiter, Bavarian 
Minister  of  State  for  Housing,  Construction  and  Transport,  said  after  being 
notified of the project’s success, “We have been supporting Bavarian towns and 
communities in urban renewal for 50 years. The fact that our funding area has 
now  been  selected  as  a  European  flagship  project  makes  it  clear  that  we  are 
setting the right priorities with urban development funding in Bavaria and are 
keeping a close eye on future issues”34. Prior to submitting the proposal, in 2020-
2021,  the  municipality  set  up  an  integrated  action  plan  with  its  citizens  and 
stakeholders to identify the challenges needing to be addressed. This participatory 
and multi-level approach is part of Munich’s commitment to becoming climate 
neutral and smart, as is confirmed by the fact that the city is one of the EU’s 100 
climate-neutral and intelligent cities by 2030 (European Union 2022, 2)35. 

The importance of this latter EU mission has been further highlighted by the NEB 
dedicated  call  “Collaborative  local  governance  models  to  accelerate  the 
emblematic  transformation  of  urban  environment  and  contribute  to  the  New 
European  Bauhaus  initiative  and  the  objectives  of  the  European  Green  Deal” 
(HORIZON-MISS-2021-CIT-O1-02)  for  which  Creating  Actionable  FuTures 
(CRAFT)36 was funded. Although there are no LRAs in the project consortium, a 
massive collaboration with the six NEB lighthouse demonstrators, other NEB and 
Cities Mission Communities and a heterogeneous set of interested stakeholders, 
including citizens, policymakers, the academia and artists, will deliver a Climate-
Neutral and Smart Cities Guidance Package: NEB Edition made up of at least 
160 collaborative local governance models, tools, good practices and examples. 
At the core of the development process is the need to translate a city vision or 
strategy into concrete  action plans by setting up working teams of experts and 
non-experts representing each city involved. In this regard, CRAFT will co-create 
and test new collaborative governance models for urban transformation in three 
sandbox cities that have already put in place relevant development strategies. By 
way  of  example,  in  2021  the  Municipality  of  Prague  –  one  of  the  three  cities 
piloting the initiative – adopted a 2030 Climate Plan to promote sustainability in 
power generation, heating and transport (Prague City Hall 2021)37. In its Circular 
2030  Plan,  it  mentioned  the  NEB  as  an  initiative  to  be  marshalled  to  deliver 

33 Munich. 2022. “Leuchtturmprojekte zum Neuen Europäischen Bauhaus stehen fest”. Last modified May 8, 2022. 
https://www.stmb.bayern.de/med/pressemitteilungen/pressearchiv/2022/80/index.php. Accessed June 24, 2023.  
34 Ibid. 
35 European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. 2022. EU missions – 100 climate-
neutral and smart cities.  Publications Office of the European Union. Accessed July 17, 2023 
https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2777/191876.  
36 European Commission, “Funding and Tenders opportunities”. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/how-to-participate/org-
details/999999999/project/101056946/program/43108390/details.  
37 Prague City Hall. 2021. Prague Climate Plan 2030 Prague on the road  towards carbon neutrality. Accessed 
July 17, 2023. https://klima.praha.eu/data/Dokumenty/Dokumenty%202023/klimaplan_en_2301_18_online.pdf.  

14 

 
 
 
 
innovative pilot projects contributing to the circular economy (Prague 2022, 24)38. 
Additional 60 reference cities will contribute to the implementation of the project 
by  scaling  up  their  neutral  climate  transitions  on  the  basis  of  the  three  core 
inseparable NEB values of sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics.  

European Regional Development Fund  

The  European  Regional Development  Fund  (ERDF)  aims  to  reduce  disparities 
between  EU  regions,  including  by  fostering  sustainable  development  and 
addressing environmental challenges.  

In the 2021-2027 period, the 27 EU Member States will be required to allocate at 
least 8% of their ERDF resources to sustainable urban development, while over 
30% of ERDF resources must be dedicated to climate-related objectives (ERDF 
website)39. In addition to direct Cohesion Policy funding for NEB, the Partnership 
Agreements (PA) and programmes signed by all 27 EU Member States for the 
implementation of the 2021-2027 Cohesion Funds include specific references to 
the NEB at PA and programme level. As the Ireland and France PAs, state, for 
instance, “cohesion policy programmes will support investments that successfully 
combine the principles of sustainability, aesthetics and inclusiveness of the New 
European  Bauhaus  initiative  with  a  view  to  finding  affordable,  inclusive, 
sustainable and attractive solutions to climate challenges”40.  

In  this  regard,  the  European  Commission’s  Commission  for  Cohesion  and 
Reforms  outlined  the  importance  of  cohesion  policies  ideally  implemented 
through  the  NEB,  to  mainstream  it  in  Member  States’  socio-economic  and 
territorial  development  strategies.  At  the  regional  level,  Germany’s  Saxony-
Anhalt region will implement measures in line with the NEB initiative concept. 
As the ERDF and Just Transition Fund (JTF) for 2021-2027 specifies, the region 
will  use  the  JTF  to  co-design  sustainable  and  aesthetic  spaces  with  local 
communities,  leading  to  the  implementation  of  identity-establishing  projects 
inspired by the core inseparable NEB values41. 

Against this backdrop, for the 2021-2022 period, two dedicated NEB calls were 
launched within the ERDF, with a total budget of EUR 67.5 mln. Out of this total 
amount, EUR 2.5 mln was allocated to 20 small and medium-sized municipalities 

38 Prague. 2022. Circular Prague 2030. Prague Strategy for Transition to a Circular Economy. Accessed July 
17, 2023. https://klima.praha.eu/data/Dokumenty/circular-prague-2030-eng.pdf.  
39  European  Commission,  “European  Regional  Development  Fund”.  Accessed 
https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funding/erdf_en.  
40  European  Commission,  “Partnership  Agreements  on  EU  funds  2021-2027”.  Accessed  July  17,  2023. 
https://commission.europa.eu/publications/partnership-agreements-eu-funds-2021-2027_en. 
41 Program of the European Regional Development Fund and the European Just Transition Fund 2021-2027, 
Saxony-Anhalt. 

July  17,  2023. 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
selected under the  call  Technical Assistance for Public Authorities:  Support to 
New  European  Bauhaus  Local  Initiatives,  and  EUR  65  mln  to  the  14  projects 
awarded by the first European Urban Initiative call.  

The former call led to the 20 local authorities42 selected for funding receiving 75 
days  of  in-kind  support  by  multidisciplinary  experts  through  a  Technical 
Assistance Programme to turn their NEB ideas into tangible projects (Support to 
New European Bauhaus Local Initiatives webpage)43. The knowledge and results 
achieved  thanks  to  this  support  will  be  consolidated  into  an  apprenticeship 
“toolbox” to be shared with other municipalities and provide them with further 
guidance on how to develop new NEB projects. 

Figure 2 - World cloud of the 20 projects selected 
by the Technical assistance for Public Authorities: 
Support  to  New  European  Bauhaus  Local 
Initiatives call for proposals 

Figure 3 – EU Member States represented by the 20 
local authorities funded by the Technical assistance 
for Public Authorities: Support to New European 
Bauhaus Local Initiatives call for proposals 

The latter call was designed to enhance urban innovation the ability of cities to 
base their urban development on the three core inseparable NEB values, to inspire 
other Cohesion Policy projects and transfer the knowledge and results achieved 
to  other  European  cities.  By  addressing  topics  such  as  preserving  and 
transforming cultural heritage, adapting buildings  for use as affordable housing 
solutions,  regenerating  and  renovating  public  spaces  in  accordance  with 

42 They represent the following EU member states: Bulgaria (2); Croatia (2); Cyprus (1); Denmark (1); Finland 
(1); France (1); Greece (1); Hungary (1); Italy (1); Latvia (2); Portugal (2); Romania (1); Slovenia (1); Spain (2); 
Sweden (1).  
43 Ramboll, “Support to the New European Bauhaus Local Initiatives, Honoring and supporting the inspiring 
place-based transformative projects done by local authorities”. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://c.ramboll.com/local-support-new-european-bauhaus.  

16 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
circularity and carbon neutrality principles, the call generated great interest at EU 
level, with 99 applications from 21 EU Member States and 125 urban authorities 
involved  (European  Urban  Initiative  website)44.  The  14  projects45  selected  for 
funding  in  June  2023  included  16  local  authorities  and  5  regional  authorities 
representing the following EU Member States (number of LRAs): Belgium (1); 
Bulgaria  (1);  Croatia  (3);  Denmark  (1);  Estonia  (1);  Finland  (2);  France  (4); 
Greece (1); Hungary (1); Italy (3); Portugal (1); Spain (2).  

Time2Adapt is one of these 14 projects selected for funding. Coordinated by the 
Lille European Metropolis (France), it also involves the municipalities of Lille 
and  Loos  and  the  Hauts  de  France  Regional  Agency  for  Working  Conditions 
Improvement (France), which will work together from September 2023 for a 3.5-
year  period.  In  view  of  the  2°C  temperature  increase  recorded  in  the  Lille 
European  Metropolis  from  1995  to  2017,  the  project  will  apply  the  core  NEB 
principles  by  limiting  land  artificialisation  and  transforming  public  spaces  to 
make  them  cooler,  accessible  to  all  and  available  for  temporary  “refreshing” 
artistic installations, building on existing urban settings. After an initial period of 
preparation, the project’s implementation will begin in Lille and Loos in March 
2024. The results of the experiments will be made available to three other cities – 
to be selected  –  which will be  offered the opportunity to test the model in the 
summer of 2026 for replication (Lille Metropole website)46. To ensure its success, 
the Lille European Metropolis set to work on the project concept in June 2022, on 
the strength of the Territorial Climate Air Energy Plan (CAET) it adopted in 2021 
in  which  weather  is  the  key  to  adapting  territories  to  climate  change  (MEL 
2021)47.  Although the NEB had not yet been launched at that time, it is worth 
noting that the plan’s objectives are coherent with those of the NEB.  

Single Market Programme 

The Single Market Programme aims to strengthen the single market and make it 
more  balanced  and  fair,  thus  contributing  to  growth,  competitiveness  and 
employment. In the 2021-2027 period, it will be used to ensure EU recovery from 
the  COVID-19  pandemic  by  investing  in  adaptation  and  transition  to  a  more 
digital and green economy.  

44European Urban Initiative, “Selected projects”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://www.urban-initiative.eu/calls-
proposals/first-call-proposals-innovative-actions/selected-projects.  
45 These are all coordinated by local public authorities, as required by the call for proposals.  
46 Métropole Europenne De Lille. 2023. New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://www.lillemetropole.fr/communique-de-presse/le-projet-time2adapt-de-la-mel-pour-plus-de-lieux-frais-
ouverts-aux-habitants.  
47 MEL. 2021. Pour une MEL neutre en carbone, résiliente et solidaire. Plan climat air energie territorial 2021-
2026. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://www.lillemetropole.fr/sites/default/files/2021-
09/Rapport%20PCAET%202021_0.pdf.  

17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Three NEB calls were launched in the 2021-2022 period within the Single Market 
Programme, two of which were dedicated and one contributing. The total budget 
allocated to the NEB dedicated calls was EUR 2.2 mln48. The total contributing 
call budget was EUR 4 mln. Of the two calls in which LRA participation was 
possible, a total of 18 projects coherent with the NEB objectives were funded49. 
The average number of partners participating in the consortia as beneficiaries is 
6.2 (5 for the NEB dedicated call).  

A  total  of  17  of  the  contributing  call  projects  have  at  least  one  LRA  in  the 
consortium with a total budget of EUR 3.22 mln. The average number of LRAs 
in these consortia is 2.76, while the median value is 3. 40 local authorities and 6 
regional  authorities  are  taking  part.  The  LRAs  identified  are  in  the  following 
countries (number of LRAs): Austria (1); Bulgaria (1); Croatia (4); Denmark (1); 
Finland (1); France (2); Germany (1); Greece (3); Hungary (2); Ireland (1); Italy 
(11); Malta (1); Netherlands (1); Poland (2); Portugal (1); Romania (1); Slovakia 
(1); Slovenia (2); Spain (8); Sweden (1). 4 LRAs are participating in the funded 
projects as Coordinators, while 42 are Partners. 

17

17

1
Total number
of projects

Total number
of projects
with LRAs

3,22

0,96

3,22

Total amount 
of costs (mln €)

Total costs of 
projects with 
LRAs (mln €)

Contributing calls

Dedicated calls

6,29

5

2,76

Average
number of
partners in
consortia

Average
number of
LRAs in
consortia

Figure 4 - Single Market Programme and NEB projects 

48 It is, however, important to specify that EUR 1 mln was allocated to the WORTH II Partnership call, which 
did not include LRAs.  
49 Whilst 19 projects were funded by the contributing call, these did not all include the NEB in their context or 
amongst their priorities.  

18 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Of the projects funded by the Single Market Programme in 2021-2022, “Social 
Economy Actors for New European Bauhaus” (SEA4NEB)50 aims to apply the 
core  inseparable  NEB  values  to  social  economy  models.  Starting  in  2022,  the 
project responds to one of the four priorities included in the call51, with applicants 
being  asked  to  exchange  knowledge  and  practices  on  the  social  economy’s 
contribution  to  the  NEB  by  regenerating  abandoned  spaces,  with  an  inclusive, 
green  and  local  community  development  approach.  Against  this  backdrop,  the 
project  has  implemented  four  local  experiences  in  Croatia,  Italy,  Latvia  and 
Poland, developing local social economy action plans and recommendations for 
replication. One of the four local experiences encompassed by the project is the 
Polish “The Living Factory Company - Fabryka Pełna Życia”, a 4-hectare area of 
post-industrial  buildings  in  the  centre  of  Dąbrowa  Górnicza,  which  will  be 
transformed from an industrial city into a NEB city. A urban regeneration process 
was  set  in  motion  in  2017  via  the  Living  Factory  –  Revitalisation  of  the 
Downtown Area of Dąbrowa Górnicza project (SEA4NEB website)52. Through 
SEA4NEB, the intervention will involve local residents in a co-creation process 
aiming  to  transform  the  area  into  an  environmentally  friendly  space  open  to 
everyone and foster cultural development.  

Digital Europe Programme 

The  Digital  Europe  Programme  is  a  new  EU  funding  programme  designed  to 
enhance digital uptake by businesses, citizens and public administrations.  

For the period 2021-2022, 9 NEB calls were launched within the Digital Europe 
Programme, one of which was dedicated and eight contributing. The total budget 
allocated to the NEB dedicated call was EUR 1 mln whilst the total contributing 
calls budget was EUR 325.9 mln. One of these is currently awaiting results53. Out 
of the 7 calls in which LRA participation was possible, 34 projects coherent with 
the NEB objectives were funded54. The average number of partners participating 
in the consortia as beneficiaries is 10.7 (5 for the NEB dedicated call).  

8 contributing call projects had at least one LRA in their consortia with a total 
budget of more than EUR 32 mln. A total of 13 LRAs are taking part while the 

more 

resilient 

50European  Commission,  “Social  Economy  Actors  for  New  European  Bauhaus”.  Accessed  July  17,  2023. 
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/how-to-participate/org-
details/999999999/project/101074116/program/43252476/details.  
51Single  Market  Programme,  “Call  for  proposals.  Social  economy  and  local  green  deals  supporting  SMEs  to 
2023. 
(SMP-COSME-2021-RESILIENCE). 
become 
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/smp/wp-call/2021/call-fiche_smp-
cosme-2021-resilience_en.pdf.  
52  SEA4NEB,  “Local  experiences:  the  living  factory”.  Accessed  July  17,  2023.  https://sea4neb.eu/local-
experiences/the-living-factory-company/.  
53 i.e., Data space for smart communities (deployment) (DIGITAL-2022-CLOUD-AI-03-DS-SMART).  
54 Although the contributing call funded 143 projects implemented in any of the 27 EU Member States, not all 
included the NEB in their context or as priority to address.  

Accessed 

July 

17, 

19 

 
 
 
 
 
 
average number of LRAs in the consortia is 1.75. 6 regional authorities and 7 local 
authorities  are  involved.  LRA  nationalities  are  as  follows  (number  of  LRAs): 
Belgium (2); Denmark (1); Finland (1); Greece (1); Slovenia (2); Spain (3); the 
Netherlands (3). There is one LRA participating as Coordinator, while the other 
12 are involved as Partners. 

33

83,0

1

8

0,9

32,0

Total number
of projects

Total number
of projects with
LRAs

Total amount 
of costs (mln €)

Total costs of 
projects with 
LRAs (mln €)

Contributing calls

Dedicated calls

10,8

5,0

Average
number of
partners in
consortia

1,75

Average
number of
LRAs in
consortia

Figure 5 - Digital Europe Programme and NEB projects 

LIFE Programme 

The LIFE Programme aims to foster the NEB’s ability to make the Green Deal 
cultural, human-centred and positive, through the development of more tangible 
initiatives.  By  targeting  relevant  environmental  challenges  (e.g.,  nature  and 
biodiversity,  environment  and  resource  efficiency,  etc.),  it  will  contribute  to 
designing  future  ways  of  living  which  combine  environment,  science,  art  and 
culture.  

For  the  2021-2022  period,  two  NEB  calls  were  launched  within  the  LIFE 
Programme, one of which was dedicated and one contributing. In addition to this, 
a  budget  of  EUR  0.15  mln  was  allocated  to  organising  the  LIFE  in  the  New 
European  Bauhaus55  event,  a  3-day  conference  held  in  November  2021  to 
showcase relevant NEB-related projects funded through LIFE and Horizon 2020 
programmes  working  on  various  aspects  of  the  transformation  required  for 
carbon-neutrality  in  2050  (e.g.,  ecosystem  preservation  and  nature-based 
solutions,  social  behavioural  change,  technological  solutions  for  the  circular 
economy). 60 local authorities and 46 regional authorities registered for the event. 

55 LIFE, “LIFE in the New European Bauhaus”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://bauhaus-life-event.b2match.io/.  

20 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The  budget  allocated  to  the  NEB  dedicated  call  was  EUR  13  mln,  but  the 
applications did not pass evaluation (European Commission 2023, 9)56. The total 
contributing  call  budget  was  EUR  92.32  mln  but  only  one  of  the  32  projects 
funded57 is coherent with the NEB objectives.  

With a total budget of EUR 2.74 mln, “Beautiful, sustainable, together: validation 
of the New European Bauhaus approach for the reimagination of public buildings 
as  boosting  projects  for  the  transformation  of  their  neighbourhoods”  (LIFE22-
ENV-ES-LIFEBauhausingEurope)58  involves five local authorities representing 
Croatia, Hungary, Latvia and Spain. It aims to pave the way for a transformation 
process to be applied to five different European neighbourhoods to demonstrate 
that  the  NEB  approach  can  generate  more  sustainable,  circular  and  beautiful 
places co-governed by the people living in them. The project has just signed the 
Grant Agreement, on which no additional information is currently available.  

Creative Europe Programme 

The Creative Europe Programme supports the recovery of the cultural and creative 
sectors for a more inclusive, digital and environmentally sustainable society. In 
line  with  the  NEB,  the  programme’s  ultimate  aim  is  to  increase  European 
creativity  by  fostering  lifecycle  thinking  and  promoting  a  more  inclusive  and 
sustainable living environment and quality of life including all stakeholders active 
in the cultural field. For the 2021-2022 period, three NEB contributing calls were 
launched within the Creative Europe Programme, only one of which also covered 
LRAs.  The  total  contributing  call  budget  was  EUR  68.61  mln.  44  of  the  167 
projects  funded59  were  coherent  with  the  NEB  objectives.  An  average  of  15 
partners are participating in the consortia as beneficiaries.  

7 projects have at least one LRA in their consortia with a total budget of EUR 
22.72 mln. A total of 10 local public authorities are taking part while the average 
number  of  LRAs  in  the  consortia  is  0.23.  The  LRAs  are  from  the  following 
countries (number of LRAs): Denmark (2); France (2); Germany (1); Greece (1); 

56 European Commission. 2023. Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the 
European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, New European Bauhaus Progress 
Report, COM(2023) 24 final, Brussels, 16.1.2023. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://new-european-
bauhaus.europa.eu/system/files/2023-01/CP-003%20-
%20Report%20from%20the%20Commission%20%28EN%29%20Part%201.pdf.  
57 Last update: June 25, 2023.  
58 European Commission, “Beautiful, sustainable, together: validation of the New European Bauhaus approach 
for the reimagination of public buildings as boosting projects for the transformation of their neighbourhoods”. 
Accessed July 17, 2023. https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/how-to-
participate/org-details/999999999/project/101113886/program/43252405/details.  
59 Last update: June 25, 2023.  

21 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Portugal (2); Spain (1); Sweden (1). 9 LRAs are participating as Partners and one 
as Coordinator. 

Figure 6 – Creative Europe Programme and NEB projects 

in 

three  European 

“City  memories:  visualizing 
capitals” 
change 
(SSACREA2022)60  is  one  of  the  Creative  Europe  projects  funded  in  2022. 
Coordinated by the municipality of Stockholm (Sweden) with the involvement of 
the  municipality  of  Copenhagen  (Denmark),  it  aims  to  promote  the  ability  of 
European cultural heritage to build a sustainable and inclusive future, in line with 
NEB  and  UN  Sustainable  Development  Goal  11  (Sustainable  cities  and 
communities). To  achieve this, professionals in urban history, architecture  and 
technology will co-create new ways of innovatively interpreting and presenting 
architectural building drawings, to make them more understandable, available and 
enjoyable for all. 

Erasmus+ Programme 

The Erasmus+ Programme is the EU funding programme for education, training, 
youth and sports in Europe. It contributes to the NEB as its four overall priorities 
include it, under its Green label. Through a bottom-up approach involving, e.g., 
vocational  education  training  centres,  higher  education  centres,  LRAs  and  the 
broader  socio-economic  environment,  the  Programme  can  contribute  to 
implementing  the NEB  by  investing  in  a  set of  relevant  actions  (e.g.,  training, 
education) to design sustainable future ways of living capable of improving how 
people live together.  

For  the  2021-2022  period,  six  NEB  calls  were  launched  within  the  Erasmus+ 
Programme,  four  of  which  were  dedicated  and  two  contributing.  Of  the  four 
dedicated calls, only one was also open to LRAs, with a total budget of EUR 8 
mln. The total budget for the two contributing calls was EUR 110 mln. Out of the 
six  calls  in  which  LRA  participation  was  possible,  a  total  of  53  projects  was 
funded61.  The  average  number  of  partners  participating  in  the  consortia  as 
beneficiaries is 11.2 (6.4 for the NEB dedicated call). 

60 European Commission, “City memories: visualizing change in three European capitals”. Accessed July 17, 
2023. https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/how-to-participate/org-
details/996559183/project/101099955/program/43251814/details.  
61 Last update: June 25, 2023.  

22 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A total of 11 projects had at least one LRA in their consortia, 2 and 9 respectively 
for NEB dedicated and contributing calls for proposals. A total budget of EUR 
30.2  mln  was  allocated  to  projects  funded  under  the  NEB  dedicated  and 
contributing calls for proposals with at least one LRA in their consortia. The total 
number of LRAs is 15, while the average number of LRAs in these consortia is 
1.45. 5 regional authorities and 10 local authorities are taking part. The nationality 
of the LRAs is as follows (number of LRAs): Bulgaria (1); Denmark (2); Estonia 
(1); Finland (2); Italy (2); Spain (6); Sweden (1).  14 LRAs are participating as 
Partners while 1 is a Coordinator. 

Figure 7 – Erasmus+ Programme and NEB projects 

European Solidarity Corps Programme 

The European Solidarity Corps is the EU funding programme investing in projects 
for the sake of communities and society as a whole. In 2021-2022, it incorporated 
the  NEB  into  its  horizontal  environmental  sustainability  and  climate  goal 
priorities. 

With no pre-established budget allocated to the NEB, in 2021-2022 it funded 2324 
projects62 run by any of the 27 EU Member States, out of which 365 projects have 
been identified as relevant to the  NEB63. The funded projects identified have a 

62European Union, “European Solidarity Corps”. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://youth.europa.eu/solidarity/projects/search?page=1&sort=&domain=esc2021&view=list&map=false&call
Year=2022&coordinatorCountry=spain__ES--poland__PL--germany__DE--italy__IT--romania__RO--
greece__EL--france__FR--croatia__HR--hungary__HU--belgium__BE--portugal__PT--lithuania__LT--
bulgaria__BG--slovenia__SI--czechia__CZ--malta__MT--ireland__IE--latvia__LV--finland__FI--
slovakia__SK--estonia__EE--netherlands__NL--cyprus__CY--austria__AT--sweden__SE--denmark__DK--
luxembourg__LU.  
63 Filtering was performed for the purposes of understanding how many of these projects could be considered 
relevant to the three core NEB values with the following topics considered relevant for this purpose: 

23 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
total budget of more than EUR 2.5 mln64. The consortia require one partner per 
project65. Three of the total amount of projects referred to above have three local 
authorities, from Italy (1) and Spain (2). 

How the current EU funds and programmes are perceived by the local and 
regional authorities and how their accessibility and user friendliness can be 
improved  

In view of this study’s aims, an online consultation was made available in English, 
French,  Italian  and  Spanish  from  15  March  2023  to  12  April  2023  within  its 
framework, to collect primary information on LRAs’ perceptions of the NEB and 
their project implementation needs. 

The  consultation  encompassed  LRAs  operating  across  the  EU  in  any  of  the 
following fields:  

-  heritage, promotion of a territory and relations with universities; 
-  urban planning, public space and sustainability; 
-  education, social development and culture; 
-  European affairs; 
-  digitisation, innovation and smart cities.  

The consultation received a total of  138 contributions from all 27 EU Member 
States66, of which 83 (60%) were ‘Local public authorities’, 41 (30%) ‘Regional 
public authorities’ and 14 (10%) ‘Other’ entities (including, but not limited to, 
non-governmental institutions of public utility, regional innovation centres with 
LRAs  amongst  their  shareholders,  public  LRA  corporations,  LRA  association 
cooperation agencies).  

Environment And Climate Change, Cultural Heritage/European Year Of Cultural Heritage, Green Transport And 
Mobility, Green Skills, Inter-Regional Cooperation.  
64 The total budget is calculated considering an estimated average EU contribution of EUR 7000 per project, 
since the funding rules contribute EUR 500 per month on the basis of a unit cost for the coaching costs. 
65 Applicants are groups of young people who will implement the project, with one person acting as legal 
representative and taking responsibility for submitting the application. Any public or private body legally 
established in an EU Member State or third country associated with the programme can apply on behalf of the 
group implementing the project. 
66 i.e., AT (3), BE (3), BG (4), CY (2), CZ (3), DE (2), DK (4), EE (1), EL (12), ES (14), FI (9), FR (2), HR (5), 
HU (1), IE (5), IT (14), LT (3), LU (2), LV (8), MT (5), NL (9), PL (6), PT (9), RO (2), SK (2), SI (2), SE (6).  

24 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 8 - Type of respondents participating in the NEB survey 

The charts and graphs developed on the basis of the study’s consultation are based 
on the replies received from the sample of respondents referred to above. 

The survey was inspired by our interest in finding out how many respondents were 
already  involved  in  the  NEB  and  how  many  of  them  would  be  interested  in 
participating in it in the future. The results collected  (Figure 9) show that most 
local  public  authorities  (44.6%)  are  not  currently  participating  in  the  NEB  but 
would  be  willing  to  do  so.  However,  28.9%  of  these  have  applied  for  a  NEB 
project to be funded and are currently involved in its delivery phase. A similar 
response  in  terms  of  interest  in  participating  in  the  initiative  was  shown  by 
regional  public  authorities  (61%)  and  other  entities  (50%).  It  is  also  worth 
underlining that 35.7% of other entities had submitted a NEB project which was 
rejected.  

Figure 9 - Has your organisation already participated in the preparation of a NEB project? 

25 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
All respondents - except those providing negative feedback about their interest in 
being involved in the NEB, both present and future -67  were then asked to express 
their  views  on  each  of  the  funding  instruments  made  available  by  the  EU  to 
support the NEB implementation (i.e., Horizon Europe, ERDF, LIFE, the Single 
Market Programme, Digital Europe, Erasmus+, Creative Europe, the European 
Solidarity Corps).  

As the following figures show (Figures 10-17), Horizon Europe and ERDF are 
the  main  EU  funding  programmes  used  and/or  considered  for  the  future  by 
respondents for NEB implementation purposes, confirming the EU’s decision to 
allocate most of its NEB funding budget through these two funding instruments. 

Figure 10 - Which is your organisation’s standpoint about Horizon Europe supporting the NEB initiative? 

Figure 11 - Which is your organisation’s standpoint about the European Regional Development Fund 
(ERDF) supporting the NEB initiative? 

67 i.e., 116 of 138 respondents (of which 73 were local public authorities, 30 regional public authorities and 13 
other entities). 

26 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 12 - Which is your organisation’s standpoint about the Programme for the Environment and 
Climate Action (LIFE) supporting the NEB initiative? 

Figure 13 - Which is your organisation’s standpoint about the Single Market Programme supporting the 
NEB initiative? 

Figure 14 - Which is your organisation’s standpoint about Digital Europe supporting the NEB initiative? 

27 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 15 - Which is your organisation’s standpoint about the Erasmus+ Programme supporting the NEB 
initiative? 

Figure 16 - Which is your organisation’s standpoint about Creative Europe supporting the NEB 
initiative? 

Figure 17 - Which is your organisation’s standpoint about the European Solidarity Corps supporting the 
NEB initiative? 

After relevant feedback about respondents’ attitudes to date regarding EU funding 
programmes made available by the European Commission to deliver the NEB had 
been collected, they were asked to rate their interest in applying for any of these 
as a response to immediate and short-term needs. The four thematic axes through 
which the NEB is expected to be implemented were used as reference points with 

28 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
which to rate LRAs’ needs. The response to this was quite homogeneous - ranging 
from 3.83 to 4.21 out of 5 - from all types of respondents with reference to the 
need to reconnect with nature, regain a sense of belonging and foster long-term, 
life cycle and integrated thinking in the industrial ecosystem. NEB’s mission to 
prioritise  places  and  people  needing  them  the  most  was  rated  rather  low  by 
regional public authorities answering the question (2.43 out of 5).  

Overall the feedback provided by respondents confirms that the NEB ambition to 
make places more sustainable and inclusive accords with their local and regional 
priorities.  

Figure 18 - According to the following immediate and short-term needs, to what extent is your 
organisation interested in applying for a NEB initiative to deal with the following? Please rate each of the 
following from 1 [Low interest] to 5 [Very high interest]. (Average values) 

Respondents were then asked for their opinion on the main reasons to apply for a 
NEB initiative in relation to the objectives of their local and regional development 
strategies.  These  reasons  were  identified  on  the  basis  of  the  New  European 
Bauhaus  Compass,  a  methodological  document  made  available  in  November 
2022 by the NEB at EU level, to provide decision- and project-makers willing to 
join the NEB with a guidance framework helping them to assess how they can 
contribute  to  the  initiative’s  implementation  (New  European  Bauhaus  2022)68. 
The Compass aims to lay the foundations with which to design an assessment tool 
expanding  the  three  core  inseparable  NEB  values  and  its  three  principles,  to 
holistically evaluate how NEB-related projects can make an impact in line with 
the EU’s mission. By exemplifying what sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics 
mean through a set of good practices, it poses tailored questions to decision- and 

68 New European Bauhaus. 2022. New European Bauhaus Compass. A guiding framework for decision and 
project makers wishing to apply the NEB principles and criteria to their activities. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/document/download/405245f4-6859-4090-b145-
1db88f91596d_en?filename=NEB_Compass_V_4.pdf.   

29 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
to  evaluate  whether  and  how 

the 
project-makers 
implementation  of  the  NEB.  By  May  2024,  the  NEB  expects  to  make  a  final 
manual and assessment tool available for use in implementing a NEB Label, as 
one  of  the  tools  suggested  by  the  CoR69  to  recognise  concrete  initiatives  as 
relevant to the NEB and implement them on the ground.  

they  contribute 

to 

The  results  gathered  show  that  local  public  organisations  highlighted  the 
alignment  between  NEB’s  aesthetics  value  and  their  territorial  development 
strategies to re-activate places’ cultural, social and natural qualities in public life 
(69.9%),  as  well  as  to  integrate  new  cultural  and  social  values  in  places  by 
enabling their creation and collective re-invention (56.2%) and connect different 
places and people by giving citizens from different contexts a sense of belonging 
(54.8%).  Regional  public  authorities  mostly  agreed  with  NEB’s  sustainability 
value, pointing out the need to avoid and reduce environmental impacts and foster 
durability, adaptability and recyclability of materials (80%) and enhance circular 
processes aiming for zero pollution (66.7%). Other entities mostly expressed their 
alignment with both the aesthetics and inclusion values of the NEB, stressing the 
need  to  make  places  inclusive  for  all,  transforming  the  way  we  live  together 
(84.6%),  integrating  new  cultural  and  social  values  into  places  (69.2%)  and 
consolidating equal relationships between users and/or communities (61.5%), as 
the following figure shows (Figure 19). 

69 European Committee of the Regions. 2022. Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions - New 
European Bauhaus. Beautiful, Sustainable, Together, SEDEC-VII/025. Brussels, 27-29.04.2022. Accessed July 
17, 2023. https://webapi2016.cor.europa.eu/v1/documents/COR-2021-05640-00-01-AC-TRA-EN.docx/content. 

30 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 19 - In your opinion/experience, what are the main reasons behind the decision to apply for a NEB 
initiative that best match with the objectives of your regional and/or local development strategy? 

All the answers provide insights into how LRAs are trying to align their policies 
with NEB values, expressing which practices they see as best able to deliver the 
NEB on the ground, in line with their strategies.  

At  present,  several  LRAs  have  integrated  the  NEB  into  their  governance 
structures, at least theoretically speaking.  
The municipality of Tartu (Estonia) referred to the NEB in its Energy and Climate 
Action  Plan  (Tartu  2021,  30)70,  including  it  amongst  the  EU  initiatives  and 
partnerships  of  use  in  fostering  cooperation  in  research  and  development  with 
universities, developing green and smart entrepreneurship and improving overall 
living conditions in the city. 

In its Urban Agenda 2030 action plan (Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza 2022, 125),71 
the municipality of Zaragoza (Spain) mentioned the NEB as part of its general 
action framework in the city, to further invest in renovating public buildings to 
make them available to all whilst supporting the city’s decarbonisation process.  

70 Tartu. 2021. Tartu Energy 2030. Tartu City Energy and Climate Action Plan. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://www.tartu.ee/sites/default/files/uploads/Linnavarad/SECAP/TartuEnergy2030.pdf.  
71 Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza. 2022. Agenda Urbana Zaragoza 2030. Plan de acción. Accessed Juy 17, 2023. 
http://www.zaragoza.es/contenidos/agenda-urbana/Plan-AccionAUZ2030digital_Edit.pdf.  

31 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
23 Swedish cities (e.g., Umeå, Vaxjo) and five government agencies have adhered 
to the Climate City Contract 203072, a long-term commitment aiming to enable 
their transition to net zero emissions by 2030. Although each city is free to design 
its  own  political  objectives,  they  have  adopted  an  integrated  local  approach  in 
which  holistic  targets  such  as  climate  neutrality,  gender  equality  and  social 
sustainability align with NEB’s EU level goals. In this regard, as several LRAs 
participating  in  the  consultation  launched  within  the  framework  of  this  study 
pointed out, NEB solutions and methods in place-based scenarios need to be tested 
before cities’ strategies and action programmes can be aligned with them.  

As regards incorporating the NEB into their development strategies, some cities 
have  also  declared  themselves  fully  committed  to  applying  the  initiative  on  a 
larger scale.  

The  municipality  of  Valmiera  (Latvia),  for  instance,  shaped  its  candidacy  for 
European Capital of Culture 2027 (Valmiera 2023)73 around its ambition to set up 
technology residencies and reinvent public spaces as cultural hubs for people to 
use in the spirit of the NEB.  

As European Green Capital 2023, the city of Tallinn (Estonia) has implemented a 
Grey  to  Green:  Increasing  Climate  Resilience  through  Innovation  programme 
(Tallinn European Green Capital 2023, 12)74 in which the NEB is cited in the EU 
policy framework committing it to carbon neutrality.  

The adherence of the NEB to LRAs’ governance structure is further confirmed by 
the fact that respondents participating in the study’s consultation view the NEB 
as an important enabler for environmental, social, cultural and aesthetic gains in 
their territories. As Figure 20 below shows, local public authorities pointed out 
NEB’s  contribution  to  enhancing  their  ability  to  involve  citizens  in  co-
development place-based actions  responding to local needs  (80.8%). The NEB 
was also seen by them as a way of implementing place-based actions contributing 
to the New European Green Deal at local and regional levels (61.6%) and to better 
integrating  the  territory’s  natural  and  cultural  elements  while  advocating  for 
beauty (60.3%). Further to this, regional public authorities pointed out the higher 
institutional  commitment  for  place-based  actions  at  territorial  level  which  the 

72 By way of example, see Umea Kommun. 2021. Climate City Contract 2030. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5dd54ca29c9179411df12b85/t/61bccd099f3386157f9bdbbc/16397632108
42/Climate_City_Contract_2030_ENG_Umea.pdf and Växjö Kommun. 2021. Climate City Contract 2030. 
Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5dd54ca29c9179411df12b85/t/61bccd136e0662125cf68866/16397632213
82/Climate_City_Contract_2030_ENG_Vaxjo.pdf.  
73 Valmiera. 2023. Dynamic city. European Capital of Culture | Candidate City. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://www.valmierasnovads.lv/content/uploads/2023/03/ECoC_Valmiera_ENG.pdf.  
74 Tallinn European Green Capital. 2023. Action & Communication Plan. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://greentallinn.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ActionCommunication-plan_EC.pdf.  

32 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NEB  can  contribute  to  enhancing  through  its  delivery  (66.7%).  They  also 
highlighted the fact that participation in the NEB can improve cross-border and 
international  cooperation  (63.3%).  Other  entities  mainly  position  themselves 
between  the  other  two  categories,  pointing  out  the  environmental  (84.6%)  and 
social (76.9%) gains the NEB can contribute to achieving, but also its aesthetic 
value (53.8%) and increased cross-border and international co-operation (53.8%).  

Figure 20 - In your opinion/experience, what are the potential benefits for your organisation in taking 
part in the NEB initiative? 

Nevertheless, LRAs cite relevant barriers making them hesitant to apply for an 
EU call for proposals contributing to the NEB. As Figure 21 below shows, these 
are mainly related to a lack of human resources with which to draw up a NEB 
proposal, as well as a lack of the in-house expertise needed to build a consortium 
and  project  concept  and  a  lack  of  information  about  existing  EU  funding 
opportunities. The same reasons were given by the 22 respondents75 stating that 
they are not interested in the NEB, either at present or in the future (Figure 22).  

75 10 of which were local public authorities, 11 regional public authorities and 1 other entity.  

33 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 21 - In your opinion/experience, what are the main barriers to your organisation taking the 
decision to apply for an EU call for proposals contributing to the NEB initiative? 

Figure 22 - Why does your organisation not foresee making proposals in support of the NEB initiative? 

This outlines the importance for the EU in investing more in raising awareness 
about the opportunities for cities and regions to implement place-based initiatives, 
but also about a structural issue LRAs face as regards the human resources needed 
to draw up project proposals.  

34 

 
 
 
 
 
 
In order to provide the EU with significant inputs regarding how to increase the 
user friendliness of the current EU funding opportunities supporting the NEB, a 
tailored question was put to the LRAs participating in the study’s consultation.  

As Figure 23 below shows, most respondents would like a help desk supporting 
them in their attempts to gain an understanding of the potential for participation 
in EU funding opportunities supporting the NEB, as well as organising training 
sessions  and  peer-learning  conferences  focused  on  sharing  knowledge  and 
experience about how new NEB projects can be designed and implemented at the 
territorial level. 

Figure 23 - In your opinion/knowledge, how could the user friendliness of the current EU funding 
opportunities supporting the NEB initiative be improved? 

To address the problem reported regarding their need to be periodically notified 
about existing EU funding opportunities, LRAs also provided feedback about how 
to  make  the  current  EU  funding  opportunities  more  accessible  (Figure  24).  A 
significant  number  of  respondents  would  like  to  receive  more  regular  updates 
about future EU calls for proposals, to participate in designing new NEB projects. 
They also advocated making their participation in relevant EU calls for proposals 
mandatory, to be duly recognised in their leading role in delivering NEB-related 
place-based  actions.  An  additional  solution  would  be  to  have  a  central  NEB 

35 

 
 
 
 
 
 
funding  opportunities  portal  showing  all  NEB  calls  for  proposals  incorporated 
into the EU funding programmes76. 

Most  respondents  would  like,  however,  to  implement  the  NEB  Lab  voucher 
scheme,  as  suggested  by  the  CoR77,  as  a  good  accessible  way  for  easier  NEB 
initiative engagement and to enhance their participation in the delivery phase of 
new  NEB  projects  to  be  set  up  in  their  constituency  without  new  bureaucratic 
hurdles.  Because  the  NEB  Lab  voucher  scheme  constitutes  an  optimal  way  of 
enhancing access to the NEB, the communication gap between the institutional 
and local levels is likely to be the main challenge to be overcome in increasing 
access to EU calls for proposals.  In this regard, the NEB Lab  voucher scheme 
would have the greatest impact on the extent to which LRAs participate in  the 
NEB, as well as in enhancing the part LRAs play in the NEB delivery phase and 
in  supporting  them  to  co-create,  prototype  and  test  new  policies  and  tools 
contributing  to  transforming  places  on  the  ground  by  applying  the  core  NEB 
values (Figure 25).  

Figure 24 - In your opinion/knowledge, how could the accessibility of the current EU funding 
opportunities supporting the NEB initiative be improved? 

76 These solutions were reported in the “Other” option.  
77 European Committee of the Regions. 2022. Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions - New 
European Bauhaus. Beautiful, Sustainable, Together, SEDEC-VII/025. Brussels, 27-29.04.2022. Accessed July 
17, 2023. https://webapi2016.cor.europa.eu/v1/documents/COR-2021-05640-00-01-AC-TRA-EN.docx/content.  

36 

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
Figure 25 - In your opinion/knowledge, which type of activity would the NEB voucher scheme help you the 
most? 

Regardless of how the NEB is developed further in the medium and long term, 
the European Commission has announced that it will keep working to support the 
NEB by mobilising EU programmes in the short term, and increase funding for 
the initiative. More than EUR 107 mln will be allocated to NEB dedicated calls 
under  Horizon  Europe,  ERDF  and  LIFE  programmes  in  2023  and  2024  (NEB 
website)78. In addition to this, the European Commission has invited EU Member 
States to set aside significant recovery and resilience plan budgets and cohesion 
policy programmes to the NEB. It has also reiterated the importance of bringing 
the core NEB values into the territorial development strategy mainstream, to help 
LRAs leverage public and private investment to support the initiative at the local 
and regional levels.  

Part 2: The implementation of the New European Bauhaus: how to 
engage  communities,  develop  partnerships  and  cross-border 
cooperation 

With its participatory approach, the NEB aims to become a movement enabling 
powerful  narratives  transforming  public  spaces  to  be  created  without  leaving 
anyone  behind.  This  assumption  was  developed  right  from  the  start  of  the 
initiative in 2021, when the European Commission launched the NEB co-design 
phase.  More  than  2000  contributions  were  received  from  all  over  Europe  and 

78 European Union, “New European Bauhaus”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://new-european-
bauhaus.europa.eu/get-involved/funding-opportunities_en.  

37 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
beyond (JRC webpage)79, providing inputs regarding how to generate interest in 
the initiative and translate NEB ambitions into tangible results involving all. The 
outcome  of  this  phase  was  set  out  in  the  Report  of  the  Online  Conference 
“Common  Ground: Making the Renovation Wave a Cultural Project” that was 
held on 29 April 202180, which indicated how to keep and intensify individual and 
collective  efforts  to  create  a  new  sense  of  cooperation,  as  well  as  how  critical 
citizen participation is in building heritage to NEB’s success. As Emil Boc, mayor 
of the municipality of Cluj-Napoca (Romania) and CoR member said in the same 
conference: “We have to create eco-systems, not ego-systems”81. 

Since then several LRAs across the EU have hosted local discussions to gather 
local  perspectives  and  ideas  on  how  to  design  NEB-related  projects  to  be 
implemented  during  the  delivery  phase  of  the  initiative.  Several  research 
publications (Busacca and Paladini 2022)82 (Cacciatore and Panozzo 2022)83 have 
in  fact  highlighted  the  ability  of  LRAs  to  quickly  converge  on  NEB-oriented 
initiatives and co-develop new ideas to be submitted for funding.  

An example of this is Venice’s co-design process which encompassed its main 
city institutions,84 leading to the nomination and funding of the BoSS project85, 
one of the six NEB lighthouse demonstrators funded under the Horizon Europe 
programme  in  2022.  In  September  2021,  the  consortium  promoting  the 
nomination  of  the  BoSS  project  to  the  Horizon  Europe  call  for  proposals 
organised  an  international  event  entitled  Bauhaus  of  the  Seas86,  focusing  on 
submitting  the  application  and  developing  a  common  discussion  with  other 
European  cities sharing  maritime issues  (Busacca  and  Paladini  2022,  4)87.  The 
Venice  case’s  nomination  to  the  Horizon  Europe  call  for  proposals  shows  the 

79European Union. 2021. EU Science Hub: New European Bauhaus moves from co-design to delivery. 
September 24, 2021. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news-and-
updates/new-european-bauhaus-moves-co-design-delivery-2021-09-24_en.  
80 New European Bauhaus Collective. 2021. Report of the Online Conference Common Ground: Making the 
Renovation Wave a Cultural Project. https://www.ace-cae.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/NEB_report_v3.pdf.  
81 Ibid. 
82 Busacca, Maurizio, and Roberto Paladini. 2022. Creativity and Social Capital: The Pillars of Venice’s Success 
in the New European Bauhaus Programme. Social Sciences. 2022; 11(12):545. 
https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11120545. 
83 Cacciatore, Silvia, and Fabrizio Panozzo. 2022. Strategic Mapping of Cultural and Creative Industries. The 
Case of the Veneto Region. Creative Industries Journal, DOI: 10.1080/17510694.2022.2026059.  
84 The project was initiated by Ca’ Foscari University and joined by other Venetian universities, the Veneto 
Region, the municipality of Venice, the Academy of Fine Arts, the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory, the 
Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio, the Venice Biennale, the Venice Foundation, the Port 
Authority, Confindustria and the International Private Committees for the Safeguarding of Venice. 
85European Union, “Bauhaus of the Seas Sails”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-
tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/how-to-participate/org-
details/999999999/project/101079995/program/43108390/details.  
86 Bauhaus of the Seas, “Bauhaus of the Seas”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://bauhaus-seas.eu/it/.  
87 Busacca, Maurizio and Roberto Paladini. 2022. Creativity and Social Capital: The Pillars of Venice’s Success 
in the New European Bauhaus Programme. Social Sciences. 2022; 11(12):545. 
https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11120545. 

38 

 
 
 
 
 
influence of the work done over past decades by an ecosystem of regional actors, 
in favour of creative and artistic work, as well craftsmanship88. 

The shift from NEB co-design to its delivery phase led the European Commission 
to deploy a set of networking tools and initiatives aimed at encouraging massive 
participation in the initiative at the EU level. In the Communication setting out 
the  groundwork  for  the  implementation  of  the  NEB  (European  Commission 
2021)89, the European Commission officially launched the NEB Community as 
EU level incubator. The Community’s aim is to amplify NEB-related messages 
and stories, as well as to transfer knowledge to the individuals and organisations 
joining it and co-develop new solutions. The New European Bauhaus Progress 
Report (European Commission 2023, 14-17)90 reported that, from 2021 to early 
2023, the NEB was joined by several million people across the EU and that its 
community is growing.  

One  of  the  categories  of  participants  involved  in  it  are  Friends.  These  include 
political  organisations,  businesses  and  LRAs,  as  hosts  or  sponsors  for  NEB 
projects.  At  present,  137  Friends91  have  registered  with  the  Community,  21 of 
which  are  LRAs.  This  poor  involvement  was  confirmed  by  the  consultation 
launched within the framework of this study, where LRAs were asked about their 
awareness of the NEB Community. As Figure 26 below shows, an average of 63% 
of  respondents  answered  that  they  did  not  know  about  it,  while  an  average  of 
almost 32% are members of it.  

88Ibid. 
89 European Commission. 2021. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, 
the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions,  New  European  Bauhaus. 
Beautiful, Sustainable, Together, COM(2021) 573 final, Brussels, 15.9.2021. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/system/files/2021-09/COM(2021)_573_EN_ACT.pdf  
90  European  Commission.  2023.  Report  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council,  the 
European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, New European Bauhaus Progress 
Report,  COM(2023)  24  final,  Brussels,  16.1.2023.  Accessed  July  17,  2023.  https://new-european-
bauhaus.europa.eu/system/files/2023-01/CP-003%20-
%20Report%20from%20the%20Commission%20%28EN%29%20Part%201.pdf.  
91 Last update: June 29, 2023. The information was gathered from the NEB Dashboard, a user-friendly 
interactive map developed by the European Commission's Data Advisory and Directorate-General for JRC and 
made available online in January 2023, displaying the current situation of the NEB across the EU and 
worldwide, in terms of individuals and organisations participating in its community. 

39 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 26 - Are you aware of the NEB community? 

Friends play a key role in both funding and welcoming projects in their local and 
regional  settings  and  assisting  in  delivery.  LRA  participation  is  pivotal  in  this 
regard and needs further promotion, as change is happening at the place-based 
level, and LRA involvement can help disseminate local NEB projects across the 
EU and facilitate the setting up of new NEB communities at the territorial level.  

In view of this last ambition, together with the launch of the NEB Community, in 
2021 the European Commission also set up the NEB Lab (NEB Lab webpage)92 
as an accelerator and connector, a “think and do tank”, whose goal is to connect 
people, learn from each other and capitalise on everyone’s experience to develop 
project  ideas  inspired  by  the  core  NEB  values.  The  NEB  Community  and  the 
Departments  and  Executive  Agencies  of  the  European  Commission93  can 
autonomously develop project proposals for it, which are to come under scrutiny 
prior to approval as relevant to NEB. In fact,  to turn ideas into projects, they need 
to  be  linked  with  physical  places  or  testing  environments  as  well  as  to  ensure 
active community engagement, to prove that their results are tangible, replicable 
and in line with the core NEB values. All working groups participating in the NEB 
Lab are self-governed, but they are given tailored mentoring and communication 
support,  for  e.g.,  to  fine  tune  local  action  with  the  European  and  international 
dimension. The core idea behind the NEB Lab projects is, therefore, to develop a 
set of ecosystems within the NEB ecosystem, adopt a modular approach enabling 
local actions to resonate at territorial level and interact with others, to extend their 
impact to the wider EU level.  

LRAs  participating  in  the  consultation  launched  within  the  framework  of  this 
study were asked whether they were aware of the NEB Lab and whether they were 

92European Union, “New European Bauhaus: The NEB Lab”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://new-european-
bauhaus.europa.eu/about/neb-lab_en.  
93 At present, there are 12 NEB Lab projects ongoing, out of which 5 are Community-led projects and 7 are 
European Commission-led projects, managed by the Joint Research Centre, the Directorate-General for 
Economic and Financial Affairs, the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, the 
Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy and the Directorate-General for Environment.  

40 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
involved in any of the existing 12 NEB Lab projects. As the following figures 
(Figure 27 and 28) show, an average of 75% of respondents had not heard of  the 
NEB Lab. However, after having been made aware of it, an average of almost 
79% of them are willing to participate in it, to co-create new NEB-related projects. 

Figure 27 - Are you aware of the NEB Lab? 

Figure 28 - Is your organisation involved in any NEB Lab project? 

To raise awareness about the NEB and encourage individuals and organisations 
across the EU to join the movement, the European Commission deployed a set of 
tools and initiatives contributing to its communication and visibility through the 
NEB Community, as follows (European Commission 2023, 22-27)94:  

-  NEB national contact points: all EU 27 Member States have appointed one 
with a view to disseminating information about the NEB in their countries, 
further  connecting  and  coordinating  efforts  at  national  level  around  the 
initiative.  

94  European  Commission.  2023.  Report  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council,  the 
European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, New European Bauhaus Progress 
Report,  COM(2023)  24  final,  Brussels,  16.1.2023.  Accessed  July  17,  2023.  https://new-european-
bauhaus.europa.eu/system/files/2023-01/CP-003%20-
%20Report%20from%20the%20Commission%20%28EN%29%20Part%201.pdf.  

41 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-  NEB platform to get inspired: a dedicated webpage95 on the NEB portal has 
been  made  available  to  provide  the  general  public  with  brief  factsheets 
about inspiring ideas and projects designed and implemented to date in the 
spirit of the NEB. On the webpage projects are filtered by countries, but it 
is  possible  to  look  at  projects’  location.  They  are  to  be  considered 
significant  local  initiatives  to  be  examined  for  replication  and/or 
complementarity  in  other  settings  at  EU  level,  to  ensure  that  the  NEB 
mission is pursued on both local and global scales.  

-  NEB Festival: it is the biggest annual event so far organised by the NEB 
Community  to  communicate,  celebrate  and  foster  dialogue  about  good 
practices  enhancing  the  implementation  of  the  core  NEB  values  on  the 
ground. In 2022, this gathered more than 200000 people  – online and in 
Brussels  –  with  more  than  100  speakers  and  artists  contributing  to 
facilitating the discussion. 

-  NEB  Prizes  launched  to  award  and  celebrate  existing  NEB  projects  and 
young people’s ideas to further develop new concepts delivered at place-
based level. So far three annual editions have been launched, awarding a 
total of 53 winners (NEB Prizes webpage)96. The 2021 and 2022 editions 
received more than 3000 applications and awarded 38 winners, with total 
prize money of EUR 0.79 mln. APROP Ciutat Vella: Proximity Temporary 
Affordable Housing97 was one of the prize winners in 2021.  Promoted by 
Barcelona  City  Council’s  Development  of  Social  Rights,  this  is  a  new 
municipal  programme  aiming  to  prevent  gentrification  by  providing 
temporary accommodation to evicted households.  

Against this backdrop, LRAs have organised a wide set of initiatives98 to foster 
cross-border  cooperation  and  engage  their  communities  and  deliver  the  NEB 
either with their own funds or through EU funding mechanisms – as presented in 
Part 1 above.  

95 European Union, “New European Bauhaus: Inspiring projects and ideas”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://new-
european-bauhaus.europa.eu/get-inspired/inspiring-projects-and-ideas_en.  
96 European Union, “New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://new-european-
bauhaus.europa.eu/get-involved/2023-prizes_en.  
97 European Union, “New European Bauhaus Awards”. Accessed July 17 , 2023. https://2021.prizes.new-
european-bauhaus.eu/node/269384.  
98 By way of example, on the NEB website, a dedicated webpage has been made available to provide 
information about past and upcoming NEB-related independent events organised at local, regional and/or 
national level. The webpage is available at: https://new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/get-involved/events_en.  

42 

 
 
 
 
Rua Zero – (Re)imagining Coimbra99 is one of the more than 200 side events that 
took place all over Europe in conjunction with the 2022 NEB Festival. On 11 June 
2022, Adelino Veiga street was turned into a public space open for discussion and 
a  wide  range  of  leisure  activities,  such  as  workshops  and  concerts.  With  the 
participation of the municipality of Coimbra (Portugal) as social investor, the aim 
of the event was to awaken the community’s interest in social issues  – ranging 
from depopulation and ageing, buildings needing retrofitting, a lack of public and 
private investment to the presence of many families with severe economic needs 
and  at  risk  of  social  exclusion  –  and  come  up  with  possible  solutions  to  be 
implemented through a collaborative and participatory approach. The event was 
both in presence and online and led to the creation of a videographic memorial, 
including  all  testimonies  shared  by  its  participants,  which  will  be  regularly 
updated.  The  idea  of  the  Festival  was  to  launch  a  lasting  initiative  enabling 
everyone  to  take  part,  including  children.  In  fact,  a  number  of  child-friendly 
initiatives activated citizenship practices in which everyone was able to share their 
thoughts about how to transform the urban environment in the spirit of the NEB. 
Adelino  Veiga  street  has  been  the  site  of  multiple  interventions  starting  from 
December 2021, and the Festival has led to a willingness by the municipality to 
co-develop a urban renewal programme responding to local needs.  

Through the active engagement of the Latvian NEB national contact point of the 
Latvian Architects’ Union, on 25 March 2022 the municipality of Liepāja (Latvia) 
hosted  a  NEB  event  on  its  Facebook  page100.  Architects,  designers,  schools, 
universities,  engineers,  project  makers  and  implementers  and  municipalities 
attended,  contributing  to  fostering  discussion  on  housing,  education  and 
production  needs  and  how  to  address  them,  by  enhancing  transdisciplinary 
cooperation in the spirit of the NEB.  

On the strength of its current participation in five NEB projects funded by the EU, 
the municipality of Turin (Italy) issued a NEB Manifesto101. In cooperation with 
the Turin Committee of the NEB, which promotes the NEB in the city, and the 
Open Incet policy lab, the Manifesto was designed to be the first local expression 
of  the  core  NEB  inseparable  values.  It  was  the  result  of  a  series  of  meetings 
involving its promoters, certain social stakeholders and the third sector. Together 
with citizens, the municipality developed this document to collect the inspiring 
principles the city identifies with and to express its willingness to inspire NEB-
related interventions and initiatives.   

99 Coimbra Coolectiva. 2022. Novo Bauhaus Europeu: Sábado (re)imagina-se Coimbra na Rua Adelino Viga. 
Accessed July 17, 2023. https://coimbracoolectiva.pt/historias/temas/cultura/novo-bauhaus-europeu-sabado-
reimagina-se-coimbra-na-rua-adelino-veiga/?doing_wp_cron=1688044235.1354179382324218750000.  
100 Latvijas Arhitektu Savieniba, “Jaunais Eiropas Bauhaus”. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://www.latarh.lv/jauna-eiropas-bauhaus-tiklosanas-un-sarunu-ekspresis-liepaja.  
101 Città di Torino, “Manifesto del New European Bauhaus di Torino”. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://www.torinoeuprojects.it/manifesto-nebto/.  

43 

 
 
 
 
 
The Region of Liguria (Italy) also organised a workshop102 on the NEB, which 
resulted in the drawing up of a NEB development plan to be implemented in the 
region.  On  9  June  2022,  the  region’s  Presidency,  through  the  Brussels 
Representative  Office,  organised  a  workshop  attended  by  more  than  100  high 
school  students,  about  30  university  students  from  the  Genoa  University 
Department of Architecture and Design and teachers and experts from the public 
and private sectors who joined discussions about how to shape NEB-related ideas 
and  projects  taking  account  of  the  region’s  challenges  and  strengths.  Several 
discussions  were  kept  going  over  time,  helping  the  region  to  launch  the  NEB 
Liguria  Challenge  2023  tender103.  Four  projects  directly  involving  citizens, 
businesses  and  associations  will  be  funded  and  supported  through  tailored 
workshops with experts in sustainability, inclusion and culture, as well as through 
consultancy  services  helping  them  identify  potential  sources  of  funding  and 
develop  the  solutions  proposed.  Eligible  applicants  are  required  to  propose 
solutions capable of bringing benefits to the region’s inhabitants in environmental 
sustainability,  inclusion  and  community  empowerment  terms,  leveraging  local 
beauty,  creativity,  arts  and  culture.  At  the  end  of  the  evaluation  process,  in 
November 2023, selected projects will be invited to present their proposals to the 
European  Parliament  in  Brussels  in  the  presence  of  representatives  of  the 
European  Commission  tasked  with  NEB delivery.  This  investment  is  a  further 
confirmation of the region’s commitment to using the NEB approach to deliver 
tangible action at a place-based level.  

All the above ways of engaging local communities have been useful and key to 
giving the discussion a wider dimension, enabling partnerships and cross-border 
cooperation. Starting from existing partnerships within the same territories, LRAs 
have  so  far  used  their  networks  to  build  highly  qualified  consortia  developing 
project ideas inspired by the core NEB values. This was confirmed by respondents 
participating in the consultation launched within the framework of this study, who 
already applied for a NEB-related call for proposals – regardless of whether or 
not their NEB project applications were successful104. As Figure 29 below shows, 
most local public authorities (33.3%) designed their NEB-related project ideas on 
their  own,  with  the  remaining  shares  indicating  joint  effort  with  a  public 
organisation involved in the NEB (not LRAs) (22.2%), consultancy agencies or 

102 Genova Quotidiana. 2022. Nuovo Bauhaus in Liguria, progetti ispirati a bellezza, sostenibilità e inclusione, 
July 9, 2022. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://genovaquotidiana.com/2022/06/09/nuovo-bauhaus-in-liguria-
progetti-ispirati-a-bellezza-sostenibilita-e-inclusione/.  
103 Riviera24.it. 2023. Ambiente, al via il bando Nuovo Bauhaus Europeo-Liguria challenge 2023. Accessed July 
17, 2023. https://www.riviera24.it/2023/02/ambiente-al-via-il-bando-nuovo-bauhaus-europeo-neb-liguria-
challenge-2023-798957/.  
104 47 respondents out of the total (138), of which 36 were local public authorities, 5 regional public authorities 
and 6 other entities.  

44 

 
 
 
 
 
individual consultants (19.4% each). Regional public authorities and other entities 
mostly worked jointly with consultancy agencies (40% and 66.7%, respectively).   

Figure 29 – Was your organisation supported by any external experts during the preparation process of 
any of the NEB project(s) you applied for? 

On the basis of actual involvement and/or future interest in joining the NEB, all 
respondents were asked to provide feedback about how to use the NEB approach 
to promote a stronger cross-border and inter-regional collaboration between cities 
and  regions.  The  results  provided  by  the  complete  sample  of  138  respondents 
showed that most LRAs agreed with the need to transfer best practices to other 
cities and regions, as well as improve dialogue between local communities and 
the various governmental levels (Figure 30). 

45 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 30 - How can the NEB approach be used to promote a stronger cross-border and inter-regional 
collaboration between cities and regions? 

In this regard, coordination efforts from the NEB national contact points and the 
NEB Labs are needed to fine tune activities designed and implemented at local 
level with EU-level priorities and needs. The results of the consultation as 
presented above indicated that awareness raising is the main key barrier LRAs 
identified as a form of knowledge gap hampering their participation in the NEB 
and an updated overview of NEB-related initiatives carried out across the EU. A 
more detailed NEB governance structure at national and EU levels would help to 
shift the local and regional level NEB impact to a wider one, to understand how 
the NEB is delivered and how it can be disseminated and promoted as an EU 
movement enabling cities and regions to deliver place-based solutions and learn 
from each other. Greater communication and visibility action is therefore 
needed. 

46 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Part 3: Case studies   

Case 3.1. Eyes Hearts Hands Urban Revolution (EHHUR) (Belgium, Croatia, 
Denmark, Greece, Italy, Portugal) 

Name  of  the  EU  funding  opportunity: 
Horizon Europe.  
LRAs  involved:  municipality  of  Zoersel 
(BE), Osijek (HR), Taastrup (DK) and Kozani 
(EL),  Fondazione  Bio-Distretto  della  Via 
Amerina e delle Forre ETS (IT), municipality 
of Maia (PT).  
LRA participation: non-mandatory. 
Implementation 
transformation. 
Timing: October 2022 – September 2025. 

environmental 

area: 

the  deployment  of 

credit:  Ethniko  Centro  Erevnas  Kai 

District of Kozani (EL), where renovation works will 
be carried out.  
Photo 
Technologikis Anaptyxis (CERTH).  
Description of the initiative 
EHHUR  is  one  of  the  six  lighthouse  demonstrators  funded  by  the  Horizon 
Europe  NEB  dedicated  call  “Support 
lighthouse 
demonstrators  for  the  New  European  Bauhaus  initiative  in  the  context  of 
Horizon Europe missions” (HORIZON -MISS-2021-NEB-01-01) contributing 
to  transforming  places  on  the  ground.  With  a  total  EU  contribution  of  EUR 
4,994,902.50,  it  aims  to  develop  and  test  a  comprehensive  environmental 
transformation methodology to be implemented by cities, combining existing 
practices with NEB and EU Mission principles. With its motto, “Eyes, Hearts, 
Hands”, the project’s  ambition is to  translate the three  core NEB values into 
tangible full sustainability and carbon neutrality results, and ensure equal and 
fair  inclusion  of  local  communities,  regardless  of  citizens’  age,  economic 
conditions  and  geographical  origin,  and  make  urban 
transformation 
aesthetically viable and socially accepted. Practically speaking, it is based on 
seven lighthouse demonstrators to be carried out in the EU and Turkey on the 
basis of specific  case studies focusing  on socio-economic  and cultural issues 
(e.g., social segregation, marginalisation and energy poverty, depopulated and 
degraded historical centres). Neighbourhoods piloting the project’s mission set 
up Citizen Energy Communities, restore school buildings and parks, create new 
multifunction  library  buildings  and  renovate  social  housing  and  the  historic 
centre, creating a new and sustainable culture centre and renovating the health 
and  social  care  district,  which  is  designed  to  pave  the  way  for  sustainable, 
beautiful and inclusive cities. The project will contribute to the implementation 
of Sustainable Action Plans  for a zero-carbon Europe for the cities involved, 
consisting of adopting a transdisciplinary and participatory approach to urban 
transformation  in  local  communities.  The  project’s  innovation  lies  in  its 

47 

 
 
 
 
implemented 

in  accordance  with 

methodology, engagement and funding practices, as well as their high potential 
replicability  in  a  range  of  settings.  Achieving  its  goals  will  consist  of 
architectural  strategies 
the  history, 
functionality,  cultural  heritage  and  peculiarities  of  each  neighbourhood, 
enhancing  the  adoption  of  circular  principles  and  bio-based  materials 
contributing  to  a  de-carbonisation  process.  Local  co-design  and  co-creation 
processes  involving  diverse  socio-economic  contexts  will  also  be  adopted  to 
ensure that everyone can take part in the project’s mission and its inclusive and 
sustainable energy behaviours, in a shift from passive consumers to prosumers 
(i.e., producers and consumers).  
The  project  involves  six  local  public  authorities  -  some  of  which  were 
newcomers to it and some of which were already engaged in the NEB mission 
- which expect to gain further knowledge about how to make the best use of the 
NEB to make their  towns beautiful, inclusive and green.  They consider their 
participation  in  the  NEB  initiative  not  mandatory,  but  highly  relevant  to 
significantly  bridge  the  local  community  gap,  meet  their  needs  and  create 
inclusive places open to everyone. The goal is that everyone should know what 
is  happening  in  their  territory  and  take  part  in  any  future  NEB  co-creation 
processes  with  a  view  to  designing  the  strategy  best  able  to  combine  NEB 
principles with local and regional operational programmes to be implemented 
at the territorial level, for a better use of spaces. 
Evidence of the project’s relevance to the NEB initiative 

•  Sustainable:  EHHUR  will  contribute  to  a  carbon  neutrality  paradigm 
shift  and  behavioural  change  through  the  creation  of  Citizen  Energy 
Communities  and  the  adoption  of  circular  principles  and  bio-based 
materials.  

•  Beautiful: EHHUR will foster the creation and collective re-invention of 
places and lifestyles and the communities living them, generating a long-
lasting movement and making cities more aesthetically viable.  

•  Together: EHHUR will contribute to the definition of new ways of living 
together  that  are  socially  accepted  to  everyone,  regardless  of  age, 
economic conditions and ethnic origin.  

•  Participatory approach: EHHUR will implement a dynamic information 
flow  that  will  facilitate  interaction  with  the  local  communities 
participating in the co-creation urban transformation process in the seven 
lighthouse demonstrators.  

•  Transdisciplinary approach: EHHUR will adopt a collaborative public 
engagement process that will enable it to go beyond the transdisciplinary, 
integrating both formal and non-formal knowledge to achieve a common 
goal, i.e., making cities more beautiful, inclusive and carbon-neutral.  

48 

 
 
•  Multi-level  approach:  by  adopting  a  locally  based  approach,  EHHUR 
will strive to design a flexible methodology applicable across Europe, to 
make its mission globally feasible. 

Sources: EHHUR factsheet105 on CORDIS; EHHUR website106; interview held on 19 April 
2023 with representatives from municipality of Zoersel (BE), Osijek (HR) and Kozani (EL), 
Fondazione Bio-Distretto della Via Amerina e delle Forre ETS (IT), municipality of Maia 
(PT). 

Case  3.2.  Citizen-powered  data  ecosystems  for  inclusive  and  green  urban 
transitions (Urban ReLeaf) (Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands) 

Name  of  the  EU  funding  opportunity: 
Horizon Europe. 
LRAs  involved:  municipality  of  Mannheim 
(LV), 
(DE),  Riga 
municipality  of  Utrecht  (NL),  province  of 
Utrecht (NL). 
LRA participation: non-mandatory.  
Implementation area: citizen engagement.  
Timing: January 2023 – December 2026.  

Planning  Region 

engagement” 

Urban ReLeaf methodology.  
Photo credit: Urban ReLeaf. 
Description of the initiative 
Urban ReLeaf is one of the three projects funded by the Horizon Europe NEB 
contributing call “Uptake and validation of citizen observations to complement 
authoritative  measurement  within  the  urban  environment  and  boost  related 
citizen 
(HORIZON-CL6-2022-GOVERNANCE-01-08), 
contributing to the diffusion of new meanings. With a total EU contribution of 
EUR  4,206,020  it  aims  to  co-create  citizen-powered  data  ecosystems  as 
complementary resources supporting climate change adaptation, urban design 
planning  and  green  infrastructure,  in  line  with  the  Green  Deal  and  the  UN 
Sustainable Development Goals (e.g., Target 11.7 – “By 2030, provide universal 
access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular 
for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities”). At the 
core  of  the  project  is  citizen  science,  an  effective  tool  bringing  together  the 
scientific  community  and  citizens  for  environmental  monitoring  applied  to 
urban  green  planning.  In  accordance  with  the  Commission  Staff  Working 
Document  Best  Practices  in  Citizen  Science  for  Environmental  Monitoring 
(European  Commission  2020,  2),  citizen  science  serves  the  purpose  of 
strengthening  the  evidence  base  for  environmental  policy  whilst  raising 

105  European  Commission,  “EYES  HEART  HANDS  Urban  Revolution”.  Accessed  July  17,  2023. 
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101079948.  
106 EYES, HEART, HANDS Urban Revolution. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://eyesheartshands.eu/.  

49 

 
 
 
 
awareness and empowering people to pay attention to local issues through an 
open, participatory, co-creative and bottom-up approach. Against this backdrop, 
Urban ReLeaf will carry out a set of inclusive citizens’ engagement campaigns 
whose aim is to address information gaps related to local greening issues of six 
EU  pilot  cities.  These  data  will  be  generated  by  citizens’  observations,  to 
complement existing authoritative data ecosystems and foster innovation within 
public institutions. In one of the project’s pilot initiatives, coordinated by the 
municipality of Mannheim (Germany), for instance, a co-creative participative 
approach with citizens will be adopted to address climate adaptation by planting 
1000 trees. The initiative stemmed from the implementation of the Mannheim 
2030  mission  statement  in  2019,  where  the  municipality  translated  the  2030 
Agenda  for  Sustainable  Development  into  a  set  of  local  action-oriented 
initiatives  designed  to  make  the  city  more  sustainable  and  inclusive.  This 
document was the backbone of a series of local strategic documents that were 
later  adopted,  such  as  the  Climate  Adaptation  Plan  (2019)107,  the  Mannheim 
Message (2020)108, the Local Green Deal Mannheim (2021)109, the Heat Action 
Plan (2021)110, the Local Green Deal Rulebook participation (2021)111 and the 
Climate Protection Plan 2030 (2022)112. For the municipality of Mannheim, tree 
planting is an important action inspired by the NEB core values of sustainability, 
inclusion and aesthetics. Planting trees is, in fact, not only about enabling nature 
to capture the carbon we produce and thus reduce carbon emissions. It is also 
about  bringing  people  from  different  backgrounds  together  and  empowering 
them to join forces for the sake of their environment, whilst improving their 
psychological wellbeing and the neighbourhoods they live in. In Urban ReLeaf, 
the municipality of Mannheim will combine sensor systems with citizen science 
to get the information it needs to locate the trees. The final aim is to bring 250 
people into the process and plant 1000 trees per year. To achieve this goal, the 
municipality  of  Mannheim  will  organise  regular  meetings  with  citizens  and 
engage with them via a dedicated platform providing relevant information. This 
is a sustainable process that will be continued after the project ends, to achieve 
the  goals  set  out  in  the  Climate  Protection  Plan  2030.  The  municipality  of 
Mannheim  is  not  new  to  the  NEB  initiative:  it  participated  in  the  2021  co-

107 An action plan detailing Mannheim’s climate change adaptation strategy in the light of the latest climate 
change challenges (e.g. higher temperatures, heavy and more violent rainfall events).  
108 An international declaration promoted by the Municipality of Mannheim and shared by other 80 EU cities 
that lays the foundations for Local Green Deals designed in cooperation with citizens and key stakeholders (e.g. 
including businesses, research and innovation sectors) to address climate change-related challenges with a multi-
level participatory approach.  
109 A policy document setting out the conditions for participation in the “EU Mission for climate-neutral and 
smart cities by 2030” promoted by the European Commission in 2020.   
110 An action plan aimed at better protecting people and their health through a set of awareness raising and 
action-oriented processes counteracting the threats resulting from high temperatures and focusing in particular on 
nine categories of vulnerable people, e.g. the elderly.  
111 A policy document detailing how citizens can participate formally or informally in policy-making at the local 
level within the framework of the “Local Green Deal” adopted by the Municipality in 2021.  
112 An action plan designed to shape and support the achievement of Mannheim’s climate-neutral-by-2030 goal.  

50 

 
 
 
creation  phase  before  the  NEB  was  launched.  Participation  in  the  process  is 
expected to increase knowledge exchange and understanding by means of an 
interdisciplinary  approach  capable  of 
transferring  knowledge  on  how 
participatory  approaches  can  be  implemented  and  learning  how  to  translate 
citizen science into tangible place-based action. LRA participation in the NEB 
is non-mandatory, but necessary to moderate the citizen engagement process, 
get ideas and feedback on the actions that cities and regions can take to meet 
their needs and make their places beautiful, inclusive and green.  
Evidence of the project’s relevance to the NEB initiative 

•  Sustainable:  Urban  ReLeaf  will  contribute  to  a  paradigm  shift  and 
behavioural change in the way environmental monitoring is carried out 
at  the  local  level  through  citizen  participation  in  getting  additional 
observational data.  

•  Beautiful:  by  mobilising  citizens  to  get  involved  in  contributing  to 
policy-making and environmental monitoring through the provision of 
additional complementary data, Urban ReLeaf will reinforce the sense 
of  belonging.  Different  places  and  people  will  be  connected  up  and 
offered meaningful social interactions and collective experiences.  
•  Together: Urban ReLeaf will encourage the development of sustainable 
and  collaborative  communities  by  getting  them  involved  in  gathering 
additional  observational  environmental  data.  This  will  contribute  to 
creating value and bringing transformative benefits on a societal level.  
•  Participatory approach: Urban ReLeaf will adopt a dynamic information 
flow that will enhance citizens’ participation in gathering environmental 
monitoring data to contribute to policy making. This approach will be 
piloted in six EU cities.  

•  Transdisciplinary  approach:  Urban  ReLeaf  will  adopt  a  beyond-
disciplinary approach combining formal and non-formal knowledge to 
monitor environmental data. Authoritative data streams (e.g., from the 
Global  Earth  Observation  System  of  Systems)  will,  in  fact,  be 
complemented with additional observational data provided by citizens 
by enhancing the use of citizen science.  

•  Multi-level  approach:  Urban  ReLeaf  will  implement  a  locally  based 
approach connecting informal networks (e.g., neighbourhoods, groups of 
individuals)  and  formal  institutions  (e.g.,  municipalities)  to  design  a 
flexible and innovative governance mechanism to be replicated across 
Europe  to  collect  and  monitor  environmental  data  through  citizen 
science. 

51 

 
 
Sources:  Urban  ReLeaf  factsheet113  on  CORDIS;  Goal  11  of  the  UN  Sustainable 
Development  Goals114;  Commission  Staff  Working  Document  Best  Practices  in  Citizen 
Science  for  Environmental  Monitoring  (European  Commission  2020)115;  Mannheim  2030 
(Mannheim  2019)116;  Climate  Adaptation  Plan  (Mannheim  2019)117;  Mannheim  Message 
(Mannheim 2020)118; Local Green Deal Mannheim (Mannheim 2021)119; Heat Action Plan 
(Mannheim  2021)120;  Local  Green  Deal  Rulebook  participation  (Mannheim  2021)121; 
Climate  Protection  Plan  2030  (Mannheim  2022)122;  Mannheim’s  citizen  engagement 
portal123;  interview  held  on  16  May  2023  with  a  representative  from  the  municipality  of 
Mannheim (DE). 

Case 3.3. Rural Patterns – re-designing the urban space of the city’s centre 
through  extended  water-permeable  paving  systems,  natural  materials, 
natural elements (Greece) 

Name  of  the  EU  funding  opportunity: 
European  Regional  Development  Fund 
(ERDF). 
LRAs  involved:  municipality  of  Katerini 
(EL).  
LRA participation: mandatory.  
Implementation area: urban design.  
Timing: September 2022 – June 2023.  

Katerini city centre.  
Photo credit: Aikaterini’s O. Kefalogianni  
Design Team. 
Description of the initiative 

2023.   

17, 

July 

United 

Goals”. 

Nations, 

Accessed 

“Sustainable 

Development 

113 European Commission, “Citizens powered data ecosystems for inclusive and green urban transition”. Accessed 
July 17, 2023.  https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101086638.   
114 
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/cities/.  
115 European Commission. 2020. Commission Staff Working Document, Best Practices in Citizen Science for 
Environmental Monitoring, SWD(2020) 149 final, Brussels, 27.7.2020. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-9973-2020-INIT/en/pdf.  
116 Mannheim. 2019. Leitbild Mannheim 2030. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://www.mannheim.de/sites/default/files/2022-08/MA_Leitbild_final_4.pdf.  
117 Mannheim. 2019. Konzept “Anpassung An Den Klimawandel in Mannheim”. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://www.klima-ma.de/begruenen/downloads/Konzept-Klimaschutzagentur-Mannheim.pdf.  
118 Mannheim. 2020. Mannheim Message. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://past-
conferences.sustainablecities.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/_temp_/Mannheim2020/Message/Mannheim-
Message.pdf.  
119 Mannheim. 2021. Stadt Mannheim Mannheim als Pilotstadt für einen Local Green Deal. Accessed July 17, 
2023. https://buergerinfo.mannheim.de/buergerinfo/vo0050.asp?__kvonr=227007.  
120 Mannheim. 2021. Mannheimer hitzeaktionsplan. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://buergerinfo.mannheim.de/buergerinfo/getfile.asp?id=8162889&type=do.  
121 Mannheim. 2021. Regelwerk Bürger-beteiligung der Stadt Mannheim. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://www.mannheim.de/sites/default/files/2019-03/BBT_Regelwerk_2019_03_1.pdf.  
122 Mannheim. 2022. KlimaSchutz-AktionsPlan 2030 – Auf dem Weg zur klimaneutralen Stadt Mannheim. 
Accessed July 17, 2023. https://buergerinfo.mannheim.de/buergerinfo/getfile.asp?id=8179789&type=do.  
123 Mannheim, “Informationen”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://mannheim-gemeinsam-
gestalten.de/archiv/dialoge/klimaschutzaktionsplan.html#uip-1.  

52 

 
 
 
 
Rural Patterns is one of twenty projects funded by the ERDF NEB dedicated 
call  “Technical  assistance  for  public  authorities:  Support  to  New  European 
Bauhaus Local Initiatives”, contributing to transforming places on the ground. 
The call targeted small and medium-sized municipalities which do not have the 
requisite  expertise  or  capacity  to  turn  their  NEB  project  ideas  into  tangible 
results. With a total EU contribution of EUR 125,000, Rural Patterns aims to re-
design  the  municipality  of  Katerini  city  centre’s  urban  space,  including 
Dimarchiou  and  Eleftherias  squares,  and  its  main  pedestrian  area.  Through 
extended water permeable paving systems, natural materials and elements (e.g., 
trees), and customised objects integrating natural sources (e.g., rainwater and 
sunlight), the project will finally shape a new sustainable city identity. Improved 
use of public spaces is expected to generate a social impact capable of leading 
to better health and well-being, removal of social distancing, better accessibility 
and  enhanced  safety  in  public  spaces.  In  addition,  various  target  groups  are 
expected to  be  covered,  including  people of  different  ages  and  backgrounds, 
minorities,  unemployed  people,  migrants  and  refugees.  The  city’s  design  is 
inspired by the agricultural fabric of the areas surrounding Katerini city centre, 
highlighting an unexpected correlation and dialogue between its rural and urban 
landscapes  and  the  way  they  are  shaped.  Rural  Patterns  adheres  fully  to  the 
municipality of Katerini’s spatial planning strategies (i.e., its Strategy for the 
Sustainable Urban Development 2017 for the Municipality of Katerini) and its 
relevant action plans and regulatory frameworks124. After designing the project 
concept  with  an  external  Competition  Design  Team125  which  won  an 
architectural contest launched by the municipality of Katerini, the municipality 
has benefited from a set of EU services, namely: i) a methodological framework 
for  the  assessment  of  environmental  and  socio-economic  benefits  from  the 
project’s  implementation;  ii)  design  of  architectural  details  and  handbook  of 
good  practices  linked  to  bioclimatic  elements  and  information  technology 
solutions; iii) green public procurement good practices and recommendations; 
iv) a methodological framework to keep stakeholders engaged in the project and 
implement  needs  assessments;  v)  a  funding  scheme.  These  helped  the 
municipality  of  Katerini  to  acquire  new  knowledge,  methodologies  and 
technical solutions that have been already implemented and which will be key 
assets for later use. Furthermore, the Municipality has been trained in line with 
the  NEB’s  core  values,  which  will  help  it  expand  its  thinking  and  exchange 
knowledge with other European cities. In this regard, the Municipality considers 
the participation of LRAs in all NEB initiatives mandatory, as it is these who 
are  responsible  for  planning,  implementing  and  monitoring  the  local  and 

124 Including the General Urban Plan of Katerini GUP, the Research support to the Municipality of Katerini 
towards a sustainable mobility strategy focusing on cycling programme and a University of Athens Physics 
Department study entitled Bioclimatic Assessment and Optimisation of the center of the Municipality of Katerini.  
125 The Team comprises two architects, one hydraulic designer, one civil engineer and one electrical engineer.  

53 

 
 
 
regional sustainable development strategies which are at the core of any public 
space and public building project such as Rural Patterns. 
Evidence of the project’s relevance to the NEB initiative 

•  Sustainable:  Rural  Patterns  will  incentivise  natural  restoration  and 
expansion by enhancing the use of nature-based solutions and applying 
circular economy principles to urban re-design.  

•  Beautiful: Rural Patterns will enable the municipality of Katerini’s city 
centre to be recreated and collectively reinvented via the implementation 
of  extended  water-permeable  paving  systems,  natural  materials  and 
elements. This will contribute to enhancing people’s wellbeing in use of 
public space, as well as increasing their sense of belonging.  

•  Together:  by  re-designing  Katerini  city  centre,  Rural  Patterns  will 
contribute to enhancing its local community, as well as to improving the 
recreation opportunities available to it in the public space. This will help 
transform  the  way  people  of  all  ages  and  backgrounds  live  together, 
which will influence their long term social behaviour.  

•  Participatory approach: thanks to the EU support on the methodological 
framework required to keep stakeholders engaged in the project and the 
implementation of needs assessments, the municipality of Katerini has 
adopted a co-creation methodology for which, e.g., a set of surveys has 
been shared with selected target groups of inhabitants to re-design the 
city centre.  

•  Transdisciplinary 

approach:  Rural  Patterns  has 

an 
interdisciplinary  approach  bringing  together  specialists  in  urban 
planning, green areas, mobility, engineers and architects to re-design the 
municipality of Katerini’s city centre.  

adopted 

•  Multi-level  approach:  funded  by  the  EU  Cohesion  Policy  through  the 
European  Regional  Development  Fund,  Rural  Patterns  has  adopted  a 
place-based  approach  designed  to  support  urban  re-design  and 
sustainable development and improve citizens’ quality of life. The local 
environment will finally be improved through the EU service knowledge 
transfer  to  the  municipality  of  Katerini  and  made  tangible  upon 
completion of urban city centre renovation work. 

Sources:  Rural  Patterns  factsheet126  on  ERDF  portal;  Strategy  for  the  Sustainable  Urban 
Development 2017 for the Municipality of Katerini (Katerini 2017)127; General Urban Plan 
of Katerini GUP128; Research support to the Municipality of Katerini towards a sustainable 

transformative  projects  done  by 

126 Ramboll, “Support to New European Bauhaus Local initiatives, Honouring and supporting the inspiring place-
based 
July  17,  2023. 
local  public 
https://c.ramboll.com/local-support-new-european-bauhaus.  
127 Katerini. 2017. ΣΤΡΑΤΗΓΙΚΗ ΑΣΤΙΚΗΣ ΑΝΑΠΤΥΞΗΣ / ΟΧΕ – ΒΑΑ εκτός Θεσσαλονίκης. Accessed July 17, 
2023. https://civitas.eu/resources/sustainable-urban-development-strategy-katerini-0.  
128  Katerini,  “Schediasmos”.  Accessed  July  17,  2023.  https://www.schediasmos.com/general-urban-plan-
katerini.html.  

authorities”.  Accessed 

54 

 
 
 
mobility strategy focusing on cycling129; interview held on 25 May 2023 with a representative 
from the municipality of Katerini (EL).  

Case 3.4. Social Economy Laboratories for the New Bauhaus in European 
Rural Communities (eLabHauSE.rur) (Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Spain) 

Name  of  the  EU  funding  opportunity: 
Single Market Programme. 
LRAs involved: municipality of Vedra (ES), 
Agency  for  Rural  Development  of  Zadar 
County  (HR),  Meath  County  Council  (IE), 
municipality of Capannori (IT). 
LRA participation: mandatory. At least three 
regional or local public administrations (such 
as regions, municipalities, cities, etc.) from at 
least  three  different  eligible  countries  were 
required by the call for proposals. 
Implementation area: social economy. 
Timing: May 2022 – April 2024. 

the 

resilient” 

two  missions  organised  by 

to  become  more 

the 
One  of 
eLabHauSe.rur project. 
Photo credit: eLabHauSe.rur.  
Description of the initiative 
eLabHauSE.rur  is  one  of  eleven  projects  funded  by  the  Single  Market 
Programme  NEB  contributing  call  “Social  economy  and  local  green  deals 
(SMP-COSME-2021-
supporting  SMEs 
RESILIENCE),  contributing  to  transforming  the  enabling  environment  for 
innovation. With a total EU contribution of EUR 199,707.14, it aims to support 
local  public  administrations,  small  and  medium-sized  social  economy 
enterprises  and  people  living  in  rural  areas  to  overcome  crises  by  means  of 
social transformation through the NEB. To achieve this goal, the project will 
co-design and co-develop a network of social economy laboratories promoting 
more resilient, sustainable and inclusive employment and social opportunities 
in  rural  areas  that  will  contribute  to  knowledge  gathering,  experience  and 
promotion  of  innovative  and  creative  best  practices  based  on  the  NEB. 
eLabHauSE.rur  comprises  two  phases.  The  first,  which  is  expected  to  be 
completed  by  the  end  of  June  2023,  involves  the  launching  of  three  social 
economy missions, the first of which took place in Italy in November 2022 and 

129  National  Technical  University  of  Athens,  “Research  support  to  the  municipality  of  Katerini  towards  a 
sustainable mobility strategy focusing on cycling”. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
 https://www.elke.ntua.gr/en/research_project/research-support-to-the-municipality-of-katerini-towards-a-
sustainable-mobility-strategy-focusing-on-cycling/.  

55 

 
 
 
 
 
 
focused on the green economy130. The second was held in March 2023 in Croatia 
and was blue economy related131. The third will be organised in Spain in June 
2023, and focus on the social economy132. Prior to each mission, a request to 
relevant  stakeholders  was  launched  through  Wikiplatform133,  the  project’s 
dedicated platform based on NEB’s three core values, to collect good practices 
at  EU  level  focusing  on  the  green,  blue  and  social  economies.  Visits  and 
workshops were thus organised on site during each mission, to gather greater 
knowledge on these initiatives, as well as to brainstorm ideas and come up with 
a  Manifesto  for  the  laboratories  for  future  European  Rural  Community 
implementation.  The  second  phase  will  thus  be  implemented  at  local  level, 
during which the municipalities involved in the project will coordinate efforts 
to  design  local  action  plans  and  a  roadmap  for  long-term  rural  economy 
sustainability  inspired  by  the  NEB  initiative.  Wide-ranging  dissemination, 
capitalisation  and  transfer  of  the  methodology  designed  is  at  the  core  of  the 
eLabHauSE.rur project. To succeed in its mission, it is important for the project 
to engage with local communities and stakeholders and increase awareness of 
local action plans as effective instruments with which to mitigate the negative 
impacts  of  crisis  and  become  an  important  enabler  for  social  economy 
organisations to foster twin transition and long-term economic transformation 
towards greater sustainability, resilience and inclusion for all citizens. To ensure 
suitable participation at EU level in this collaborative process, it is important 
that LRAs are partners to the NEB and are kept up to date about it - in terms of 
how to disseminate for wider outreach, in accordance with NEB visibility rules 
- and how it is moving forward, as well as for specific and strict NEB project 
selection  criteria  to  increase  people’s  understanding  of  what  the  NEB  is  in 
practical terms  and  how they  can  get  involved  in  it.  In  this  regard,  the  NEB 
Compass134  launched  in  January  2023  by  the  JRC  paved  the  way  for  the 
development  of  a  guiding  framework  to  classify  projects  in  accordance  with 
NEB  core  values  and  principles.  Nonetheless,  greater  efforts  leading  to 
quantitative indicators are needed. Although the LRAs involved in the project 

130 “It is an economy which recognises the true value of environmental resources and ecosystems and is closely 
related to the term ‘sustainable development’, since both relate to the aim of conserving environmental 
resources for future generations.” (EUR-Lex glossary. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-
content/glossary/green-economy.html)  
131 “It encompasses all industries and sectors related to oceans, seas and coasts, whether they are based in the 
marine environment (e.g. shipping, fisheries, energy generation) or on land (e.g. ports, shipyards, land-based 
aquaculture and algae production, coastal tourism)” (European Commission. 2021(a)). 
132 “The social economy includes a variety of businesses, organisations and legal entities, such as social 
enterprises, cooperatives, mutual benefit societies (a specific type of collective insurance), non-profit 
associations and foundations. They put people and the environment at the centre of their mission and reinvest 
most of their profit back into the organisation or a specific social cause. They are governed in a participatory, 
bottom-up way.” (European Commission. 2021(b). 
https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&newsId=10117&furtherNews=yes#navItem-1).   
133 eLabHauSE, “Welcome to eLabHauSE Wikiplatform”. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://elabhause.eu.  
134 European Union, “The New European Bauhaus Compass”. Accessed July 17, 2023.  https://new-european-
bauhaus.europa.eu/document/405245f4-6859-4090-b145-1db88f91596d_en.  

56 

 
 
 
are  already  familiar  with  the  NEB,  they  see  themselves  as  engaged  in  a 
continuous  learning  process  which  needs  to  be  fostered  by  a  multi-level 
approach  in  which  the  EU,  other  cities  and  regions  and  social  economy 
stakeholders join forces. In this regard, these view the NEB as an opportunity 
to  strengthen  ties  with  other  territories  whose  needs,  challenges  and 
opportunities  are  similar,  to  achieve  common  objectives  working  for  overall 
improvement  from  three  points  of  view:  environmental,  social  and  citizen 
participation.  
Evidence of the project’s relevance to the NEB initiative 

•  Sustainable: eLabHauSE.rur aims to capitalise on the social economy to 
develop  local  action  plans  to  apply  to  rural  areas  with  a  view  to 
behavioural  change,  twin  transition  and  better  resilience  in  crisis 
recovery.  

•  Beautiful: through wide-ranging dissemination, eLabHauSE.rur aspires 
to create a long-lasting European Rural Community movement, in which 
these are urged to share good practices and experiences in the collective 
transformation of rural areas through the social economy.   

•  Together:  through  collective  intelligence  with  local  communities  and 
stakeholders  involved  in  social  economy  and  living  in  rural  areas, 
eLabHauSe.rur aims to inspire new ways of living together, building on 
solidarity and cooperation. Special attention is paid to civil society and 
people of all ages, including women and the disadvantaged.  

•  Participatory approach: eLabHauSe.rur has set up a dynamic co-creation 
collaborative process designed to result in good practice mapping based 
on  the  opportunities  offered  by  the  NEB  and  developing  local  action 
plans and a roadmap for long-term rural economy sustainability.  

•  Transdisciplinary  approach:  with  an 

interdisciplinary  approach, 
eLabHauSE.rur aims to bring together a range of disciplines and reach 
out to industry, society and policymakers in order to connect people and 
explore new ways of facilitating the ecological and socio-demographic 
transformation of European rural communities.  

•  Multi-level approach: eLabHauSE.rur aims to work across levels with 
three  missions  involving  citizens  and  social  economy  stakeholders, 
going beyond its initial dimension to set up a network of European Rural 
Communities inspired by the NEB values and principles.  

57 

 
 
Sources:  eLabHauSE.rur  factsheet135  on  the  EU  Funding  &  tender  portal;  eLabHauSE.rur 
website136; EUR-Lex glossary137; European Commission. 2021(a)138; European Commission. 
2021(b)139;  NEB  Compass140;  interview  held  on  15  May  2023  with  representatives  of  the 
Galician Association of Agrifood Cooperatives (ES), municipality of Vedra (ES), Agency 
for Rural Development of Zadar County (HR), Meath County Council (IE), municipality of 
Capannori (IT). 

Case  3.5.  Digitally  enabled  social  district  renovation  processes  for  age-
friendly  environments  driving  social  innovation  and  local  economic 
development (drOp) (Estonia, Italy, Spain) 

Name  of  the  EU  funding  opportunity: 
Horizon Europe.  
LRAs  involved:  municipalities  of  Ermua 
(coordinator) (ES), Elva (EE), Matera (IT). 
Participation of the LRAs: non-mandatory.  
Implementation  area:  social  housing  area 
renovation. 
Timing: October 2022 – September 2025. 

drOp logo.  
Photo credit: drOp.  
Description of the initiative 
drOp is one of three projects funded by the Horizon Europe NEB dedicated call 
“Social and affordable housing district demonstrator” (HORIZON-CL4-2021-
RESILIENCE-02-32), contributing to transforming places on the ground. With 
a  total  EU  contribution  of  EUR  2,486,150  it  aims  to  develop  an  Integrated 
Renovation  Methodology  (IRM)  with  which  to  transform  social  housing 
districts  into  age-friendly  inclusive  smart  neighbourhoods.  This  will  help 

to 

17, 

July 

2023. 

Accessed 

“Welcome 

eLabHauSE  Wikiplatform”. 

135 European Commission, “Social Economy Laboratories for the New Bauhaus in European Rural Communities”. 
Accessed 
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/how-to-
participate/org-details/999999999/project/101074123/program/43252476/details.  
136eLabHauSE, 
https://elabhause.eu/docs/about-elabhause/. 
137  European  Union,  “EUR  Lex”.  Accessed 
content/glossary/green-economy.html.  
138  European  Commission.  2021(a).  Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament,  the 
Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a new approach for 
a sustainable blue economy  in the EU. Transforming the EU’s Blue Economy  for a Sustainable Future, COM 
(2021)  240 
July  17,  2023.  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2021:240:FIN.  
139 European Commission. 2021(b). “Commission presents Action Plan to boost the social economy and create 
2023. 
jobs”. 
https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&furtherNews=yes&newsId=10117#navItem-1.  
140  European  Union,  “New  European  Bauhaus  Compass”.  Accessed  July  17,  2023.  https://new-european-
bauhaus.europa.eu/document/405245f4-6859-4090-b145-1db88f91596d_en.  

final,  Brussels,  17.5.2021.  Accessed 

  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-

July  17,  2023 

Accessed 

2023. 

June 

July 

17, 

12, 

58 

 
 
 
 
 
improve urban space, building accessibility and quality of life for all inhabitants, 
according  to  the  three  core  NEB  values  of  sustainability,  inclusion  and 
aesthetics. Through a human-centred approach revolving around the needs of 
the  inhabitants  of  selected  neighbourhoods  of  Ermua  (ES),  Elva  (EE)  and 
Matera (IT), the methodology will be developed in four phases inspired by the 
Cities4ZERO methodology (Tatar, Merit, Tarmo Kalvet, and Marek Tiits 2020) 
designed for a previous Horizon 2020 project focusing on energy efficiency for 
smart cities (SmartEnCity)141. The first phase is analysis and diagnosis designed 
to identify the buildings on which testing and validation attention is to focus. 
The  second  phase  enquires  into  the  key  drivers  and  pilot  initiative  goals.  A 
scenario for each individual neighbourhood is the next step. The last phase will 
design  a  strategic  plan  for  the  three  cities.  Once  the  methodology  has  been 
developed, it will be fully implemented and evaluated in Ermua’s Santa Ana 
neighbourhood,  which 
is  characterised  by  post-war  privately-owned 
multifamily buildings needing renovation. Previous action has been done here 
by the municipality of Ermua and TECNALIA according to a special plan142 
developed  in  2019  to  address  its  accessibility  problems.  It  was  the  great 
potential  of  such  processes  for  the  neighbourhood  in  terms  of  integration  of 
energy efficiency and social, environmental, economic and accessibility which 
prompted  the  unicipality  of  Ermua  to  develop  this  strategic  project  to 
structurally transform the city with Horizon Europe funds, as cited in its Urban 
Agenda (Ayuntamiento de Ermua 2023, 41). The municipality is a newcomer to 
EU funding programmes but decided nonetheless to coordinate the project with 
TECNALIA as its technical coordinator, to prove its commitment to the success 
of the initiative. It will inherit the latest technological and social innovations 
from  the  municipalities  of  Elva  (EE)  and  Matera  (IT),  with  their  respective 
expertise  in  digitalisation  and  cultural  and  creative  industries.  As  a  digitally 
advanced  city,  Elva’s  grounds  for  joining  the  drOp  consortium  were  its 
residential renovation and living condition improvement needs, as highlighted 
in its Strategic Plan143 and Energy and Climate Plan (Consultare OÜ Nomine, 
Consult OÜ 2022). The municipality will involve 152 people providing relevant 
future  building  renovation  inputs  potentially  with  complementary  EU  and 
national retrofitting. The municipality of Matera was involved in the consortium 
as it was European Capital of Culture in 2019. Its programme was entitled Open 
Future  and  focused  specifically  on  social  and  cultural  inclusion  and 
collaborative innovation with citizens. Local communities took an active part in 
shaping  the  projects  organised,  prompting  Matera  to  keep  investing  in  co-
creating. Against this backdrop, the municipality launched Matera Partecipa144, 

141  European  Commission,  “Towards  Smart  Zero  CO2  Cities  across  Europe”.  Accessed  July  17,  2023. 
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/691883.  
142 The plan is not publicly available, but can be shared on request.  
143 Elva Vald, “Arengukava 2030”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://www.elva.ee/arengukava-2030-koostamine.  
144 Comune di Matera, “Matera Partecipa”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://www.comune.matera.it/matera-
partecipa.  

59 

 
 
 
an initiative aiming to renovate public spaces through urban intervention and 
the creation of new approaches to living together involving sharing information, 
news  and  initiatives  for  the  common  good.  One  of  the  Matera  Partecipa 
initiatives is the development of a Urban Center Laboratory launched in 2022 
in the neighbourhood of Spine Bianche, the drOp pilot district. The cultural and 
creative  industries  will  thus  act  as  social  and  cultural  enablers  for  citizen 
participation,  but  also  as  a  means  for  new  economic  opportunity  creation.  A 
peer-learning  method  enabling  the  three  cities  to  learn  from  each  other  will 
generate an IRM and some guidelines that will be implemented after the end of 
the  project  by  Elva  and  Matera  to  replicate  the  testing  activity  in  full. 
Furthermore, Housing Europe’s participation in the consortium will enhance the 
project’s ability to work jointly with other relevant EU projects, as well as to 
engage  with  other  EU  cities  capable  of  replicating  its  methodology  and 
calibrating it to their needs.  
In  this  regard,  the  local  authorities  involved  in  the  project  consider  the 
participation of cities and regions mandatory for the design and implementation 
of initiatives such as drOp, as it is these which are responsible for its operational 
management and which have the tools and contacts needed for its success. It is 
also important for these projects to develop sustainable people-centred solutions 
for  better  communication  with  the  local  authorities  and  more  sustainable, 
beautiful and inclusive places to live in.   
Evidence of the project’s relevance to the NEB initiative 

•  Sustainable:  drOp  aims  to  set  the  basis  for  regenerating  selected 
neighbourhoods  needing  retrofitting  intervention.  The  project  is  not 
about  retrofitting,  but  its  objective  is  to  provide  significant  strategic 
guidelines on action for accessible, beautiful and sustainable buildings.  
•  Beautiful:  by  developing  an  Integrated  Renovation  Methodology 
considering the needs of inhabitants, drOp aims to enable the collective 
re-invention  of  selected  neighbourhoods  -  in  terms  of  buildings  and 
communities - to anticipate future transformations on the ground.  

•  Together:  drOp  aims  to  strengthen  social  cohesion  through  the 
inclusive  smart 
transformation  of  social  housing  districts 
neighbourhoods.  By  adopting  a  co-creation  approach  involving  local 
community representatives, it will contribute to designing new ways of 
living  together  in  which  users’  needs  drive  change  and  better  living 
conditions.  

in 

•  Participatory  approach:  at  the  core  of  the  Integrated  Renovation 
Methodology that drOp will deliver by the end of the project is a co-
creation approach with neighbourhoods and the local ecosystem. After 
its  methodology  has  been  validated,  Ermua  will  establish  a 
neighbourhood office as a reference point people can go to to ask for 
technical and funding advice for building and home renovation.  

60 

 
 
•  Transdisciplinary  approach:  at  the  core  of  the  Integrated  Renovation 
Methodology is an interdisciplinary approach exploring the potential of 
the  cultural  and  creative  industries  and  digitalisation  to  foster  social 
innovation and enhance local economic development.  

•  Multi-level  approach:  drOp  will  develop  an  Integrated  Renovation 
Methodology based on the experiences of the three pilot towns of Ermua 
(ES),  Elva  (EE)  and Matera  (IT). The  project  is locally  based  but  the 
methodology  will  be  validated  for  replicability  and  use  optimisation 
elsewhere. 

Sources: drOp factsheet145 on CORDIS; drOp website146; Tatar, Merit, Tarmo Kalvet, and 
Marek  Tiits.  2020147;  SmartENCity  factsheet148  on  CORDIS;  Ayuntamiento  de  Ermua. 
2023149;  Elva  Strategic  Plan150;  Consultare  OÜ  Nomine,  Consult  OÜ.  2022151;  Matera 
Partecipa website152; interview held on 30 May 2023 with representatives of the municipality 
of  Ermua  and  TECNALIA  (ES);  interview  held  on  1  June  2023  with  a  representative  of 
municipality of Elva (EE); interview held on 9 June 2023 with a representative of Materahub 
(IT).  

Case 3.6. New European Bauhaus of the mountains (Italy) 

Name  of  the  EU  funding  opportunity:  not 
applicable. 
LRAs  involved:  autonomous  province  of 
Bozen/Bolzano (IT). 
LRA participation: non-mandatory. 
Implementation area: policy. 
Timing: January 2021 – ongoing. 

New European Bauhaus of the Mountains logo. Photo 
credit: Kseniia Obukhova.  
Description of the initiative 

145 European Union, “Digitally enabled social district renovation processes for age-friendly environments driving 
social innovation and local economic development”. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101080025.  
146 DrOp, “Digitally enabled social district renovation 
processes for age-friendly environments driving social innovation and local economic development”. Accessed 
July 17, 2023. https://drop-project.eu/.  
147 Tatar, Merit, Tarmo Kalvet, and Marek Tiits. 2020. "Cities4ZERO Approach to Foresight for Fostering Smart 
Energy Transition on Municipal Level" Energies 13, no. 14: 3533. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13143533.  
148  European  Union,  “Towards  Smart  Zero  CO2  Cities  across  Europe”.  Accessed  July  17,  2023. 
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/691883.  
149 Ayuntamiento de Ermua. 2023. Agenda Urbana Ermua. Marco Estratégico & plan de acción. Accessed July 
17, 2023. https://hiriagenda.ermua.eus/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/AU_ERMUA-Marco-Estrategico-y-Plan-de-
Accion_vfinal.pdf.  
150 Elva Vald, “Arengukava 2030”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://www.elva.ee/arengukava-2030-koostamine. 
151Consultare  OÜ.  Nomine  Consult  OÜ.  2022.  Elva  valla  energia-  ja  kliimakava.  Accessed  July  17,  2023. 
https://media.voog.com/0000/0046/8927/files/Lisa%201.%20Elva_valla_KEKK_11102022.pdf. 
152 Comune di Matera, “Matera Partecipa”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://www.comune.matera.it/matera-
partecipa. 

61 

 
 
 
 
New European Bauhaus of the Mountains is one of the twelve community-led 
NEB  Lab  projects,  and  the  only  one  involving  a  LRA.  Coordinated  by  the 
Autonomous  Province  of  Bozen/Bolzano  (IT),  it  aims  to  act  as  a  discussion 
space  that  bridges  the  gap  between  politics  and  the  South  Tyrol’s  mountain 
communities. The idea behind the project stemmed from the call of the President 
of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, to use the NEB to foster 
creativity  across  the  EU.  In  January  2021,  the  Autonomous  Province  of 
Bozen/Bolzano started working to set up a project team in South Tyrol with a 
view  to  designing  a  new  provincial  ecosystem  inspired  by  the  core  NEB 
principles of sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics. A preliminary draft of the 
project  idea  was  discussed  immediately  afterwards  with  the  JRC  of  the 
European  Commission,  responsible  for  NEB  implementation,  and  validated 
with  it  as  a  NEB  Lab  project.  This  led  the  New  European  Bauhaus  of  the 
Mountains to hold its kick-off meeting on 8 July 2021 in a hybrid format, where 
a  lively  debate  oriented  discussions  towards  the  implementation  of  seven 
flagship working groups focusing on seven thematic areas (i.e., sustainability 
and affordable housing, creative industries and inclusive society, circular design 
and bioeconomy, digital transformation for the common good, valorisation of 
sustainable and beauty in the built environment, design and art education, design 
and  the  art  of  democracy).  Against  this  backdrop,  the  five  pioneering 
organisations involved in the project team started meeting online with relevant 
stakeholders living in South Tyrol (e.g., activists, artists, designers, architects, 
students, engineers, scientists, policymakers) to brainstorm ideas and co-create 
innovative,  beautiful,  inclusive  and  sustainable  solutions  for  the  province’s 
complex social problems with the final aim of looking for funding resources to 
bring them to fruition. At present, the project team has no funding mechanism 
in place and New European Bauhaus of the Mountains is a novel self-funding 
idea. Its individual stakeholders consider it, on one hand, an opportunity to raise 
awareness on the NEB and the various initiatives it can inspire and, on the other, 
as a creative movement designed to express the NEB at the European level. In 
this regard, New European Bauhaus of the Mountains hopes to attract further 
stakeholders living in mountainous areas with a view to maximising its impact. 
There  is  nothing  accidental  about  the  fact  that,  rather  than  making  specific 
mention  of  the  province,  the  project’s  name  refers  to  mountains  in  general. 
Mountains can be  seen as barriers but looked at from a different perspective 
they offer beautiful views from the summit. It is in this spirit that New European 
Bauhaus  of  the  Mountains  welcomes  new  stakeholders,  as  it  did  with  RE 
START BZ, a provincial association with which a public event was hosted on 
19 June 2023 to meet citizens. At present, the project is working on its internal 
governance, with the ultimate aim of adopting a multi-level approach enabling 
its partners to discuss existing policies and issues related to the South Tyrol as 
part of the EU, but also to widen its context to the EUSALP macro-region and 
other mountainous areas located in the EU. In order for the project to succeed, 

62 

 
 
regular dialogue with citizens and the European Commission is needed, to shed 
light  on  what  the  project  is  doing  and  how  it  can  best  be  supported.  The 
Autonomous  Province  of  Bozen/Bolzano  has  also  expressed  a  wish  for 
interaction with other NEB Lab projects such as, for instance, organising a NEB 
week or setting up a secretariat, enabling all stakeholders working in accordance 
with the NEB spirit to meet and exchange best practices and lessons learned 
with a view to the widest possible use. 
Evidence of the project’s relevance to the NEB initiative 

•  Sustainable: New European Bauhaus of the Mountains aims to create an 
ecosystem of stakeholders living in mountainous areas, to act jointly for 
behavioural change leading to socio-ecological transformation in these 
settings.  

•  Beautiful:  New  European  Bauhaus  of  the  Mountains  aims  to  foster 
creation  and  collective  re-invention  of  mountain  places,  communities 
and lifestyles. By enabling anyone interested in the mountains and living 
in such settings to join it, it aspires to generate a long-lasting movement 
showing the ways the NEB can be applied to mountainous areas.   

•  Together:  New  European  Bauhaus  of  the  Mountains  is  an  inclusive 
platform for discussion, where people can meet and co-create new ways 
of living together. 

•  Participatory approach: New European Bauhaus of the Mountains aims 
to  enable  people  living  in  mountainous  areas  to  freely  engage  and 
manage  the  project,  without  any  strict  rules  to  abide  by.  Anyone 
interested in the mountains and living in such settings, regardless of age, 
geographical position, etc., is invited to take part. 

•  Transdisciplinary approach: New European Bauhaus of the Mountains 
wishes  to  go  beyond  disciplinary  boundaries.  As  an  open  discussion 
space, the project aspires to integrate scientific and technical knowledge 
with  creativity  and  innovation,  to  explore  new  possibilities  and  bring 
new narratives applicable to mountainous areas to fruition.  

•  Multi-level approach: New European Bauhaus of the Mountains aims to 
bridge the gap between local mountain communities and policymakers. 
Whilst the  project is currently territorial,  it  aspires to  achieve  a  wider 
this  regard, 
transformational 
cooperation with the European Commission through the NEB Lab, other 
NEB Lab projects and other mountainous areas located in the EU is key 
to ensure the sustainability of its ecosystem and broaden its initial scope.  

impact  by  going 

international.  In 

63 

 
 
Sources:  New  European  Bauhaus  of  the  Mountains153  on  the  New  European  Bauhaus 
website; New European Bauhaus of the Mountains website154; interview held on 9 June 2023 
with a representative from the Autonomous province of Bozen/Bolzano (IT).  

153 European Union, “NEB Lab: New European Bauhaus of the mountains”. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/get-inspired/inspiring-projects-and-ideas/neb-lab-new-european-
bauhaus-mountains_en.  
154 New European Bauhaus of the Mountains, “New European Bauhaus of the Mountains, Beautiful Sustainable 
Together”. Accessed July 17, 2023. http://mountainbauhaus.eu/.  

64 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Part  4:  Conclusions,  policy  recommendations  and  foresight 
considerations  

Foresight considerations regarding the implementation of the New European 
Bauhaus at the local and regional levels 

At the end of 2020, the European Commission issued a Strategic Foresight Report 
(European  Commission  2020,  2)155  in  which  it  stressed  the  key  role  strategic 
foresight  plays  in  helping  future  EU  policymaking  by  building  collective 
intelligence on short-term initiatives to ensure that these are grounded in a longer 
term perspective. In this regard, a foresight analysis has been conducted within 
the framework of this study, to explore possible NEB implementations at the local 
and regional levels capable of tapping its potential to the full in a structured way 
in  line  with  the  initiative’s  three  core  values  (i.e.,  sustainability,  inclusion, 
aesthetics).  The  following  approach  is  derived  from  the  methodological  steps 
already  implemented  in  the  study  Territorial  foresight  study  in  addressing  the 
digital divide  and  promoting  digital  cohesion  (Fontana,  Bisogni,  Cavallini  and 
Soldi 2022)156.  
The first step in the approach includes horizon scanning. “Horizon scanning is 
the systematic outlook to detect early signs of potentially important developments 
in  the  future”  (European  Commission  2016,  4)157.  Through  horizon  scanning, 
policymakers at any administrative level can take into account “signals of change” 
that may affect the expected impact of their decisions and actions. Early signs of 
change  are  called  weak  signals.  They  are  unclear  observables  warning  us  of 
possible future “game changing events” whose weakness is   proportional to the 
level of uncertainty regarding their interpretation, importance and implications in 
the short-medium to long term (iKnow project)158. For the purpose of this study, 
horizon  scanning  was  carried out with a view to  screening  and selecting  weak 
signals related to the NEB, starting from the list identified by the JRC available 
in the TIM Trends system159 (i.e., a monitoring system developed by the JRC) and 

155 European Commission. 2020. 2020 Strategic Foresight Report. Charting the course towards a more resilient 
Europe. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/497a17be-3824-4135-bf2b-
1072d74272b3_en?filename=strategic_foresight_report_2020_1.pdf.  
156 Fontana, Susanna, Fabio Bisogni, Simona Cavallini, Rossella Soldi. 2022. Territorial foresight study in 
addressing the digital divide and promoting digital cohesion. European Union. QG-07-22-619-EN-N; ISBN: 
978-92-895-1241-1; doi:10.2863/51662. Available at: 
https://cor.europa.eu/en/engage/studies/Documents/Territorial%20foresight%20study%20in%20addressing%20t
he%20digital%20divide%20and%20promoting%20digital%20cohesion/DIGITAL-COHESION.pdf. 
157 European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. 2016. Models of horizon scanning: 
how to integrate horizon scanning into European research and innovation policies. Publications Office. 
https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2777/338823.   
158 European Commission, “Final Report Summary - IKNOW (Interconnecting knowledge for the early 
identification of issues, events and developments (...) shaping and shaking the future of STI in the ERA)”. 
Accessed July 17, 2023. https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/225695/reporting.   
159 TIM, “Tools for Innovation Monitoring”, Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://www.timanalytics.eu/TimTechPublic/main.jsp?dataset=s_1597.  

65 

 
 
 
 
set  out  in  the  JRC  technical  report  Weak  Signals  in  Science  and  Technologies 
published in 2021160. These were analysed in terms of their links and relevance to 
the three NEB core values, to increase understanding of what their future might 
be.  

Against this backdrop, a list of 13 selected weak signals relevant to the NEB was 
developed161,  as Table 1 below shows. Occurrences of each weak signal in the 
scientific literature162 were calculated by means of quantitative research analysis, 
considering a timespan ranging from 2018 to 2022. These served as a basis for 
two time frames - 2021-2022 and 2018-2022 - to describe the impact of each weak 
signal on the short and medium-long term, respectively, and build two different 
scenarios for the future of the NEB (Value 1, Value 2)163. 

Table 1 – List of relevant weak signals (2020) with quantitative data analysis related to 2018-2022 

WEAK SIGNAL  Year 

DESCRIPTION 

2018  2019  2020  2021  2022 

Value 
1 

Value 
2 

Behavioural public 
administration 
approach  

2020 

Biocrust 
restoration 

2020 

Demographic 
growth  

2020 

and 

lichens 

bureaucrats 

psychological  method 
A 
political 
the 
investigating 
administrative 
and 
settings 
focusing  on  cognitive  and 
decision-making  biases  and 
discrimination  by  bureaucrats, 
interaction  between  citizens 
and 
the 
psychological effects of public 
service failure. 
Biocrusts  are  multifunctional 
communities of cyanobacteria, 
algae, 
other  
organisms that are increasingly 
being used to restore degraded 
or 
ecosystems.  
In  particular,  they  are  used  to 
restore  dryland  ecosystems 
(40%  of  the  earth’s  surface)  
facing  increasing  degradation 
due to human activity. 
Demographic 
and 
more  precisely  geographically 
unbalanced 
demographic 
growth,  is  a  major  issue  for 
Europe and other continents. 

damaged 

growth, 

and 

2 

8 

27 

9 

10 

5 

2 

4 

9 

16 

6 

9 

5 

3 

35 

48 

50 

45 

49 

3 

2 

160 Joint Research Centre, “Weak signals in science and technologies in 2021”. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/f5a243d0-24eb-11ed-8fa0-01aa75ed71a1.  
161 Year of reference: 2020. 
162 The scientific documents included articles, conference proceedings, book chapters, reviews, patents, and EU 
projects, as reported in the TIM Trends system: 
https://www.timanalytics.eu/TimTechPublic/dashboard/index.jsp#/space/s_1597?ds=126837.  
163  The  value  of  each  weak  signal  was  calculated  in  terms  of  occurrence  increase/decrease  percentages  in  the 
scientific  literature  in  the  two  different  timespans.  Each  percentage  range  was  given  a  value  according  to  the 
following value scheme %<0= 1; 1-33%=2; 34-66%=3; 67-100%=4; %>100=5. 

66 

 
 
 
 
 
WEAK SIGNAL  Year 

DESCRIPTION 

2018  2019  2020  2021  2022 

Value 
1 

Value 
2 

End 
effects 
Agri Robots  

for 

2020 

End effectors are essential parts 
of agricultural robots located at 
the  end  of  robotic  arms  and 
used  for  various  agricultural 
operations. 

182 

241 

256 

250 

248 

3 

1 

Large-scale 
group decision-
making processes  

2020 

by 
complexity 

society’s 
Required 
increasing 
and 
favoured  by  new  technologies 
and means of communication. 

13 

24 

26 

58 

78 

5 

3 

Magnetic  covalent 
organic 
frameworks 

2020 

Nature's 
contribution 
people 

to 

2020 

Neuromorphic 
photonics 

2020 

Optical  wireless 
power 
transmission  

2020 

Polystyrene 
nanoplastic 

2020 

Recently  investigated  for  their 
use in wastewater remediation,  
they  have  a  high  absorbent 
for  environmental 
capacity 
pollutants 
as  
perfluorinated 
compounds, 
disruptors, 
endocrine 
insecticides and even mercury. 

such 

12 

17 

54 

42 

47 

5 

2 

include 

A  new  trend  in  policy  making 
the 
that  aims 
to 
evaluation 
nature's  
contribution 
to  people  and 
society  when  designing  new 
policies. 

of 

Photonic  neural  networks  are 
physical/hardware 
networks 
to  algorithmic  
(as  opposed 
neural  networks)  inspired  by 
the  structure  of  the  human 
brain. They are being examined 
for  their  potential  advantages 
(speed, energy consumption) in 
tasks  
computational 
(e.g., 
recognition, 
image 
speech  processing,  machine 
learning). 
high 
technology  with 
A 
to 
our 
change 
potential 
lives  and  many 
everyday 
as  
such 
applications, 
implanted  medical 
device 
charging,  underwater  vehicle 
and  arial  drone  powering,  or 
long  distance  wireless  power 
transfer.  
The presence of a signal related 
to  nanoplastic  in  the  list  of 
weak signals is not surprising. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  micro- 
are 
nano-plastics 
and 
the 
in 
accumulating 

67 

11 

14 

34 

56 

36 

5 

1 

27 

60 

87 

89 

115 

5 

2 

8 

14 

11 

13 

10 

2 

1 

15 

43 

81 

95 

191 

5 

5 

 
 
WEAK SIGNAL  Year 

DESCRIPTION 

2018  2019  2020  2021  2022 

Value 
1 

Value 
2 

(UAVs) 

and  
environment 
research 
recently 
has 
detected/identified these in the 
environment and their toxicity. 
This weak signal relates to the 
potential  of  Unmanned  Aerial 
Vehicles 
to 
revolutionise  various  sectors 
such as automotive, energy and 
healthcare,  by  working  as 
wireless 
to  
improve connectivity with and 
between networks of connected 
devices on the ground. 
Urban agriculture is a potential 
food security solution for ever 
growing cities. 

relays 

UAV 
communication  

assisted 

2020 

Urban agriculture 

2020 

10 

38 

62 

91 

123 

5 

3 

373 

347 

413 

459 

492 

2 

2 

Weak signals detected in 2021 are not associated with any quantitative data (Table 
2) due to current data unavailability. However, they were selected in a qualitative 
way,  to  correspond  with  the  three  NEB  core  values.  These  weak  signals  were 
nonetheless worth including in the narrative at the end of this chapter presenting 
two possible scenarios on how the NEB could be affected in the future. These 
were considered relevant, as they are linked to some of the case studies presented 
in  Part  3  which  further  validate  their  possible  impact  on  NEB’s  future 
development. 

Table 2 - List of relevant weak signals (2021) (unavailable quantitative analysis) 

WEAK SIGNAL 

Year 

Agrivoltaics 

2021 

Green Artificial Intelligence 

2021 

Mycelium-based materials 

2021 

Nanoagriculture 

2021 

DESCRIPTION 
The  symbiotic  spatial  combination  of  photovoltaic 
installations  and  agriculture.  The  challenge  is  to 
the  energy  harvested  by  crops  and 
optimise 
photovoltaic cells which compete for solar energy. 
A  new  research  topic  covering  two  dimensions: 
reducing the resource consumption of systems using 
artificial  intelligence  and  exploring  how  artificial 
intelligence can be used in processes and systems to 
decrease resource consumption overall. 
New composite materials based on fungus mycelium, 
these are novel green materials  with the potential to 
replace  plastic  film  and  sheets,  synthetic  foams  and 
plastics and semistructural materials (e.g., panelling, 
flooring, furniture, decking). Some clinical trials have 
also  explored  their  use  for  wound  healing,  showing 
their potential in biomedical applications. 
A relatively new approach that aims to address current 
issues  in  agriculture  and  meet  future  challenges.  It 
the  use  of  nano-biotechnology  and 
includes 
nanofertilisers, 
nanomaterials 
nanopesticides,  nanosensors,  etc.  Researchers  are 
developing  new  products  and  processes  and  also 

agriculture, 

in 

68 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Peer-to-peer energy trading 

2021 

Plastic chemical upcycling 

2021 

the  effects  of  nanomaterial  use  on 

studying 
human and animal health and the environment. 
The current shift towards distributed energy resources 
implies  that  electricity  generation  and  intermediary 
storage  elements  (like  batteries)  are  distributed  as 
well.  This  calls  for  a  new  business  model  in  which 
consumers  have  also  become  prosumers,  generating 
and consuming energy. A peer-to-peer energy trading 
mechanism  where  prosumers  interact  (and  transact) 
directly is being investigated. 
Plastic  upcycling  is  meant  to  complement  plastic 
recycling by offering a way to transform plastic waste 
into higher-value products and contribute to reducing 
plastic’s  environmental  burden.  Various  conversion 
methods 
gasification, 
photoreforming) are currently under development and 
scaling up. 

pyrolysis, 

(e.g., 

Relevant weak signal filtering and evaluation was followed by a second foresight 
methodology step designed to build two scenarios, an approach midway between 
exploration and pre-policy research. For this reason, the scenarios are vehicles of 
learning rather than decision-making tools (Iversen 2006, 3)164. In the context of 
this  study,  scenario-building  activity  is  designed  to  explore  the  obstacles  and 
bottlenecks that potentially arise when attempts are made to implement the NEB 
at the local and regional levels. The scenarios show NEB developments in a 1 to 
15 year time frame, to unlock its full potential and raise awareness. The creation 
of  the  scenarios  also  included  an  analysis  of  megatrends  relevant  to  NEB 
evolution.  

Megatrends  are  long-term  driving  forces  that  are  observable  now  and  whose 
future impact will most likely  be  significant. As regards Europe, the  European 
Commission’s Competence Centre on Foresight identified 14 global megatrends 
within the Megatrends Hub165. Against this backdrop, LRAs participating in the 
consultation launched within the framework of this study were asked to assess the 
relevance of each megatrend to the NEB on a scale from 1 (Low relevance) to 5 
(Very high relevance).  

The average rate for each megatrend was used to create a top-six list of relevant 
megatrends for the NEB (Figure 31).  

164 Iversen, Jonas Svava. 2006. Futures Thinking Methodologies – Options Relevant For “Schooling For 
Tomorrow”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/35393902.pdf.  
165 European Commission, “Supporting policy with scientific evidence”. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/megatrends_hub_booklet_-_web.pdf.  

69 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 31 – Top-six list of relevant megatrends for the NEB 

Each  of  them  was  then  matched  with  the  relevant  weak  signals  to  further 
supplement the scenario analysis (Table 3). 

Table 3 – Match between the top-six list of megatrends as evaluated by the LRAs participating in the 
consultation and relevant weak signals. 

Rank  Megatrend 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

Climate 
degradation 

change 

and 

environmental 

Increasing demographic imbalances 

Accelerating  technological  change  and 
hyperconnectivity 

Aggravating resource scarcity 

Diversification of education and learning 

Continuing urbanisation 

4.46 

Relevant weak signals   Average rate 
Magnetic  covalent  organic 
frameworks; 
Polystyrene 
nanoplastic;  Mycelium-based 
Agrivoltaics; 
materials; 
Plastic 
Nanoagriculture; 
chemical  upcycling;  Green 
Artificial 
Intelligence; 
Biocrust  restoration;  Peer-to-
peer  energy 
trading;  End 
effects for Agri Robots. 
Demographic growth. 
Optical 
power 
wireless 
trasmission;  UAV  assisted 
communication; 
Neuromorphic photonics. 
Urban agricolture. 
Nature's 
people; 
group decision-making 
processes;  Behavioural public 
administration approach.  
Urban mobility.  

to 
Large-scale 

contribution 

3.75 

3.68 

3.75 

3.64 

3.67 

Starting from this matching analysis, two types of scenarios were therefore built. 
The first analyses the decreasing or increasing impact of selected weak signals 
and the course of the associated megatrend. The second considers the three core 
NEB values in relation to the weak signals.  

In the two figures representing the two scenarios below (Figures 32 and 33), each 
megatrend associated with one or more weak signals is positioned following the 

70 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ranking order illustrated in Table 3, top down. The coloured background of the 
megatrends  is  subjacient  to  the  weak  signals  associated  with  it.  Moreover,  the 
weak signals and their impact on the NEB on a scale from 1 to 5 are shown in 
black dots. 

Scenario 1: The NEB is almost fully integrated in society 

Figure 32 – Scenario 1 development based on 2018-2022 timespan data 

Impact of relevant weak signals:  

In Figure 32 above, the first scenario is shown considering the “Value 1” column 
associated with the selected weak signals (Table 1). The value range (1-5) of each 
weak signal is represented by the squares in progressive order, from decreased to 
increased impact. Each megatrend is illustrated with different colours (Table 3). 

In  the  dark  blue  coloured  background  representing  the  climate  change  and 
environmental degradation megatrend - deemed the most relevant to the NEB by 
the LRAs participating in the consultation - most of the grouped weak signals (i.e., 
magnetic  covalent  organic  frameworks,  polystyrene  nanoplastic,  biocrust 
restoration)  are  high  in  impact.  They  represent  progress  in  technological 
investment tackling climate change threats by the public and private sectors in the 
specific field of plastic reduction and upcycling. In this context, the “end effects 
for agri robots” is low in impact amongst the other accelerating weak signals. This 

71 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
may be explained by low agricultural robot market uptake, although innovation 
in  these  is  needed  in  response  to  increased  food  demand166.  Demographic 
growth’s impact on the NEB is low, possibly because demographic growth is less 
pronounced  in  Europe  than  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  The  accelerating 
technological change and hyperconnectivity megatrend may foster the emergence 
of new technological communication tools (i.e., UAV-assisted communication) 
and  neuromorphic  photonics,  while  the  impact  of  optical  wireless  power 
transmission on  the  NEB  seems  not  to be  high.  Regarding  both the worsening 
resource scarcity and continuing urbanisation megatrends, the two weak signals 
(i.e., urban agriculture and urban mobility) are decreasing in impact while, in the 
context of the megatrend on diversification of education and learning, the relevant 
weak signals (i.e., behavioural public administration approach, large-scale group 
decision-making and nature’s contribution to people) seem to be significant for 
the NEB. 

Impact on the NEB initiative 

Overall  this  first  scenario  is  positive.  It  is  significant  to  NEB  initiatives  that 
society is moving towards increasing investment in its core values. As we have 
seen  ideal  weak  signal  acceleration  is  based  on  societies  facing  up  to 
environmental issues without marginalising transdisciplinary, action-oriented and 
inclusive approach elements.  LRAs  can further  enhance their efforts to rebuild 
society and the environment in sustainability and better inclusivity terms. This 
scenario shows the NEB at its most effective, tackling environmental degradation 
by  investing  in  the  core  value  of  inclusion  as  well  as  by  developing  new 
methodologies to increase diversification in education and learning. This can be 
done by highlighting nature’s functional role (i.e., nature’s contribution to people) 
and the importance of a cooperative approach through engagement in society (i.e., 
large-scale  group-decision-making  processes),  which  highlights  the  need  to 
explore  the  public  administration’s  behavioural  aspects  (i.e.,  the  behavioural 
public administration approach). In this respect, Green Artificial Intelligence and 
peer-to-peer  energy  trading  (P2P)  are  the  best  solutions  as  regards  enhancing 
cities’  neighbourhood  production  and  consumption  of  renewable  energy 
efficiency of the various NEB initiatives and funded projects involving LRAs. As 
shown in the Urban ReLeaf project description (Part 3), data gathering plays a 
key  role  in  ecosystem  observation  as  well  as  in  providing  qualitative  and 
quantitative  indicators  for  the  implementation  of  NEB  projects  at  local  and 
regional levels. In these circumstances, too, Green Artificial Intelligence can be 
of use in infrastructure monitoring and assessment and for predictive data analysis 
of  ecosystems  and  cities,  in  order  to  give  policymakers  and  LRAs  effective 

166 Vrochidou, Eleni, Viktoria Nikoleta Tsakalidou, Ioannis Kalathas, Theodoros Gkrimpizis, Theodore Pachidis, 
and Vassilis G. Kaburlasos. 2022. "An Overview of End Effectors in Agricultural Robotic Harvesting 
Systems". Agriculture 12, no. 8: 1240. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12081240.  

72 

 
 
 
 
 
guidelines (Yigitcanlar, Tan, Rashid Mehmood, Juan M. Corchado 2021, 2)167. 
Urban mobility is another focal point in the NEB initiative, since its development 
changes  the  places  we  live  in  for  the  better  in  community  terms.  In  fact,  it 
improves  cities’  infrastructures,  with  strategies  including  the  engagement  of 
public  officials  with  the  community  and  the  implementation  of  sustainable 
policies to design and build urban mobility. However, urban mobility is not fully 
integrated  into  this  scenario,  as  it  is  rated  3.  This  could  be  explained  by  the 
challenges involved in implementing technology at the local and regional levels, 
due to the cost of reshaping mobility and, possibly, administrative constraints.  

In  this  first  scenario,  whilst  high  levels  of  NEB  principle  awareness  and 
development has almost been achieved, the NEB should continue to invest in local 
place-based  action-oriented  policies  focusing  on  awareness  and  practical 
intervention by LRAs to ensure transformation on the ground.  

Evaluation of the NEB three core values 

Following the above description of the weak signals and their impact on the NEB, 
the three core NEB values are evaluated in a qualitative way through the weak 
signals  associated  with  them.  In  the  scenario  described,  sustainability  and 
inclusion score highly, while aesthetics cannot be described as a fully developed 
core  value,  because  of  the  unavailability  of  data  on  the  possible  weak  signals 
directly associated with it (e.g., the cultural and creative industries). However, the 
development  of  the  concept  of  nature’s  contribution  supports  the  aesthetics 
dimension in terms of the new role of the nature around towns (this is also present 
in  the  idea  that  people  and  nature  are  inseparable)168.  The  hypothetical 
development  of  inclusion  awareness  (e.g.,  on  the  strength  of  the  role  of  the 
decision-making process in large-scale groups) results in a high score for this core 
value. In this context, citizens cooperate with, and freely engage in sharing, good 
place-based action practices, enabling them to mutually exchange knowledge and 
disseminate and better learn NEB policies. 

167 Yigitcanlar, Tan, Rashid Mehmood, and Juan M. Corchado. 2021. "Green Artificial Intelligence: Towards an 
Efficient,  Sustainable and Equitable Technology for Smart Cities and Futures" Sustainability 13, no. 16: 8952. 
https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168952. 
168 Hill, Rosemary, Sandra Díaz, Unai Pascual, Marie Stenseke, Zsolt Molnár, Julia Van Velden. 2021. Nature's 
contributions to people: Weaving plural perspectives. One Earth,Volume 4, Issue 7. Pages 910-915,ISSN 2590-
3322, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.06.009,p.911. 

73 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sustainability  

             Inclusion  

              Aesthetics 

Figure 33 – Relevance of the three NEB core values according to Scenario 1 

Scenario 2: The greater the increase in plastics, the lower the NEB impact 

Figure 34 - Scenario 2 development based on 2021-2022 timespan data 

Impact of relevant weak signals  

The climate change and environmental degradation megatrend would seem to be 
even more accentuated than the others in the second scenario (Figure 34 above), 
given that polystyrene nanoplastic is the only weak signal associated with value 
5. The other weak signals, rated 1 and 3, are associated with slow development 
and uptake. The impact of nature’s contribution to people and urban mobility is 
minimal,  although  their  role  in  the  NEB  initiative’s  impact  as  regards  the 
realisation  of  its  fundamental  principles  and  tangible  results  is  a  priority.  This 
huge disparity between the impact of the various weak signals can be interpreted 

74 

 
 
               
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
as global communities’ urgent need to invest in new technologies and research to 
tackle plastic issues rather than other environmental issues. For this reason, whilst 
all  six  megatrends  are  accelerating,  climate  change  and  environmental 
degradation is more significant than the others. 

Impact on the NEB initiative  

Nature’s contribution to people is a good point by which to describe the impact of 
weak signals on the NEB. It is a transdisciplinary, action-oriented and inclusive 
analytical tool which is also adaptable and flexible in application (Hill, Rosemary, 
Sandra  Díaz,  Unai  Pascual,  Marie  Stenseke,  Zsolt  Molnár,  Julia  Van  Velden 
2021)169. Its low impact may be a matter of the lack of a community approach to 
finding  new  methodologies  to  foster  growth  in  technological  tools  in  multiple 
ways and contexts. In this scenario, the NEB Community may play a strategic role 
in fostering the development of this new perspective and concept. Focusing on 
new technological tools, the NEB has the potential to enhance Green Artificial 
Intelligence, which does not  completely shift its paradigm from the AI used  to 
improve business efficiency and productivity to the need to tackle global threats, 
bringing  the  benefits  of  technological  development  to  social  goods  and  the 
environment (Yigitcanlar, Tan, Rashid Mehmood, and Juan M. Corchado 2021, 
5)170. Moreover, the potential impact of urban mobility seems not to have been 
boosted yet, as the first scenario shows. This negative trend shows that sustainable 
transport methods have not yet fully come to fruition in Europe (European Court 
of Auditors 2020)171.  Since the  NEB  began working jointly  with the  European 
Institute  of  Innovation  and  Technology  (EIT)  Community172,  the  lack  of 
effectively sustainable transport policies can reduce citizens’ engagement and the 
upscaling of good practices and innovative solutions between cities173. However, 
the NEB initiative continues to enhance the creation of entire neighbourhoods in 
which renewable energy governance is dependent on prosumers’ ability to trade 
excess energy production and benefit from it as consumers. At present, there is no 
available data on the value of its impact, although there is evidence of local action-
based  projects  being  implemented  through  dedicated  NEB  calls  for  proposals. 
This is the case of the EHHUR project, a case study described in Part 3. People 

169 Hill, Rosemary, Sandra Díaz, Unai Pascual, Marie Stenseke, Zsolt Molnár, Julia Van Velden. 2021. Nature's 
contributions to people: Weaving plural perspectives. One Earth,Volume 4, Issue 7. Pages 910-915, ISSN 2590-
3322, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.06.009.  
170 Yigitcanlar, Tan, Rashid Mehmood, and Juan M. Corchado. 2021. "Green Artificial Intelligence: Towards an 
Efficient, Sustainable and Equitable Technology for Smart Cities and Futures" Sustainability 13, no. 16: 8952. 
https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168952. 
171  European  Court  of  Auditors.  2020.  Special  Report:  Sustainable  Urban  Mobility  in  the  EU:  No  substantial 
improvement 
at: 
Member 
https://op.europa.eu/webpub/eca/special-reports/urban-mobility-6-2020/en/.  
172 Urban Mobility, “New European Bauhaus EIT Community Initiative”. Accessed July 17, 2023. 
  https://engage.eiturbanmobility.eu/processes/new-european-bauhaus. 
173 Ibid. 

commitment. 

Available 

possible 

without 

States’ 

is 

75 

 
 
 
 
 
inclusivity  in  fostering  these  policies  is  increasing.  The  collective  decision-
making processes (i.e., large-scale group-decision-making processes) are stable, 
and this could help the NEB to exploit inclusion as a tool to promote new NEB 
initiatives at the territorial level. In conclusion, in this second scenario, the NEB 
strategy needs to call upon the importance of tackling major global threats, such 
as plastic pollution, in the very short term. 

Evaluation of the three core values  

In this scenario, sustainability’s score is average, because not all the weak signals 
associated  with  it  are  rated  5  (e.g.,  end  effects  for  agri  robots  are  very  low  in 
impact,  while  polystyrene  nanoplastic’s  impact  is  very  high).  Inclusion  is 
progressing through attempts to find methods by which to get people involved in 
decision-making processes, decentralising the non-cooperative process with the 
help  of  new  technological  solutions  (Palomares,  Iván,  Luis  Martínez  and 
Francisco Herrera 2014)174. Aesthetics can be tracked in the restoration of new 
ecosystems, but the low impact of some important weak signals associated with 
it  (i.e.,  nature’s  contribution  to  people  and  urban  mobility)  may  reduce  its 
resonance in developing new sustainable strategies and methodologies. 

               Sustainability  

                Inclusion                  

                Aesthetics 

Figure 35 - Relevance of the three NEB core values according to Scenario 2 

Conclusions  

The foresight analysis outlines the future of the NEB initiative in terms of new 
technologies  impact  associated  with  megatrends.  The  creation  of  the  two 
scenarios  is  useful  to  understand  what  strategies  the  NEB  should  follow  to 

174 Palomares, Iván, Luis Martínez and Francisco Herrera. 2014. "A Consensus Model to Detect and Manage 
Noncooperative Behaviors in Large-Scale Group Decision Making," in IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems, 
vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 516-530. doi: 10.1109/TFUZZ.2013.2262769. 

76 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
continue  to  implement  its  principles  in  line  with  its  core  values  in  the  two 
identified plausible futures.  

From the described scenarios, it is possible to determine the forthcoming growing 
relevance of the NEB given that climate change and environmental degradation 
are  significant  trends.  The  impact  of  the  identified  weak  signals  (i.e.,  new 
technologies) on the NEB contributes to the reduction of global threats (such as 
the  increase  in  the  use  of  plastics)  and  environmental  issues.  Considering  the 
description of both scenarios some weak signals (i.e., urban mobility, end effects 
for agri robots, and urban agriculture) are less relevant than others because they 
seem not to support sustainable processes within the society. For example, the 
urban  agriculture,  with  its  central  role  in  making  cities  resilient  versus  food 
shortages  and  external  shocks.  In  this  context,  even  if  urban  agriculture  is  not 
expected to significantly grow in the future, according to the scenarios, the NEB 
collaborative action could be directed towards shifting from a consumption model 
where the percentage of the supply is imported to one based on sourcing from 
their peri-urban surroundings (Institute of European democrats 2021)175. 

Assuming  that  the  identified  weak  signals  strongly  related  to  NEB  objectives 
seem not to boost their potential impact, the NEB needs to be ready to compensate 
for such weakness in order to achieve its goals. Without having the strength of 
closer NEB-related weak  signals  and  their  full development, NEB  place-based 
actions  should  continue  to  be  performed  particularly  in  cities  and  rural  areas 
finding new solutions to enhance the application of these new technologies and 
encourage  local  transformation.  In  this  regard,  the  NEB  should  find  ad  hoc 
initiatives  to  increase  the  implementation  of  urban  mobility,  technological 
agricultural development, and urban agriculture. Moreover, the NEB should find 
new strategies to make the local place-based action tangible, providing LRAs with 
funding programme or financing instruments in line with feeble weak signals.  

Finally,  regarding  the  inclusion  value,  technologies  like  large-scale  group 
decision-making processes will possibly enable communication between citizens 
and  authorities,  empowering  the  co-creation  and  cooperative  attitude  between 
stakeholders.  Moreover,  in  the  context  of  technologies  developed  for  nature’s 
contribution  to  people,  LRAs’  policy  decisions  will  be  fostered  towards  the 
transdisciplinary approach. Both evolutions are in line with NEB principles (e.g., 
participatory  approach,  transdisciplinary  approach)  possibly  having  a  positive 
impact in the realisation of the NEB inclusion core value, as they aim to bring 

175 Institute of European democrats. 2021.  Call for Papers "The European Green Deal: Moving to Action. 
Opportunities and Challenges for the European Citizens Change on the menu: the New European Bauhaus 
Initiative as the enabler for the cocreation on the food systems of tomorrow”. Brussels. 
https://www.iedonline.eu/download/green-deal/02_Emiliani_NEB-Green_Deal_IED_paper_2021.pdf. 

77 

 
 
 
 
 
 
creative solutions from collective thinking and integration of different viewpoints 
from different professions.  

Recommendations to the European Institutions, the Member States and the 
Local  and  Regional  Authorities  regarding  the  implementation  of  the  New 
European Bauhaus at the local and regional level 

The following recommendations are grounded on the assumption that the EU and 
its  Member  States  acknowledge  and  support  the  role  played  by  LRAs  in  the 
implementation of the NEB. They aim to guide EU institutions, Member States 
and LRAs in the adoption of action-oriented policies on the ground to make the 
NEB initiative successful.  

In this regard, the bottlenecks and impediments which emerged from the analysis 
carried out within the scope of this study, as well as the foresight considerations 
to  designing  concrete  solutions  addressing  policy 
developed,  are  key 
recommendations at all levels.  

Recommendation  1.  The  EU  should  keep  working  on  the  NEB  Compass,  to 
develop specific indicators helping to monitor how NEB-related projects can 
contribute  to  the  NEB  and  its  three  core  values  and  principles  at  the 
international, national and local levels.  

Most LRAs involved in the EU-funded NEB projects described in Part 3 reported 
a lack of indicators with which to monitor the tangible results of their projects in 
line with NEB ambitions at the EU level, which prevent them from better adapting 
the  NEB  to  their  local  and  regional  development  strategies.  This  bottleneck 
derives  from  an  undefined  indicators  strategy  for  use  during  the  project 
implementation  stage  in  order  to  identify  their  NEB-related  transformative 
impact.  This  could  be  translated  into  the  need  for  LRAs  to  be  provided  with 
international  guidelines  with  which  to  monitor,  measure  and  evaluate  the 
relevance  of  their  projects  to  the  NEB  and  their  impact  on  the  ground.  In  this 
regard, some LRAs considered the NEB Compass useful, but not sufficiently so 
to  satisfy  these  monitoring  elements.  Further  structuring  the  NEB  Compass  in 
indicators  can  help  NEB  project 
specific  quantitative  and  qualitative 
implementers to evaluate how they contribute to the NEB and its three core values 
and  principles.  Against  this  backdrop,  in  2022  the  European  Commission 
launched  the  Lab  project  “Labelling  strategy”  (Labelling  strategy  webpage)176 
aiming to improve the NEB Compass as well as to develop a set of assessment 
frameworks to be declined into self-assessment tools to define punctual criteria 
for labelling of projects. Should this process be validated by 2024, as expected, it 

176 European Union, “NEB Lab: Labelling strategy”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://new-european-
bauhaus.europa.eu/get-inspired/inspiring-projects-and-ideas/neb-lab-labelling-strategy_en.  

78 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
would also contribute to strengthen the NEB identity at the EU level and enhance 
the  awareness  about  the  initiative.  Once  the  labelling  mechanism  is  up  and 
running,  a  possible  concrete  action  to  implement  a  solution  to  the  monitoring 
obstacle outlined by the LRAs interviewed  within the framework of this study 
would be setting up a specific NEB steering committee involving the EU NEB 
secretariat  with  ad  hoc  working  groups  to  be  implemented  at  the  national  and 
regional  levels.  This  committee  would  indeed  help  gather  and  exchange 
information about the state of the art of NEB project implementation at the three 
levels of governance (i.e., EU, national and regional), as well as regularly monitor 
each project’s effectiveness and coherence with the EU initiative according to the 
labelling mechanism put in place.  

Recommendation 2. The EU should better define the core NEB aesthetics value. 

When  the  NEB  was  launched  in  2021,  one  of  its  three  values,  aesthetics,  was 
referred to as “the quality of experience and style beyond functionality” (NEB 
website)177. Overall the LRAs participating in the consultation launched within 
the framework of this study judged the aesthetics concept to be unclear, as it could 
encompass  many  different  meanings  and  lead  to  multiple  interpretations.  At 
present, the interpretation given to this value is inspired by its further expression 
in the NEB Compass, where the aesthetics value is associated with re-activating 
the cultural, social and natural qualities of a public place, or connecting different 
places and people by giving citizens from different contexts a sense of belonging 
to a place, or integrating new cultural and social values in a place by enabling 
places  to  be  created  and  collectively  re-invented.  Other  interpretations  were 
nevertheless  gathered  from  interviews  held  with  selected  LRAs,  for  which  the 
aesthetics  value  was  associated  with  citizens’  contribution  to  policy-making 
action, the role of nature in urban and rural areas and lifestyles and the concrete 
objective of making cities more aesthetically attractive. There is thus a need to 
better  define  this  value,  associating  it  with  precise  attributes  with  a  view  to 
moving forward with the NEB implementation monitoring process at the local, 
EU and international levels.  

Recommendation 3. The EU should better define the role of the NEB national 
contact points, acting as a bridge between the EU Member States and the NEB 
at EU level. The LRAs could be part of these national contact points. 

The  desk  research  and  interviews  carried  out  with  selected  LRAs  within  the 
framework of this study highlights that the role of the NEB national contact points 
is  unclear  in  practical  terms.  This  role  is  relevant  to  the  dissemination  of 
information  about  the  NEB  in  the  various  countries,  further  connecting  and 

177 European Union, “New European Bauhaus. About the initiative”. Accessed July 17, 2023. https://new-
european-bauhaus.europa.eu/about/about-initiative_en.  

79 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
coordinating  efforts  at  national  level  around  the  initiative.  In  the  light  of  the 
bottleneck highlighted by respondents taking part in the consultation launched for 
this  study  relating  to  a  lack  of  awareness  of  funding  opportunities,  tools  and 
initiatives for NEB delivery, the EU should shed light on how the NEB national 
contact points can help bridge the knowledge gap. In this regard, these should be 
equipped with publicised specific roles and responsibilities. It is important that 
the NEB set up a transparent and clear governance structure at EU level, helping 
NEB implementers, and LRAs in particular, to understand how they can join the 
movement.  

Recommendation 4. The EU should capitalise on the NEB Lab, by activating an 
operative  strand  facilitating  LRAs  to  develop  new  local  and  regional 
ecosystems to be brought into a wider dimension.  

Most respondents participating in the consultation launched within the framework 
of this study said they were unaware of the NEB Lab but would be interested in 
participating  in  it  in  the  future,  including  for  specific  project  development 
purposes. In this regard, through the NEB Lab the EU should design and activate 
an operational strand facilitating LRAs in co-creating new projects and initiatives 
with an impact at the territorial level, but an ambition to reach a wider scale. The 
example of the New European Bauhaus of the Mountains project described in Part 
3 is clearly potentially replicable. Although the project has so far developed an 
ecosystem of stakeholders living in the South-Tyrol region (Italy), it aims to work 
with other mountainous areas across the EU to replicate its co-creation model and 
make the mountains more beautiful, inclusive and sustainable. The final goal of 
the NEB Lab should be to create an ecosystem of interconnected ecosystems in 
dialogue with one other to exchange ideas and good practices implemented in the 
spirit of the NEB.  

Recommendation  5.  The  EU  should  implement  a  central  NEB  funding 
programme as a primary souce of investment for LRAs to draw on.  

At  present  there  are  eight  EU  funding  mechanisms  that  directly  or  indirectly 
support the implementation of the NEB on the ground. What is lacking for LRAs 
in  terms  of  available  funding  programmes  is  a  central  NEB-specific  funding 
programme. A central NEB funding idea should be created to ensure all available 
opportunities  are  marshalled  by  LRAs  to  implement  NEB projects. This is the 
consequence  of  the  fragmentation  of  NEB  calls  for  proposals  which  does  not 
facilitate LRA attempts to invest in NEB project implementation. A new central 

80 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
NEB funding programme would ensure the updating of funding opportunities for 
NEB  projects  and  a  better  understanding  of  the  related  information  needed  by 
LRAs.  This  new  approach  would  give  the  NEB  its  own  classification  and 
resonance at the EU level, with appropriate scheme funding and labelling.  

Recommendation 6. The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission 
should  capitalise  on  the  NEB  Dashboard  to  provide  a  regularly  updated 
Recommendation  8.  The  LRAs should be  provided  with a  foresight  expert  to 
overview  of  all  NEB  projects  implemented  across  the  EU  for  wider 
give relevance to the foresight analysis of the NEB initiative 
dissemination. 

The NEB’s ability to reach out to its target stakeholders in a massive way requires 
taking visibility and dissemination action to enable interested parties, and LRAs 
in  particular,  to  get  an  updated  overview  of  the  NEB  state  of  the  art  at  the 
territorial, national and EU levels. The European Commission’s Joint Research 
Centre has launched the NEB Dashboard, as a digital public use tool with which 
to  gain  an  overview  of  the  individuals  and  organisations  joining  the  NEB 
Community and the beneficiaries of selected EU NEB-specific programmes. To 
provide users with an overarching overview of how the NEB is delivered, the JRC 
should  further  supplement  the  Dashboard  with  all  projects  and  initiatives 
implemented through EU funding investments and/or national, regional or local 
ones.  The  Dashboard  should  be  turned  into  a  common  repository  visually 
representing  where  and  by  whom  the  NEB  is  delivered  on  the  ground,  after 
validating the  concrete  contribution that  such  projects  make  to  EU goals.  This 
would help regularly monitor how the initiative is implemented, and disseminate 
everything  done  to  foster  inter-regional  and  cross-border  cooperation  and 
replicability in other settings.  

Recommendation 7. EU, Member States and LRAs should enhance the use of 
the NEB approach in improving the living conditions in rural areas.  

In  order  to  make  the  NEB  a  success,  it  is  important  to  deliver  place-based 
activities aiming to make both urban and rural areas more sustainable, inclusive 
and beautiful. However, at present few initiatives have been registered which are 
focused on rural areas. One of them is the eLabHauSe.rur project (Part 3), which 
aims to support local public administrations, social economy small and medium-
sized  enterprises  and  people  living  in  rural  areas  to  overcome  social 
transformation crises through the NEB. In this regard, the EU should stress the 
importance  of  focusing  on  these  areas,  too.  To  ensure  these  areas  are  not  left 
behind, ad hoc funding schemes could be launched by the EU to promote their 
development.  

81 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
Recommendation 8. LRAs should be provided with foresight  competencies to 
evaluate and update their policy actions in the spirit of the NEB, in the light of 
their needs and challenges. 

In the light of the foresight analysis carried out within the framework of this study, 
future  phenomena  and  trends  are  essential  to  understanding  the  future 
development  of  NEB  strategies  at  the  local  and  regional  levels.  Green  and 
technological  transition  means  that  technological  progress  has  the  potential  to 
change strategic approaches to implementing the NEB, enabling it to hold onto its 
core values and principles. The foresight considerations described in this study, 
including the two scenarios developed to identify plausible futures of the NEB, 
have outlined that the NEB has the potential to becoming increasingly relevant to 
tackle major challenges, such as climate change and environmental degradation, 
primarily, by applying a place-based approach. This enable us to hypothesise that 
NEB place-based actions should have a central role in supporting the development 
of urban mobility, urban agriculture and agricultural technological development 
in  urban  and  rural  areas  in  the  future.  Without  the  support  of  NEB  policies’ 
strategies, the advancement of these three areas of development seems limited. 
More  in  general,  regarding  foresight  considerations,  the  creation  of  different 
future scenarios would increase NEB’s efficiency and make its policy action more 
targeted.  LRAs  should  thus  be  equipped  with  specific  foresight  competencies 
(e.g., through reports and capacity building initiatives at the centralised level  – 
EU or national), helping them identify their needs and the possible challenges they 
may face in the short and medium term, to capitalise on the NEB and coherently 
integrate  it  into  their  territorial  development  strategies  and  contribute  to 
improving their places. 

Recommendation  9.  Regular  peer-learning  workshops  at  modular  level  (i.e., 
local,  regional,  national, EU) should be organised to share experiences and 
good practices about how the NEB is being implemented.  

Modular  peer-learning  workshops  (at  local,  regional,  national  and  EU  levels) 
should be organised on an annual basis to raise LRA awareness of how the NEB 
is being implemented, where and by whom, and the type of impact it has achieved 
in view of its three key core values and principles. This would help activate  a 
monitoring and awareness-raising activity helping LRAs to understand how the 
good practices already delivered can be replicated or adapted to other settings, 
and  how  they  can  move  forward  in  addressing  the  NEB  to  other  needs  and 
scenarios, whilst updating their local action-oriented strategies accordingly. More 
specifically, at least at the regional level, the creation of a New European Bauhaus 
implementation  ‘working  group’  in  which  representatives  of  municipalities, 

82 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
citizens  and  the  scientific,  economic  and  cultural  sectors  meet  to  work  on  the 
possible development of the NEB initiative on the ground would be of use. This 
process  could  lead  to  the  development  of  a  cooperative  and  transdisciplinary 
approach  in  cities,  reducing  the  engagement  gap  between  local  authorities  and 
citizens. 

Recommendation 10. LRAs should set up a specific NEB citizens’ helpdesk to 
keep engaging with their communities on a regular basis.  

The  feedback  provided  by  LRAs  participating  in  the  selected  case  studies 
presentation interviews in Part 3 highlighted that one of the main challenges to be 
addressed  during  the  NEB  project  delivery  phase  is  engaging  with  local 
communities. Although several tools, solutions and methods have been deployed 
to  date  to  ensure  that  NEBs  are  delivered  with  a  participatory  approach,  it  is 
important that LRAs maintain dialogue with their citizens. To achieve this, LRAs 
should  set  up  specific  helpdesks  citizens  can  go  to  share  their  problems  and 
contribute to a co-creation process leading to tailored solutions to their needs. This 
solution will be implemented by the municipality of Ermua (Spain) after the drOp 
project – as presented in Part 3 above, for example.

83 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
Annex I – The online consultation 

Introduction to the online consultation 

The survey addresses the EU Local and Regional Authorities from the EU27 with 
the aim of collecting their perception of the situation ad needs with regard to the 
implementation of projects related to the New European Bauhaus at the local and 
regional level.  

The survey is structured into five sections. The survey is available online in 
English, French, Italian and Spanish.  

The outcomes of this survey will serve to enrich the study "The New European 
Bauhaus  at  the  local  and  regional  level"  commissioned  by  the  European 
Committee of the Regions (CoR) to Fondazione FORMIT (Specific Contract No. 
16379). Answers to this survey will be analysed in an aggregated manner.  

Individual contributions provided through the open questions of the survey may 
be eventually used in the study but in an anonymised form. Fondazione FORMIT 
standard privacy statement178 applies.  

Section 1 – Details about the respondent 
(Questions marked with * are mandatory) 

I hereby consent to the transfer to the European Committee of the Regions ("the Committee") 
of the personal data (first name; last name; organisation; role/position; email address) that I 
submit in the present survey, to be used by the Committee for canvassing purposes. The CoR 
will retain data collected on the occasion of the study for a maximum of two years after the 
prospection. However, the personal data of survey respondents having refused to be contacted 
around survey follow-up activities will be deleted two months after the completion of the 
study. 

•  Yes, I consent. 
•  No, I do not consent. 

Q1.1 – Information about the respondent 

First name:  
Last name:  
Email*:  
Role/position*:  
Organisation*:  
Country where the organisation is based*:  
Region where the organisation is based*: 

178 Fondazione FORMIT, “Privacy statement. New European Bauhaus online questionnaire”. Accessed July 17, 
2023. https://www.formit.org/pdf/Privacy%20statement%20-%20New%20European%20Bauhaus_v01.pdf.  

85 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
City where the organisation is based*:  

Q1.2 – Your organisation is *: 
o  A local public authority. 
o  A regional public authority. 
o  Other.  

Q1.3 – Has your organisation already participated in the preparation of a New European 
Bauhaus (NEB) project *?  

o  Yes, and it was funded. My organisation is currently involved in the delivery phase of 

a NEB project.  

o  Yes, but it was not funded.  
o  No, but my organisation is willing to participate.  

No, and at present my organisation does not foresee any participation.  

Q1.3.1 – Please provide reference to the name of the NEB project(s) your organisation is 
currently delivering and possibly to a web link where a piece of information is available.  

Project name 1  ______________________________________________________________ 
Web link 1 __________________________________________________________________ 

Project name 2  ______________________________________________________________ 
Web link 2 __________________________________________________________________ 

Project name no.  ____________________________________________________________ 
Web link no. _________________________________________________________________ 

Q1.4 – Did any external expert support you during the preparation process of any of the NEB 
project(s) you applied for *? 

o  No, only my organisation’s internal expertise. 
o  Yes, individual consultant(s). 
o  Yes, a consultancy agency. 
o  Yes,  a  public  organisation  involved  in  the  NEB  initiative  (not  a  local  and  regional 

authority). 

o  Yes, another local and regional authority involved in the NEB initiative. 
o  Yes, a private organisation involved in the NEB initiative.  
o  Yes, the NEB Lab. 
o  Yes, EU institution(s). 
o  Other. 

86 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Q1.5 – For each of the following EU funding instruments supporting the NEB initiative, which 
is the standpoint of your organisation *? 

My 
organisation 
already 
submitted a 
proposal 

My 
organisation is 
currently 
working for 
the submission 
of a proposal 

My 
organisation is 
willing to 
submit a 
proposal in the 
future 

My 
organisation 
does not 
foresee at the 
moment to 
submit a 
proposal in the 
future 

Name of the 
EU funding 
instrument 

Horizon Europe 
European 
Regional 
Development 
Fund (ERDF) 
Programme for 
the 
Environment 
and Climate 
Action (LIFE) 
Single Market 
Programme 
Digital Europe 
Erasmus+ 
Programme 
Creative Europe 
Programme 
European 
Solidarity Corps 

Only for respondents answering “No, and at present my organisation does not foresee any 
participation” to Q1.3:  

Q1.6 – Why does your organisation not foresee the preparation of any proposal supporting 
the NEB initiative *? 

o  Lack of information about the existing EU funding opportunities. 
o  Lack  of  partnerships  with  other  international  organisations  to  be  enhanced  to  build  a 

consortium. 

o  Lack of expertise in  your organisation  to build a consortium and develop the project’s 

concept. 

o  Unmet funding needs. 
o  Insufficient economic benefits. 
o  Lack of human resources to be allocated to the preparation of the proposal. 
o  Unsupportive communities. 
o  Other. 
o  I do not know. 

87 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Section 2 – The co-design phase of the New European Bauhaus initiative 
(Questions marked with * are mandatory) 

Q2.1 – Was your organisation involved in the co-design phase of the NEB initiative *? 

o  Yes.  
o  No.  
o  I was not aware of this phase. 
o  I do not know. 

Q2.2 - Are you aware of the NEB community *? 

o  Yes, and I am a member of it. 
o  Yes, but I am not interested in it.   
o  No.  

Q2.3 – Are you aware of the NEB Lab *? 

o  Yes, and I joined it. 
o  Yes, but I am not interested in it.   
o  No. 

Q2.4 – Is your organisation involved in any NEB Lab project *? 

o  Yes. 
o  My organisation declared interest in it, but the idea was not considered in line with the 

scope of the NEB initiative.  

o  No, but my organisation is interested in participating. 
o  No, and at present my organisation does not foresee to declare interest in it. 

Q2.5 - According to the following immediate and short-term needs, how much interest has 
your organisation to apply for a NEB initiative to cope with the following *? Please rate each 
of the following from 1 [Poor interest] to 5 [Very high interest]. 

o  Reconnecting  with  nature  (i.e.,  enhancing  the  awareness  and  willingness  to  address 

climate change and reduce exposure to pollution). 

o  Regaining a sense of belonging (i.e., connecting people, emphasising the role of cultural 

and social assets as key factors to make a place unique). 

o  Prioritising the places and people that need it the most (i.e., providing affordable and 
accessible  solutions  for  all,  with  special  emphasis  on  vulnerable  groups  and 
individuals). 

o  Fostering long-term, life cycle and integrated thinking in the industrial ecosystem (i.e., 
tackling unsustainable use of resources and waste by investing in the circular economy). 

o  Other immediate and short-term needs. 

Section 3 – How to be involved in the New European Bauhaus initiative 
(Questions marked with * are mandatory) 

Q3.1 - How did you become aware of the NEB initiative *? 

o  Through web platforms. 
o  Through dedicated newsletters. 
o  Through social media (e.g., Instagram). 
o  Through NEB dedicated events (face-to-face and online).  
o  Through other events (face-to-face and online).  
o  Through the press/media.  

88 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
o  Other. 
o  I was not aware of it. 

Q3.2 – Which of the following EU funding opportunities supporting the NEB initiative are the 
most appropriate for your organisation *? Please rate each of the following from 1 [Poorly 
appropriate] to 5 [Very appropriate]. 

o  Horizon Europe. 
o  European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). 
o  Programme for the Environment and Climate Action (LIFE). 
o  Single Market Programme. 
o  Digital Europe. 
o  Erasmus+ Programme. 
o  Creative Europe Programme. 
o  European Solidarity Corps. 

Q3.3 – In your opinion/experience, which are the main reasons behind the decision to apply 
for a NEB initiative that best match with the objectives of your regional and/or local 
development strategy *? 

o  To re-activate the cultural, social and natural qualities of a place in the public life. 
o  To connect different places and people by giving citizens from different contexts a sense 

of belonging to a place. 

o  To  integrate  new  cultural  and  social  values  in  a  place  by  enabling  creation  and  the 

collective re-invention of a place.  

o  To  avoid  and  reduce  environmental  impacts  and  favour  durability,  adaptability, 

recyclability of materials.  

o  To enhance circular processes aiming at zero pollution. 
o  To enhance biodiversity and incentivise the restoration and expansion of nature. 
o  To include every people, by granting accessibility and affordability for all, regardless of 

gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, ability, age or sexual orientation. 

o  To consolidate equal relations between users and/or communities, by sharing resources 

and opportunities. 

o  To transform the way of living together, building on solidarity and cooperation, to create 

new values and bring transformative benefits on a societal level. 

Q3.4 – In your opinion/experience, which benefits may stem for your organisation from being 
part of the NEB initiative *? 

o  Enhanced management of the territory, including through the implementation of placed-
based  actions  contributing  to  the  European  Green  Deal  at  the  local  and  regional  level 
(environmental gain). 

o  Enhanced  capability  to  involve  the  citizens  in  co-developing  placed-based  actions 

considering the territory’s needs (social gain). 

o  More economic development opportunities (economic gain).  
o  Better  integration  of  the  territory’s  natural  and  cultural  elements  whilst  advocating  for 

beauty (cultural and aesthetic gains). 

o  Higher institutional commitment for placed-based actions at the local and regional level.  
o  Increased cross-border and international cooperation. 
o  Prestige. 
o  Additional funding.  

89 

 
 
 
 
o  Other. 

Q3.5 – In your opinion/experience, which are the main barriers for taking the decision to 
apply for an EU call for proposals contributing to the NEB initiative *? 
o  Lack of information about the existing EU funding opportunities. 
o  Lack of partnerships with other international organisations to build a consortium. 
o  Lack  of  expertise  in  my  organisation  to  build  a  consortium  and  develop  the  project’s 

concept. 

o  Unmet funding needs. 
o  Insufficient economic benefits. 
o  Lack of human resources to be allocated to the preparation of the proposal. 
o  Unsupportive communities. 
o  Other. 
o  I do not know. 

Q3.6 – In your opinion/knowledge, how could the accessibility of the current EU funding 
opportunities supporting the NEB initiative be improved *? 

o  By receiving more regular updates about future EU calls for proposals to participate in 

the design of new NEB projects. 

o  By  making  the  participation  of  the  local  and  regional  authorities  mandatory  for  the 
submission of future EU calls for proposals as consortium partners to be more actively 
engaged in the implementation of the NEB initiative. 

o  By enhancing the active role of the NEB Community in sharing regular updates about 

future EU calls for proposals to participate in the design of new NEB projects.  

o  By  creating  a  NEB  label  concept  that  makes  the  identification  of  EU  funding 

opportunities easier to be detected. 

o  By exploiting the NEB Festival as a good opportunity to present the different open EU 

funding opportunities and improve networking.  

o  By implementing a NEB Lab voucher scheme as easier accessible tool for the LRAs to 
get  the  necessary  support  and  funding  to  organise  a  NEB  Lab  in  their  constituency 
without new bureaucratic hurdles.  

o  Other. 
o  I do not know. 

Q3.7 – In your opinion/knowledge, how could the user friendliness of the current EU funding 
opportunities supporting the NEB initiative be improved *? 

o  By organising more workshops focused on how the local and regional authorities can 

benefit from the participation in EU funding opportunities supporting the NEB. 

o  By organising peer-learning conferences and initiatives focused on sharing knowledge 
and experience about how NEB projects can be designed and implemented at the local 
and regional level.  

o  By establishing a help desk supporting the local and regional authorities to understand 
how  to  exploit  at  best  the  possibility  to  participate  in  EU  funding  opportunities 
supporting the NEB initiative. 

o  By organising training sessions helping the local and regional authorities exploit at best 
the possibility to participate in EU funding opportunities supporting the NEB initiative. 

o  Other. 
o  I do not know. 

90 

 
 
 
 
Q3.8 – In the opinion presented by the CoR on the NEB, a NEB Lab voucher scheme is 
proposed to be launched as an innovative way of funding cities and regions with vouchers. 
The local and regional authorities would therefore receive such a voucher as easier 
accessible tool to get the necessary support and funding to organise a NEB Lab in their 
constituency without new bureaucratic hurdles. In your opinion/knowledge, in which type of 
activity would such a voucher scheme help your organisation the most, should it be 
implemented *? 

o  To be more easily engaged in the NEB initiative.  
o  To co-create, prototype and test the tools and policy actions that will facilitate 

transformation on the ground through new NEB Labs.  

o  To create new NEB Labs connecting the NEB initiative with your organisation’s 

local/regional development strategy. 

o  To disseminate the NEB initiatives implemented at the local/regional level bringing 

them to the EU dimension.  

o  To enhance the key role of the local and regional authorities in delivering NEB 

initiatives. 

Section 4 – The delivery phase of the New European Bauhaus initiative  
(Questions marked with * are mandatory) 

Q4.1 –To which extent each of the following ambitions related to the participatory approach 
applied to the NEB initiative can be achieved by the NEB project(s) your organisation is 
delivering *? Please rate each of the following from 1 [Poorly relevant] to 5 [Very 
relevant]. 
o  To inform citizens about the project and its progress and consult them. 
o  To co-develop the rules and objectives of the project with citizens. 
o  To empower citizens to make decisions and self-govern the project. 

Q4.2 - To which extent each of the following ambitions related to the transdisciplinary 
approach applied to the NEB initiative can be achieved by the NEB project(s) your 
organisation is delivering *? Please rate each of the following from 1 [Poorly relevant] to 5 
[Very relevant]. 
o  To be multidisciplinary, by addressing a common problem independently but alongside 

other disciplines. 

o  To  be  interdisciplinary,  by  addressing  a  common  problem  according  to  two  or  more 

academic disciplines or fields of knowledge. 

o  To  be  beyond-disciplinary,  by  integrating  both  formal  and  non-formal  knowledge  to 
achieve  a  common  goal  thanks  to  the  engagement  of  people  from  political,  social  and 
economic fields with members of the public. 

Q4.3 - To which extent each of the following ambitions related to the multi-level approach 
applied to the NEB initiative can be achieved by the NEB project(s) your organisation is 
delivering *? Please rate each of the following from 1 [Poorly relevant] to 5 [Very 
relevant].  
o  To work locally, by applying a placed-based approach together with informal networks 
(e.g., groups of individuals, neighbourhoods, etc.) and/or formal institutions (e.g., sectoral 
departments, political groups, etc.). 

o  To  work  across  levels,  to  engage  with  informal  networks  (e.g.,  groups  of  individuals, 
neighbourhoods,  etc.)  and/or  formal  institutions  (e.g.,  sectoral  departments,  political 

91 

 
 
 
 
groups, etc.) across various scales (e.g., single municipalities with regional authorities) to 
move beyond their own dimension (e.g., local, regional). 

o  To work globally, to apply the place-based approach implemented at the local and regional 
level  to  the  global  level,  making  a  transformational  impact  beyond  its  initial  local  and 
regional scale of application. 

Q4.4 - To what extent is the NEB initiative integrated in your organisation’s governance 
structure, and how could this integration be improved *? Rate it from 1 [Poor] to 5 [Very 
much] and explain why. Provide also reference to any programmatic documents your 
organisation has recently adopted that provide mention to the NEB initiative.  
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________ 

Q4.5 - What challenges and top barriers is your organisation facing with in implementing 
the NEB initiative *? 
o  Limited international support and cooperation with the other partners of the NEB project. 
o  Turning the placed-based approach into tangible results improving the place and the well-

being of the people living in it. 

o  Involving the community. 
o  Creating the right communication tool to engage the community. 
o  Finding expertise for managing the project. 
o  Monitoring the project on a continuous basis. 
o  Ensuring a proper internal organisational capacity. 
o  Other. 
o  I do not know. 

Section 5 – Paving the way for the future of the New European Bauhaus initiative  
(Questions marked with * are mandatory) 

Q5.1 - How can the NEB approach be used to promote a stronger cross-border and inter-
regional collaboration between cities and regions *? 

o  By better declining how cities and regions can best contribute to the implementation 

of the NEB approach. 

o  By activating the transfer of best practices to other cities and regions. 
o  By implementing a NEB local/regional scoreboard highlighting where more NEB 

initiatives are needed the most to make the NEB movement more active.  

o  By improving the dialogue between local communities and the different levels of 

government to have more impact on policymaking. 

o  By enlarging the number and/or type of potential financial contributors supporting 

future NEB initiatives. 

o  By enhancing relevant competences within and outside the NEB community (e.g., in 

terms of design and implementation of the NEB initiatives, dissemination and 
exploitation of results). 

o  Other. 

Q5.2 – In your opinion/knowledge, are there any trends that are relevant and meaningful in 
understanding the future of the NEB initiative? 
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________ 

92 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Q5.3 - In your opinion/knowledge, to which extent the following megatrends are relevant 
and meaningful in understanding the future of the NEB initiative *? Rate each of them from 
1 [Poorly relevant] to 5 [Very relevant]. 
o  Diversifying inequalities. 
o  Increasing significance of migration. 
o  Aggravating resource scarcity. 
o  Increasing influence of new governing systems. 
o  Continuing urbanisation. 
o  Increasing demographic imbalances. 
o  Climate change and environmental degradation. 
o  Diversification of education and learning. 
o  Changing nature of work. 
o  Accelerating technological change and hyperconnectivity. 
o  Growing consumerism. 
o  Expanding influence of east and south. 
o  Changing security paradigm. 
o  Shifting health challenges. 

Section 6 - Initiatives related to the New European Bauhaus  

Q6.1 - Are you aware of any good practices implementing the NEB approach at local and 
regional level that combine social projects and the digital and green transformation with 
aesthetics that could be mainstreamed in other cities and regions? If yes, please provide their 
names and a web link where a piece of information is available. 
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________ 

93 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex II - Script of the interviews carried out to build the case studies 
(Part 3)  

Introduction to the Interview 

This interview will take place in the context of the study “The New European 
Bauhaus at local and regional level” commissioned by the European Committee 
of the Regions to Fondazione FORMIT (Specific Contract No. 16379). The 
research project aims at analysing the state of play of the New European 
Bauhaus initiative in relation to the Local and Regional Authorities, and their 
consequences for regions. A particular focus will lie on cities and regions’ 
immediate and short-term needs and also in identifying best practices, or any 
difficulties and bottlenecks concerning the implementation of the initiative, so 
that along the way it can make recommendations and unlock the initiative’s full 
potential awareness. The input given by the Local and Regional Authorities’ 
experience in relation to the implementation can be used as a guide and help 
transfer the best practices and know-how to other entities.  

Areas of discussion 
The following are the areas of discussion that will be covered during the 
interview and the possible questions that will be raised.  

Reasons and processes leading to the participation in the NEB initiative 

•  What are the reasons behind your decision to apply for a NEB project? 
•  How did you build the partnership of your NEB project?  
•  According to your opinion, which are the main elements that contributed 

to the funding of your NEB project?  

Management, multi-level approach and funding arrangements 

•  Can you briefly describe the scope of your NEB project, and how it is 
meant to carry out place-based activities combining sustainability, 
inclusiveness and beauty? 

•  How will you measure your project’s consistency with the spirit of the 

NEB initiative? Have you set any quantitative and/or qualitative 
indicators measuring the impact of your NEB project on the three axes the 
NEB initiative is based upon (i.e., sustainability, inclusiveness, beauty)?  

•  To what extent the scope your NEB project aims to achieve is already 

integrated in your governance project? Can you please indicate the tools 

95 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
and solutions that allowed its implementation (e.g., reference to NEB in 
your local/regional development strategy)? 

•  Do you expect that such an integration will be further improved 

throughout the delivery of your NEB project? How?  

•  How would you expect to make the results stemming from your NEB 
project sustainable on the medium and long-term period? Would you 
expect to make use of any funding instrument contributing to its 
sustainability?  

Existing synergies and cross-border elements 

•  Which is the engagement process your NEB project has implemented to 
involve local communities? Will they have a direct participation in the 
project? If yes, how? If no, why?  

•  Can you please briefly describe the communication, dissemination and 

exploitation strategy of your project, with special reference to if and how 
it will contribute to enhance cross-border and/or inter-regional 
cooperation? Do you expect to organise peer-learning initiatives and 
events focusing on sharing experiences and ideas on the NEB initiative, or 
to cooperate with other NEB-funded projects? If yes, can you please cite 
them?   

•  Given your involvement in this NEB project, do you think that your 

Local/Regional Authority will benefit from the participation in the NEB 
initiative? If yes, how? If no, why?  

Challenges and success factors 

•  Your NEB project has recently started. In this phase, are you experiencing 
any obstacles or bottlenecks in its implementation? If yes, can you please 
briefly describe them? 

•  Do you think that new obstacles will raise throughout the implementation 

of your NEB project? If yes, can you please briefly describe them?  
•  Did your perception of the NEB initiative change after the kick off of 
your NEB project? Is there any clarification or doubt you may need to 
solve about? 

•  Which is your standpoint about the involvement of cities and regions in 

the implementation of the NEB initiative? Can you please briefly describe 
if and how Local and Regional Authorities are important for its success?  

96 

 
 
 
 
•  The NEB initiative started in 2021, and at present several funding 
mechanisms (e.g., Horizon Europe) have been used to support its 
implementation. In your experience/opinion, is there any alternative 
scenario that may be worth to be considered to improve its accessibility 
and effectiveness in a more structural way?  

Additional relevant input from the interviewee(s)

97 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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