Die The NEB initiative1 was instigated by the European Commission in 2020 in order to translate the green deal into tangible changes that will bring lasting improvements to our daily lives in urban and rural areas. Aside from its environmental and economic aspects, the transformation of Europe’s economic and social system is also a cultural project. “We need to give our systemic change its own distinct aesthetic – to match style with sustainability,” Ursula von der Leyen said in her 2020 State of the Union Address.2
Building culture, i.e. the built environment composed of buildings, roads, squares and spaces, helps forge a sense of identity and has a marked impact on the quality of life enjoyed by all citizens. At the heart of the NEB is the question of how we can plan, construct and renovate buildings and neighbourhoods as part of the green transition in a way that respects this building culture. The initiative adopts an interdisciplinary approach that combines art, culture, architecture, design and technology. The aim is to drive groundbreaking ideas and tangible solutions in order to transform the built environment and people’s lifestyles in Europe for the better by seeking to unite sustainability with good design and social justice. New solutions for buildings and entire neighbourhoods are to be inclusive, accessible and affordable for everyone while also respecting diversity across locations, traditions and cultures and promoting aesthetics and beauty. Research and innovation play a key role in fostering and spreading a forward-looking building culture.
Principles of the New European Bauhaus
> Sustainability: the initiative is encouraging environmentally friendly solutions that save resources and respect our natural planetary boundaries.
> Aesthetics: the NEB is striving for an architecture with high building culture value in both urban and rural areas in order to create an environment worth living in.
> Inclusion: the approach being pursued is one of openness, accessibility and equity, designed to ensure that no sections of the population are excluded.
As well as being applied to architecture and urban design, the idea behind the NEB is also directed at mobility, energy and industry.
The NEB Facility
Since it began in 2020, the NEB initiative has sparked a major movement and brought on board various EU member states, regions and local authorities. Numerous activities have now been run in the areas of research and innovation, regional and urban development, skills building and culture. The NEB community boasts over 1,500 members, including the national contact offices as well as public bodies, charities and businesses. In the shape of the NEB Facility the European Commission will be launching the first multi-year financing instrument in 2025. An integral part of the Horizon Europe 2025–2027 strategy plan, the facility combines various funding instruments at EU Commission level. Under Europe’s largest building research programme to date, €120 million in funding will be provided over this period for research and innovation, with the same amount again ring-fenced for rolling out groundbreaking solutions.
Research and innovation are intended to work towards finding new solutions for transforming neighbourhoods in line with NEB values and principles, focusing on:
> combining the green transition with social inclusion and local democracy
> using sustainable building materials and adopting the circular economy
> innovative financing and business models for transforming neighbourhoods to improve affordability and social justice.
The roll-out element of the NEB facility is designed to support the upscaling and broad-based implementation of innovative solutions that have already been shown to add value.
new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/funding/new-european-bauhaus-facility_en
Austria is considered a pioneer of sustainable building and has seen numerous innovative ideas and solutions conceived, designed and trialled here in recent years. These include building materials suitable for a circular economy, technologies for greening buildings, sustainable neighbourhoods, certificates for building quality and sustainability, and digital technologies for planning, constructing and running buildings. The idea behind the NEB is now encouraging people to look at the “big picture” by making sustainability, aesthetics and inclusion key pillars of how buildings are planned and constructed.
Austria’s national Bauhaus Initiative is being coordinated by the country’s Federal Ministry of Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure (BMIMI) and is serving as a central point of contact, bringing together stakeholders from architecture and building culture, building planning and construction, and building research. The aim is for everyone to learn from one another and come up with potential solutions to local challenges together. Being part of the overarching European initiative offers an opportunity to showcase Austrian expertise even more prominently on the international stage, launch pilot projects in the country and lend targeted support to sustainable construction.
initiative-bauhaus.at
1 new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/index_en
The NEB builds on the vision espoused by the 20th-century Bauhaus movement, which called for the unification of art, craft and technology. Under the initiative, the ideas of the Bauhaus are being applied to the needs of today, particularly in the context of the climate crisis and the social challenges facing Europe.
2 ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/de/SPEECH_20_1655
“The built environment accounts for approximately 40 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, stemming from the construction, operation, and demolition of buildings and infrastructure. However, by transforming this major source of CO2 into a carbon sink – through the use of sustainably produced building materials such as wood, bamboo, or hemp – we can significantly reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases. This shift could represent a pivotal step in combating global heating. The New European Bauhaus, an initiative of the European Commission, seeks to harness and promote Europe’s extensive expertise in sustainable construction and design. It supports efforts to both mitigate climate change and adapt to environmental changes that are now unavoidable. In essence, it functions as a kind of decentralized European Manhattan Project for the 21st century, where circular building methods using renewable materials are being developed and implemented. With abundant natural resources and a strong tradition of innovative timber construction, Austria is particularly well positioned to benefit from this initiative.”
Prof. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
International Institute for applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)