The New European Bauhaus

The New European Bauhaus is the creative ‘soul’ of the EU Green Deal: beautiful | sustainable | together  

In 2020, the European Commission announced the New European Bauhaus (NEB) to connect a creative dimension to the European Green Deal in order to demonstrate how sustainability, aesthetic beauty, and accessibility can interconnect as Europe strives for a “greener” and more inclusive Union.  

The initiative creates a platform for institutions, citizens, and professionals in business, science, art, and design to collaborate on projects that align with the NEB vision.  

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen presented the NEB as being the initiative through which Europeans will “see, feel and experience the European Green Deal,” positioning the movement as being the aesthetic and practical manifestation of the ambitious climate change policy targets. 

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The NEB offers financial prizes to EU Member State initiatives that champion the NEB’s core tenets of sustainability, beauty, and inclusivity.  The funding goes to a diverse range of projects that address social, environmental and economic issues. 

The 2022 NEB prize winners included Gleis 21, a cooperatively owned and operated housing project in Vienna; a sand dune regeneration initiative in Barcelona; and De Korenbloem, a Belgian housing project designed to provide care to people living with various disabilities.  

In April 2022, the Commission launched The NEB Lab, a co-creation space that aims to create tangible results that align with NEB’s goals. The NEB Community and EU institutions create project proposals for the NEB Lab, which then helps ensure projects have the conditions and framework to facilitate a green transition.  

Learn more about the New Bauhaus with Paul Brannen: Wood Defining Europe’s Cultural Future