Description
On 22 June, the Commission announced the 15 winners of the New European Bauhaus 2023 awards and the 14 selected projects that will benefit from the €65 million investment of the first European Urban Initiative - 'Innovative Actions' call under the Cohesion Policy.
New European Bauhaus 2023 Awards
Of the 61 finalists, the 15 winners with exemplary New European Bauhaus initiatives will receive a monetary prize of up to €30,000 and a communication package to help them further develop and promote their projects and concepts.
The 'Champions of the New European Bauhaus' receiving a monetary prize of €30,000 for projects already completed are :
- Community garden in Podgorica (Montenegro) winner of the online public vote
- Ripple (Ireland) in the category "Getting back in touch with nature".
- Sacromonte Cave Museum (Spain) in the category "Regaining a sense of belonging".
- Aalborg East: from isolation to inclusion (Denmark) in the category "Prioritising places and people who need it most".
- TOVA (international) in the category 'Building a circular industrial ecosystem and supporting life-cycle thinking'.
For the section "Rising stars of the new European Bauhaus" (candidates under 30 years old), the winners receiving a monetary prize of €15 000 for their promising concepts are:
- Roofscapes (France) winner of the online public vote
- Noi Ortadini - Botanical Garden in Matera (Italy) in the category 'Getting back in touch with nature'.
- Nature's Library (Lithuania) in the category "Regaining a sense of belonging".
- SAGA - a healing journey through play (Denmark) in the category "Prioritising places and people who need it most".
- CREATIVE FACTORY SHOP (France) in the category 'Building a circular industrial ecosystem and supporting life-cycle thinking'.
The 'champions of the new European Bauhaus in education' receiving a monetary prize of €30 000 for initiatives in the field of learning and education are:
- Klimaatspeelplaats (Belgium) winner of the online public vote
- Floating University - Berlin (Germany) in the category 'Getting back in touch with nature'.
- Science in Migrant Communities (international) in the category "Regaining a sense of belonging".
- Danube Design Lab Ruse (Bulgaria) in the category "Prioritising places and people most in need".
- Land&Hand (Netherlands) in the category 'Building a circular industrial ecosystem and supporting life-cycle thinking'.
The third edition of the awards received over 1 400 applications from EU Member States and, for the first time, also for initiatives in the Western Balkans. In the context of the European Year of Skills, the 2023 edition also included an additional section dedicated to education and learning.
The awards recognise inspiring examples of existing ideas and projects from young talents to make Europe more sustainable, beautiful and inclusive. Find out about all the finalists and their projects on the New European Bauhaus Awards webpage .
Winners of the first EUI - Innovative Actions
The 14 winners of the first European Urban Initiative - Innovative Actions dedicated to the new European Bauhaus selected from different urban contexts of the Union, representing 12 EU countries, with a majority of small and medium-sized cities. The winners of the EUI's first call for innovative actions, by priority area:
- "construction and renovation in a spirit of circularity and carbon neutrality": NatUR-W (Lorca, Spain) and Viana S+T+ARTS Center (Viana do Castelo, Portugal);
- 'preserving and transforming cultural heritage': ImperfectCity (Aarhus, Denmark) and S4T (Rovereto, Italy);
- "adapting and transforming buildings aiming at affordable housing solutions" AHA Budapest (Budapest, Hungary), Rock the Block (Egaleo, Greece), SHARE (Fuenlabrada, Spain) and SOFTacademy (Tallin, Estonia);
- "Redeveloping Urban Spaces': RELAUNCHTOWIN (Burgas, Bulgaria), Time2Adapt (Lille European Metropolis, France), WATSUPS ( Mechelen, Belgium), We-Z (Municipio Roma III Montesacro, Italy), Urban Biodiversity Parks (Turku, Finland) and InterACT Green (Varaždin, Croatia).
With the support of €65 million from the European Regional Development Fund, the winning projects will constitute a new generation of European Bauhaus demonstration projects in the fields of construction and renovation in the spirit of circularity and sustainability, conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage, adaptation and transformation of buildings for affordable housing solutions and redevelopment of urban spaces. Each project will receive up to EUR 5 million in ERDF co-financing and implementation should take place within a maximum period of 3.5 years.
The initiative has attracted strong interest from across the EU, with 99 applications from 21 EU Member States and 125 urban authorities involved, 76% of them from small and medium-sized towns (less than 250,000 inhabitants).
Next steps
In April 2024, the Commission will organise the fourth edition of the awards, in the context of the second edition of the New European Bauhaus Festival. Interested organisations and individuals can propose activities, projects or satellite events in one of the three planned calls for proposals to become part of the festival. The calls are open until 15 September.
Background
The New European Bauhaus is a creative and interdisciplinary initiative connecting the European Green Deal toour living spaces and experiences. The initiative invites all Europeans to imagine and build together a sustainable and inclusive future that is beautiful for the eyes, mind and soul.
Launched by President von der Leyen in his 2020 State of the Union address, the new European Bauhaus has been shaped collectively by thousands of people and organisations across Europe and beyond.
With a specific ERDF budget of EUR 450 million, the European Urban Initiative (EUI) is a new instrument to support the urban dimension of complexity policy for the period 2021-2027. In the current programming period, at least 8 per cent of ERDF resources in each Member State must be allocated to priorities and projects selected by cities and based on their sustainable urban development strategies.
The initiative aims to support cities in testing and developing innovative, scalable and transferable ideas and spreading the benefits of tested solutions across Europe, including by using funding available to them under the 2021-2027 conflict policy programmes.
For more information
Source and image: European Commission