October 09, 2023
The Initiative to Build a Sustainable and Beautiful Europe for All
Discover how the New European Bauhaus is inspiring the creation of projects that are both aesthetically appealing and sustainable, while actively engaging people in building a better future.
If the European Green Deal has a soul, it is the New European Bauhaus, which has sparked an explosion of creativity across our Union.
–Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
The New European Bauhaus (NEB) is a strategic initiative by the European Union designed to inspire the green transition through tangible experiences with local impact. It is a vision-driven project that aims to meet climate goals while shaping an exciting future for the next generations. Greater connection with nature, shared spaces that foster community, and beautiful environments—it represents an acceleration of the green transformation in key economic sectors.
The NEB is guided by three inseparable values that shape the future within its framework: sustainability, aesthetics, and inclusion.
- Sustainability: From climate goals to circularity, zero pollution, and biodiversity.
- Aesthetics: The quality of experience and style, beyond functionality.
- Inclusion: Valuing diversity while ensuring accessibility and affordability.
Creating projects that embrace these three values requires a cultural shift in how we operate, opening new opportunities for business and governance models. This is why the NEB is multidisciplinary, employing participatory processes that involve individuals, citizens, and key stakeholders in the transformation.
This marks a paradigm shift from extractive, polluting, and exploitative practices to a collective reinvention of a just society that respects our planetary boundaries.
NEB Compass
The initiative takes its name from the historic Bauhaus movement founded in 1919, as they share similarities. That movement emerged during a period of deep societal transformation toward an industrial model, bringing together multiple disciplines to tackle the challenges of the time. Its proposals quickly spread across Europe, becoming a global movement. Similarly, we now need to unite designers, creatives, architects, and artisans with scientists, educators, and engineers to find solutions for the transition we are undergoing.
A Movement Built on Participation
A defining feature of the NEB from the beginning has been its openness to participation from organizations and citizens. In fact, its first strategic document was the result of a participatory and co-design process involving over a thousand professionals from different fields. The initiative fosters an active community that generates ideas for its various challenges, maintains several working groups, and creates spaces for collaboration with other key players.
We discovered the NEB through a friend’s recommendation early in our journey. He told us about this emerging movement in Europe. We started reading the documentation and joined the community because its vision was inspiring. Shortly after, the first call was launched to organize the inaugural NEB Festival, bringing together diverse professionals and engaging society in its values. This led us to create the festival Creadores de Futuros, which became a pivotal moment for us. It helped define our vision, focus our work for the year, and expand the scope of the Griots community. That experience provided the foundation we needed to shape our vision at Munkun. Now, we are working on organizing a satellite event for the upcoming NEB Fest 2024 to build on the experience of the first edition.
How to Get Involved
If you want to be part of the NEB, we recommend reading one of their key documents published this year, The NEB Compass. It clearly explains the meaning of each NEB value (sustainability, beauty, and inclusion) and outlines how to apply them to concrete projects with three levels of increasing ambition. This framework helps you reflect on your idea and assess its alignment with the NEB. The document also provides guidance on structuring project development with case studies and emblematic examples.
The program is already in motion, with open calls for public and private institutions to participate in building a Europe that is more connected to nature, fosters a sense of belonging among citizens, and addresses the needs of vulnerable places and communities. The challenge is to do this with a future-oriented perspective, designing products and spaces to last. To achieve this, the NEB seeks to inspire professionals who drive change.