Projects must comply with at least one of the expected outcome targets: 

• Outcome A: Improved quality of a defined public space by implementing the NEB approach. The proposal must have a clear explanation of how and at what level the project contributes to achieve the selected NEB challenge, including a realistic and achievable plan.
• Outcome B: Improved quality of a public space through complementarity with a local policy/strategy and implementation of the NEB approach. The proposal must have a clear explanation of how and at what level the project will contribute to achieve the targets of the selected local policy/strategy, including a realistic and achievable plan. The project must provide clear evidence of implementation of the NEB approach. Some examples of specific types of local level official policies/strategies are included in the following non-exhaustive list: 
  • Public realm infrastructure plan or/and urban development plan or/and public realm improvement strategy
  • Statement of the commitment from city/region on the relevant segment/area targeted by the project
  • Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs)
  • Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs)
  • Zero Pollution Action Plan for 2030
  • Waste management plans and/or waste prevention programmes
  • Circular Economy Strategy or Action Plan
  • Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change
  • Local Action Plan on Green urban areas and green infrastructure Sustainable Land Use & Soil strategy
  • Nature Restoration Plan
  • Farm to Fork strategy
  • Biodiversity strategy for 2030
  • Any action plans that can be supported by the project
  • Net-Zero Industry Act
  • EU industrial strategy
  • Critical Raw Materials Act

In addition, all submitted proposals must meet at least one of the following expected outputs: 

• OUTPUT 1: Products and services (including rapid product prototypes):
  • enhancement of nature-based-solutions, promotion of green spaces and support for urban greening;
  • responses to citizens’ real needs in urban and regional spaces, as well as improved accessibility and quality of experience for citizens in their daily lives, e.g. leisure, work, mobility and commuting;
  • delivery of both online and offline (face-to-face) support, as well as public and private realm infrastructure and facilities with a focus on specific vulnerable populations, e.g. older people, children, ethnic minorities and marginalised groups; 
  • promotion of long-term use and thinking, and reduce by design, maintenance, reuse, refurbishment, remanufacture, repurposing and recycling of resources and waste, including digital and monitoring tools, and improvement of current state-of-the-art industrial manufacturing processes.
• OUTPUT 2: Co-design and co-stewardship of:
  • green spaces and nature-based solutions through public-private partnerships and social participation;
  • access to nature-based solutions and expansion of green spaces, as well as their collective stewardship;
  • public realm and commons with civil society and other stakeholders to favour diversity, while strengthening inclusivity and equitability, as well as promotion of co-ownership and care of public and private spaces;
  • urban regeneration in less favoured areas, including the most polluted zones, neglected or dangerous neighbourhoods, remote areas with poor communication and districts with limited services;
  • transformation of the public space embedded in the urban ecosystem towards a circularity model, with consideration for sustainability, aesthetic and social aspects. For example, harvesting ambient water or energy for use on site or cycling nutrients locally to create an environment that supports biodiversity, human health and well-being

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All proposals must address at least one of the EIT Community New European Bauhaus challenges described below.

1. Re-connecting with nature 

 The New European Bauhaus movement aims to create greater opportunities for contact with green public spaces that translate into better health and reduce income-related health inequalities. Nature-based solutions in cities can help address floods and other extreme weather events, whilst making the built environment more attractive. Climate action can improve air, water and soil quality and overall living conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic underlined the direct link between nature protection and physical and mental health for citizens. There is a need to go beyond a human-centred to a life-centred perspective, seeking inspiration from nature and learning from it. 

Some examples of the types of projects that address this challenge are included in the following non exhaustive list: 

• Urban greening, such as urban green corridors for active mobility.
• Rethinking of transport infrastructure.
• Interaction with citizens to encourage the take-up of green mobility solutions.
• Co-creation of green public spaces to exploit their potential, such as better refreshing/cooling for urban areas.
• (Re)naturalisation of degraded public areas, green areas, biodiversity, green and blue infrastructure, and urban furniture as assets that promote active mobility.
• Nature-based solutions for industrial sites and processes or old post-industrial sites, including the regeneration of degraded soils and wastewater streams.
• Support and promotion of green jobs and skills and futures literacy, including life-long learning through nature-based solutions.
• Solutions to enhance crop yield and resilience through the use of more sustainable soil and/or crop management and other practices to increase plant tolerance to stress (abiotic, biotic), including climate change.
• Solutions with credible potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or mitigate biodiversity loss from the agrifood production chain, including solutions that target livestock, human diets and resource stewardship.

2. Re-gaining sense of community and belonging

The New European Bauhaus movement is about collective and private experience. Building bridges between people involves encouraging intergenerational solidarity, developing links between education and the arts in local environments, and improving common spaces and meeting places. 

Some examples of specific projects that can be addressed are included in the following non-exhaustive list: 

• Enhancement of degraded public areas.
• Increased accessibility and interconnection of public spaces via more sustainable means of transport.
• Promotion of multiple uses of public spaces by citizens to create the conditions for enhanced cultural exchange.
• Promotion of proximity economy activities to allow citizens to access key services and amenities within walking distance, thus strengthening connections and fostering healthy, sustainable and active mobility.
• Repurposing and/or refurbishment of public spaces to serve as catalysts to rediscover local communities and integrate newcomers. 
• Demonstration of the interconnectedness of sustainability, resilience and community through multifunctional activities that address all three concepts in a mutually reinforcing manner.
• Manufacture of solutions to help build more human-centric, sustainable and resilient industry that places the well-being of workers at the centre of production processes.
• Enrichment of food culture with local identity and food authenticity as a means of reducing food fraud and boosting consumer confidence in sources and quality.
• Promotion of food supply-chain optimisation, minimisation of food loss and waste and modification of the demand curve by setting up innovative systems that promote value-chain relationships.

3. Prioritising places and the people that need them the most 

The New European Bauhaus movement promotes the inclusion of all citizens, as well as of the places where they live. Beautiful and sustainable solutions have to be affordable and accessible for all. Special attention should be paid to the specific circumstances of the most vulnerable groups and individuals, such as those at risk of exclusion or poverty and those experiencing homelessness. Disadvantaged groups are at greater risk of energy poverty and of suffering the effects of air pollution and have poorer access to public transport. Inclusion also requires that all approaches be designed in such a way that accessibility barriers to the built and virtual environments and to goods and services are removed. NEB transcends major city centres to encompass places in all their diversity, including small villages, rural areas, shrinking cities, neglected neighbourhoods, suburbs and de-industrialised areas. This calls for planning to avoid the spatial segregation of social groups and to create a sense of togetherness. It is crucial to connect the various parts of cities, villages and neighbourhoods. 

 Some examples of specific projects that can be addressed included in the following non-exhaustive list: 

• Solutions that address poor transport links between rural and urban areas.
• Solutions aimed at universal mobility as a key enabler of social inclusion so that everyone can move freely within cities, regardless of gender, race, beliefs or disability.
• Climate justice initiatives that focus on equitable distribution of housing and living conditions.
• Green solutions that address social issues, in line with the ‘build back better’ principle.
• Proposals that encompass social manufacturing, including those that involve less favoured groups or groups at risk of social exclusion in product manufacturing.
• Co-design and testing, together with citizens, of affordable food products and/or ingredients customised for vulnerable target groups (older people, children, etc.), including data standardisation for targeted nutrition. 

4. Prioritising the need for long-term, life cycle and integrated thinking in the industrial ecosystem

The New European Bauhaus movement promotes an economy based on circularity to tackle unsustainable practices, including resource uses for obsolete buildings or infrastructures. Addressing these challenges concerns the entire industrial ecosystem, from production to delivery and consumption, with a circular economy mindset. Recovered and renewable materials should be better recognised by all relevant disciplines and become part of design paradigms. The use of sustainably produced and procured nature based building materials, such as wood, bamboo, straw, cork, or stone should be improved. New production technologies should help reduce the carbon footprint of steel or cement, recycle otherwise wasted textiles and accelerate the green transition of energy intensive industries. New business models, bioeconomy, social economy approaches, and Design for Sustainability can support the transformation of sectors such as textiles, tourism, waste management or energy production. The digital transition will play a systematic role in the development and implementation of the New European Bauhaus. 

Some examples of specific projects that can be addressed are included in the following non-exhaustive list: 

• Activities to promote products and services for long-term use.
• Reduce by design, as well as, maintenance, reusing, refurbishing, remanufacturing, repurpose and recycling of resources and waste, including digital and monitoring tools.
• Improvement of current state-of-the-art of the manufacturing industries.
• Public and multi-stakeholder activities fostering circular economy actions, namely with regards to resources, waste, product life extension and second life of products, and more efficient management of sources.
• Activities targeting unsustainable mindsets or behaviours in specific social groups to maximize the potential impact.
• Activities of decentralised, local and urban manufacturing designing and/or demonstrating symbiotic and sustainable factories closer to the customer including integrating new and traditional techniques, local crafts, and knowledge to foster innovation in manufacturing.
• Circular mobility including shared mobility, satisfying user needs without transferring ownership of physical products through shared solutions.
• Solutions for the sensibilities and aesthetics of the circularity concept as user experience; combining circular and cleantech solutions for long-term effect.
•  Leveraging existing innovations promoting circularity and market opportunities in the agri-food systems and a circular model maintaining the value of food in the economy for as long as possible.
• Co-creation of innovative, sustainable packaging concepts to reduce food spoilage.

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