At an event in Brussels, the Commission announced 15 winners of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) awards for 2023 and 14 selected projects, which benefit from investments amounting to 65 million – Among them is the municipality of Aigaleo with the “green” project “Rock the block”
Interview with Anna Maroulis
“The New European Bauhaus it’s a message we send to everyone. What we want to say is that if you build something – and especially in Greece you build a lot – do it in a sustainable, inclusive and beautiful way. The Greeks know what is beautiful, we won’t teach them… That’s why we give awards and congratulations because a Greek project won, which is a recognition. A way to make it more visible and to create inspiration,” he told Skai.gr European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreirain a private conversation with her in Brussels.
Commissioner Elisa Ferreira was the one who announced them 15 winners of this year’s New European Bauhaus Awardsas well as the 14 projects which were selected under the first call for proposals for the European Urban Initiative – Innovative Actions in the context of cohesion policy which they benefit from investments amounting to 65 million eurosin a ceremony held on Thursday (6/22) during the event “NEB in Regions and Cities” in Brussels
“We had nominations with good projects, but because there is a limited budget, awards cannot be given to everyone,” said the European Commissioner
Referring to the innovative projects participating in the institution, she underlined: “We bring new people and energy to our common agenda, people who can build the future for all of us”.
The European Commissioner wished the best for the Greeks, even saying “thank you very much” in Greek.
The “green” project “Rock the Block” of the Municipality of Aigaleo is the only Greek application that was selected for funding with 3,280,920 euros within the framework of the European Urban Initiative.
“The “Rock the Block” project concerns the upgraded to smart and energy-independent apartment buildings, at least 10 in number, in the municipality of Aigaleo”, as explained by Dimitris Tzebelibos, Dr. mechanical engineer and head of the Department of Planning, Development and Transparency in the Municipality of Aigaleo.
The Greek entry was the only nomination from Greece that was selected among 99 entries from EU member states, of which 76% were from small and medium-sized cities (less than 250,000 inhabitants).
From the entries submitted, 14 were selected, including the municipality of Aegaleo.
“We are happy that our project was chosen for funding because through this program tools and actions will be developed that will have a big and direct impact on our city”, said Mr. Tzebelibos.
He emphasized that this is a joint venture involving the Municipality of Aigaleo, Greek research organizations, Greek universities and companies, while the specific municipality is the coordinator.
“The planning of the proposed solutions will be done with the participatory process of the citizens of the municipality”, noted Mr. Tzebelikos.
The projects come from various urban environments of EU Member States. In fact, most of the projects concern small or medium-sized cities. Each project will receive up to 5 million euros in co-financing from the European Regional Development Fund, while it must be implemented within three and a half years.
New European Bauhaus Awards 2023 – The winners
Out of 61 finalists, 15 winners with exemplary New European Bauhaus initiatives will receive a cash prize of up to EUR 30,000 and a communication package to help them further develop and promote their projects and ideas.
The winners of the “Champions of the New European Bauhaus” who receive a cash prize of EUR 30,000 for successful projects are:
- Municipal garden in Podgorica (Montenegro) that won the online public vote
- Ripple (Ireland) in the Reconnecting with Nature category
- Sacromonte Cave Museum (Spain) in the category “Restoring a sense of belonging”
- Aalborg East: From isolated to inclusive (Denmark) in the category “Priority to the places and people who need it most”
- Tova (International) in the category “Shaping a circular industrial ecosystem and supporting life cycle thinking”
The winners of the “rising stars of the New European Bauhaus”, applicants under the age of 30, who receive a cash prize of EUR 15,000 for their promising ideas are:
- Roofscapes (France) winner of the online public vote
- NOI Ortadini Community Garden in Matera (Italy), in the category “Reconnecting with Nature”
- The Nature Library (Lithuania) in the category “Restoring a sense of belonging”
- Saga — a healing journey through play (Denmark) in the category “Priority to the places and people who need it most”
- BUDGET (France) in the category “Shaping a circular industrial ecosystem and supporting life cycle thinking”
The winners of the “New European Bauhaus Education Champions” who receive a cash prize of EUR 30,000 for learning and education initiatives are:
- Klimaatspeelplaats (Belgium) winner of the online public vote
- Floating University of Berlin (Germany) in the category “Reconnection with nature”
- Positive sciences in immigrant communities (international) in the category “recovering a sense of belonging”
- Danube Design Lab Ruse (Bulgaria) “Priority to the places and people who need it most” Land/Hand (Netherlands) in the category “Shaping a circular industrial ecosystem and supporting life cycle thinking”
The third edition of the awards received more than 1,400 applications from EU Member States and, for the first time, applications for initiatives in the Western Balkans. As part of the European Year of Skills, the 2023 awards also included an additional leg focused on education and learning. The awards celebrate and award examples of existing work and ideas from new talent to make Europe more sustainable, beautiful and inclusive. Discover all the details of the top nominees and their projects on the NEB Awards website.
First EUI — awarded for innovative actions
The 14 winners of the first call for proposals for the European Urban Initiative — Innovative Actions for the New European Bauhaus come from diverse EU urban contexts, representing 12 EU countries, with the majority being small and medium-sized cities.
The winners of the first call for proposals for EU innovative actions are, by priority area:
“Construction and renovation in the spirit of circularity and carbon neutrality”: NatUR-W (Lorca, Spain) and Viana S + T + ARTS Center (Viana do Castelo, Portugal);
“Conservation and transformation of cultural heritage”: ImpertCity (Aarhus, Denmark) and S4T (Rovereto, Italy);
“Adapting and converting buildings for affordable housing solutions”: AHA Budapest (Budapest, Hungary), Rock the Block (Egaleo, Greece), SHARE (Fuenlabrada, Spain) and SOFTacademy (Tallinn, Estonia);
“Regeneration of urban spaces”: RELAUNCHTOWIN (Burgas, Bulgaria), Time2Adapt (Lille European Metropolis, France), WATSUPS (Mechelen, Belgium), We-Z (District III of Rome — Montesacro, Italy), Urban Biodiversity Parks (Turku, Finland ) and interacting with each other (Varaždin, Croatia).
Supported by EUR 65 million from the European Regional Development Fund, the awarded projects will serve as a new generation of NEB demonstration projects in the areas of circular and sustainable construction and renovation, conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage, adaptation and conversion of buildings for affordable housing solutions and the regeneration of urban spaces.
Each project will receive ERDF co-funding of up to €5 million and must be implemented within a maximum period of 3.5 years. The initiative attracted strong interest from across the EU, with 99 applications from 21 EU Member States EU and 125 urban authorities, of which 76 % came from small and medium-sized cities (under 250 000 inhabitants).
What you need to know about the next edition of the New European Bauhaus Awards
In April 2024, the Commission will organize the fourth edition of the New European Bauhaus Awards, as part of the second edition of the NEB festival. Interested organizations and individuals can propose their own activities, projects or satellite events in one of the three invitations to be highlighted at the Festival. Invitations are open until September 15th.
What is the New European Bauhaus?
The New European Bauhaus is a creative and interdisciplinary initiative that connects the European Green Deal to our living spaces and experiences. The initiative invites all Europeans to imagine and build together a sustainable and inclusive future that will be beautiful to our eyes, minds and souls.The New European Bauhaus, launched by President von der Leyen in her speech on the State of the Union in 2020, designed together with thousands of people and organizations across Europe and beyond. With a dedicated ERDF budget of EUR 450 million, the European Urban Environment I is a new instrument to support the urban dimension of cohesion policy during the period 2021-2027. During the 2021-2027 programming period, at least 8% of ERDF resources in each Member State must be invested in priorities and projects chosen by cities and based on their own sustainable urban development strategies. The EUI aims to support cities to test and develop scalable and transferable innovative ideas and spread the benefits of proven solutions across Europe, including by using the funding available to them under the Cohesion Policy programs for 2021-2027.
Source: Skai
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