How to Train In the New European Bauhaus Philosophy ? (5th Workshop of the NEB Seminar)

This initiative aims to operate three transformations:

1. Of places on the ground.
2. Of the environment that enables innovation.
3. Of our perspectives and way of thinking.

To address the socio-economic and environmental challenges of our time and inspire sustainable lifestyle changes that incorporates NEB values, it is essential to work with those who reflect on our values, those who study them and those who pass them on. Artists, social scientists, educators, educational institutions and youth organizations take a critical look at society and offer solutions to help shape the world of tomorrow. Cultural and creative industries are sources of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, as well as jobs. Their contribution to innovation is increasingly focused on non-technological factors such as creativity, design, new organizational processes or business models and cooperation. Their contributions are interesting leads to exploit in order to spread the NEB philosophy.

At the same time, education, training and learning in general are essential vectors for disseminating the values of the new European Bauhaus. As part of the strategic axes of the European Green Deal, the New European Bauhaus intends to facilitate increased consideration of environmental, climatic and ecological issues in the educational programs pursued in schools, universities and other training places. In addition, to respect the values of the NEB, it is also necessary to integrate the notions of sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics in all of these learning paths. Incorporating these questions into the different training courses, whether at primary, secondary or university level can help bring out different ideas for projects that will respond to the values that this European initiative conveys. Training in the NEB philosophy therefore involves supporting the "integration of green transition and sustainability into all phases and stages of education and training, particularly within compulsory education, higher education and vocational training”. Urban planning, architecture, design, art but also the engineering professions are therefore mainly the sectors concerned by this initiative.

Training in the philosophy of the NEB also involves different educational techniques. Thus, we can take the example of the “climate education” coalition by setting up conversations and participatory challenges around the priorities of the NEB but also innovative pedagogies, project-based learning, etc. In addition, it should also be noted that certain alliances between European universities have been set up to contribute to the NEB, and thus participate, among other things, in training in the philosophy of this initiative. Finally, the Erasmus + program, which is one of the programs financing projects resulting from this NEB initiative, “offers various means to support compulsory and higher education actions with regard to education for environmental sustainability, in particular by supporting holistic approaches to sustainability in institutions, as well as creativity and innovation”, as detailed in the document detailing the NEB policy ecosystem.

Finally, in order to redefine the lifestyles of tomorrow, it is essential to involve European citizens in the projects and values of the NEB. To do this, it is necessary to work on the development of participatory democracy, the development of citizens' ideas on living together and to work on solving the problems encountered by the inhabitants.

Relationship to NEB objectives and prospects for cooperation and funding

Education, training and dissemination of the NEB philosophy are the main challenges of this European initiative. Thus, they respond to each of the thematic axes of transformation by the NEB:

• Reconnecting with nature: the philosophy of the NEB is part of the European Green Deal.
• Regaining a sense of belonging: NEB projects must respect local cultural specificities and be inclusive (enhancement of diversity, accessibility and affordable prices) to allow everyone to appropriate or re-appropriate public and private living spaces.
• Giving priority to the places and people who need it the most: The NEB aims to address everyone and respond to the problems encountered by citizens in the places they live in and their lifestyles.
• Fostering long term, life cycle and integrated thinking in the industrial ecosystem: Education and training in this philosophy of the NEB makes it possible to design new ways of working and producing.

EU policies and programs will progressively support the objectives of the New European Bauhaus and will offer opportunities for experimentation, labelling and co-financing, notably with calls for projects dedicated to NEB or integrating a NEB dimension:

• Transformations of places on the ground :
  • Technical assistance for public authorities (European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)) (first trimester 2022)
• Transformations of the enabling environnement for innovation :
  • Alliances for Innovation (ERASMUS-EDU-2022-PI-ALL-INNO) (November 2021-September 2022)
  • Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) (ERASMUS-EDU-2022-PEX-COVE) (November2021-September 2022) Calls: Cosme, Life, Horizon Europe, Erasmus +
• Diffusion of new meanings :
  • European Youth Together (ERASMUS-YOUTH-2022-YOUTH-TOG) (November 2021-March 2022)
  • Assessing the socio-politics of nature-based solutions for more inclusive and resilient communities (HORIZON-CL6-2022-COMMUNITIES-01-05) (February 2022)
  • DiscoverEU 2022 (Erasmus+ Programme (ERASMUS)) (2022)

Objectives and questions for the workshops

The workshops aim to identify problems, or even solutions to be worked on together between European cities and regions as well as their local operators, in order to build tomorrow's projects participating in NEB dynamics and to be in a position to attract EU funding by responding together to future calls for projects.

Examples of questions for the workshop:

• How does education and training in the philosophy of the New European Bauhaus allow a better assimilation of the challenges of the European Green Deal? How can higher education integrate the different values of the NEB, in particular sustainability, within the different courses?
• How to encourage and develop transdisciplinarity, and connect actors from various sectors?
• What are the most pressing challenges that citizens face regarding their living environment? How to answer it?
• How to involve all citizens in decision-making on an equal footing? How to develop an inclusive approach taking into account the experiences and needs of different groups in public and private, urban or rural contexts?