Desire - Designing the Irresistible Circular Society, is one of six New European Bauhaus lighthouse demonstrators. Desire was the first lighthouse demonstrator to start, on 1 October 2022 and the first to finish, on 30 November 2024, after two years and two months.
The vision of a New European Bauhaus was launched by Ursula von der Leyen and the EU Commission in October 2020. It is an EU policy and funding initiative to transform the built environment. It leads to holistically thought and designed buildings, open spaces, and neighbourhoods under the EU Green Deal transition.
It seeks solutions that are not only sustainable, but also inclusive and beautiful while respecting the diversity of places, traditions, and cultures in Europe and beyond. This is achieved by bridging the worlds of art, design, architecture, culture, and education with science and technology in the green transition.
The built environment as a major economic sector heavily impacts resources, the environment and climate change. It faces high demand for new and updated assets due to population growth and increasing urbanisation. At the same time, it impacts individual well-being and societal function.
In November 2020, BLOX, located in Copenhagen, Denmark, initiated a meeting where stakeholders across the fields of architecture, design, business, technology, sustainability, arts and science, construction met to share perspectives and to confirm the broad interest and passion in realising the vision of Ursula von der Leyen of a more beautiful, sustainable and inclusive future.
Based on the commitment, a steering committee and a coordination and facilitation team was established to serve the best conditions for executing a comprehensive co-creation process.
Execution
150 Danish companies, organisations, and communities across sectors and disciplines represented by more than 200 people have been involved in the co-creation process. In total, 1,169 hours of braindump have been invested.
Coordination, facilitation and analysis
A small team of project managers, domain experts and design facilitators have ensured progress, a framework for the co-creation process and coherence in the initiatives. Furthermore, consolidation of input and feedback, analysis and iterations have been on the team’s agenda. Also, it has been of high priority to create outreach activities to increase awareness and provide feedback to the steering committee and the broader ecosystem Involved.
Steering committee
A steering committee representing key stakeholders in the ecosystem was established to ensure anchoring, direction and commitment at the organisational level.
Funding
The first and second phases (Respectively Jan-march 2021 and April-august 2021) were funded by the philanthropic foundation Realdania. The third phase (Sept. 2021-Feb. 2022) were funded by the following: Realdania, The Landowners ́ Investment Foundation, The Danish Foundation for Culture and Sports Facilities and The Danish Industry Foundation.
In spring 2022, the Desire project was accepted as one of the six lighthouse demonstrators to convert the NEB initiative into action. Desire is funded by The European Union, led by BLOXHUB and has 24 partners in six European countries.
The New European Bauhaus builds upon these characteristics and needs, offering innovative solutions for transforming the built environment towards sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics.
In the Desire project, the three NEB values (sustainability, inclusion, and aesthetics) are translated into a manifesto and five principles (dialogue tools) to steer activities using five keywords: Circularity, Belonging, Biodiversity, Movement, and Aesthetics. Links.
The work has been carried out in eight demonstration sites: three in Denmark, two in Italy, and one each in The Netherlands, Latvia, and Slovenia.
From the start, the demo sites were divided into three themes: social housing, transforming by circular relationships, and reconciling with nature. Along the way, the partners helped and inspired each other across the themes. Various expert partners and extern organisations also assisted the demo sites.
beautiful | sustainable | together
The New European Bauhaus works by (source NEB) :
- engaging people at a grassroots level, focusing on neighbourhoods
- providing tools and guidance
- offering tailor-made solutions for different communities
- incorporating the views of various stakeholders into the process of design and implementation
- prioritising people and social inclusion but also the economy to boost competitiveness and EU strategic autonomy
