The New European Bauhaus aims to initiate inviting conversations and collecting contributions about beautiful, sustainable and inclusive forms of living. As proud partner of this initiative, we hope to work between the scales, concentrating on cross-border discussion, between cities, regions, countries, reaching to megaregional Eurodelta impact and towards European exchange.

As a facilitating partner, we are working on a framework to support the New European Bauhaus initiative and bridge the gap between European agendas and Dutch agendas. This will be a stepping stone towards creating a common ground for sustainable and liveable cities and regions. We invite all our members, partners and collaborators to support us in this role, we welcome your ideas and initiatives, to create relevant collaborations, exchanging knowledge and promote calls to action. Have a look at the sections below to find out more about our New European Bauhaus vision and activities.

Narrative

Brainstorming session Dutch scale

Next Generation Stage

Brainstorming session II Dutch scale

NEB Festival

Brainstorming session Eurodelta scale

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Narrative

Setting the agenda

At Deltametropolis Association, we strongly believe that to enact change, the exchange of knowledge and new collaborations is fundamental. As an association of parties from very different backgrounds and sectors we focus on bridging gaps. Based on recent experiences in combining design quality and research our agenda within NEB program, will focus on research by design . Research by design has seen a steady development as a method in the Netherlands to explore solutions for spatial and societal challenges. As a part of the results of various projects, we have accomplished a thorough compilation of research by design projects from the Netherlands and Eurodelta.

These compiled projects will be the point of departure, to derive spatial concepts that connect to the European Green Deal, on the Dutch and the Eurodelta scale. Reflecting upon the Research by Design projects will follow two steps, (i) expert impact assessment reviews together with NEB partners at Dutch and Eurodelta scale, and (ii) reviewing broader societal relevance . With the relevant stakeholders, we will then discuss which spatial concepts are feasible, on which scale and together with which partners we will continue encouraging the process and methodology. By doing this, we aim to facilitate the step from research and design towards implementation .

In this journey towards building a sustainable future, we believe it is fundamental to include young planners and designers. At Deltametropolis Association, we are currently working on projects that focus on developing visions for the future in collaboration with the young planners and designers. This is happening both from the Dutch perspective ( NL2100 ) and the Eurodelta ( Next Generation Podium ) perspective. For our NEB program, we will continue in this direction and use our existing network to include the young generation planners and designers in our discussions.

Take on the New European Bauhaus

Shaping beautiful, sustainable and inclusive forms of living together stands centrally at the New European Bauhaus initiative, and strongly resonates Deltametropolis Association’s mission. Envisioning a liveable, resilient and green metropolis, build upon an integrated spatial planning approach.

The housing, climate and energy transitions that our society is facing have a clear spatial dimension. These transitions require creativity, interdisciplinarity and a plan of action that brings together experts, citizens and societal organisations, to come to an integrated spatial strategy. The New European Bauhaus initiative encourages this by building an open community to articulate international cooperation and national efforts with local initiatives. As an independent association for metropolitan development, we connect governments, businesses, institutes and experts that share our mission. Over the years we have developed a strong network in the Netherlands and Eurodelta, and as a member of the SURE Network , we are able to bring together different stakeholders across scales, to share new ideas and organize sharp debates that can support the efforts of NEB. By combining efforts, locally and across borders, an integrated approach to spatial planning can be developed, transforming cities and regions into pillars for the necessary societal transitions.

Aligning commonalities — Old to New

Within the Bauhaus movement, functionality, artisanship and industrial production was combined with respect for materials, and good design as a way to make its outcomes available for everyone. The New Bauhaus can build upon those ideas including young planners, professionals and societal organizations, to foster transparency and a sustainable future together. Only as such can the many necessary transitions that our society is facing be achieved. A new Bauhaus is relevant only when it formulates an approach towards Integrated, Inclusive and Sustainable Design.

Deltametropolis Association is fundamentally working in design and planning since more than 20 years and attempting to achieve better results for future Delta region and the Dutch agenda. Our work resonates with the Bauhaus agenda but at the same time, we define these principles in our own working way.

— Integrated – Working in an interdisciplinary environment connecting with a variety of themes (landscape, energy, mobility, circularity, planning and policies, urbanisation etc.) and encouraging contrasting stakeholders and organisation to work together in between the scales (interrelation between the scales) of action is an integrated approach for us.

—Inclusive – The open and transparent process of developing projects, programs, results for all the sectors of planning and design are the fundamental element for the complex dialogues that we consistently organise. This promotes and encourages the participation of variety of age-groups, expertise and professionals in all our meetings.

—Sustainable Design – Looking ahead towards long-term planning and inculcating long-term thinking together with our members and partners of projects is the core ideology behind the sustainability for us. Not only we are recommending sustainable solutions for the current actors and society, but we are infusing the idea in the young minds to prepare them for next generations.

The more we work on such agendas, the more we acknowledge the gaps and possibilities to improve in our next projects and programs. We would like to think of the Bauhaus approach from our perspective as a Movement to achieve better results together. We anticipate this as a process-based method to closely relate between the systemic and spatial expressions in all our scale of practice.

The new approach should focus on developing ways of learning, questioning the challenges and allowing for an iterative process. A new Bauhaus will have to find new principles, especially on the inter-relations between the scales and not focusing on isolated scale of neighbourhood, city or region only. Working through the scales from the local to city, city to regional, regional to national and linking to the mega region should be the essence of new Bauhaus. At Deltametropolis Association, we have worked on several projects that connect to these principles and we commit to continue in the future.

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Brainstorming session Dutch scale

Report back

The first Dutch New European Bauhaus brainstorm took place in the morning of March 11th, at the office of Vereniging Deltametropool. The meeting provided a moment for official New European Bauhaus partners and other interested parties to get to know one another, each other’s perspectives on NEB, to discuss expectations and to share a first round of ideas.

This first round has provided an overview of the NEB-ambitions within the Netherlands. We also spoke about how we would like to use the Dutch NEB-network. We would like to use the network to connect the dots , to build a good trans-disciplinary network to help one another out, share experiences, and coordinate NEB efforts, where necessary. We need resources to materialize our ambitions. And, we need ambassadorshipto profile the Netherlands abroad. What do we as The Netherlands bring to the table on the scale of the New European Bauhaus? We have many knowledgeable action-oriented institutions, we should use them to put Netherlands on the map. At the same time, we should use the broader NEB network to also learn from initiatives outside of the Netherlands.

Click here for an overview of the participants of the meeting, the organizations they represent, and a summary of their NEB activities and vision.

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Next Generation Internship

Eurodelta knowledge platform

With the goal to establish a Eurodelta Knowledge Platform , within the SURE Network, a pilot program was organized in 2021 to include the young minds in the vision development of the Eurodelta development. With the success of the pilot, we have organized the second edition ‘ Next Generation Podium for Eurodelta 2.0 ‘ in May 2022, the online symposium to created a dialogue between experts, practice and academia, from different generations.

The program aims to promote the involvement of the next generation of planners and designers (students and young professionals), while broadening the network of associated universities and research institutions. This will pave the way for bringing in fresh perspectives and ideas that can inspire the actions to address the challenges that the megaregion is facing. With the symposium working closely with the master curriculum and integrating the ideas developed during the program further in their respective studios, we hope to extend this idea and process to many other such programs and incorporate them in a much more impactful way.

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Brainstorming session II Dutch scale

The second meeting of the Dutch New European Bauhaus partners took place in the afternoon of May 25th at the Stadsbauhaus in Leiden, at the office of Leiden European City of Science 2022 . The meeting provided an opportunity for official NEB partners, NEB friends and other interested parties to get to know one another and each other’s perspectives on NEB. The aim of this meeting was to explore the joint Dutch narrative on NEB and to learn more about the NEB calls. In total 17 people participated in the meeting, representing 10 different organizations.  

Every organization presented themselves, their NEB activities and/or ambitions and possible linkages with other partners and friends . The n, a plenary dialogue about the shared narrative of the Netherlands took place , which resulted in an overview of the strengths and challenges . Thereafter, a brief crash course concerning the NEB calls was given by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).  

The meeting was ended by the successful story of Cultuurcampus Rotterdam , which was selected as NEB ‘ lighthouse de monstrator ‘ project and will receive funding from the European Commission. 

In conclusion it was agreed to have the next meeting during the Dutch Design Week, with a follow up brainstorming on a shared Dutch narrative for New European Bauhaus . 

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NEB Festival

The Festival

The New European Bauhaus Festival will take place from 9 to 12 June 2022 as a hybrid event. Anyone is welcome to get involved and join onsite and online from around the world. The Festival brings together people from all walks of life to debate and shape our future. A future that is sustainable, inclusive and beautiful. It is a great opportunity to network, exchange and celebrate – from science to art, from design to politics, from architecture to technology. The Festival brings the European Green Deal at the heart of our daily lives.

Exhibition

Deltametropolis Association will be exhibiting the results of ‘Next Generation Podium for Eurodelta 2.0’ on the fair of the NEB Festival. The project encourages long-term, integrated thinking on key topics such as infrastructure and climate. Future prosperity for the Eurodelta lies in better cross-border cooperation and a sustainable transport infrastructure. The new SURE online platform plays a vital role in driving these changes. We are excited to present and discuss the results of the Next Generation master classes and the importance of the Next Generation for future planning. Visit us during the festival at the following locations in Brussels, for more information visit our festival page :

— Thursday 9 June from 12.00 – 14.00 at Gare Maritime

— Thursday 9 June from 16.00 – 21.00 at Mont des Arts

— Friday 10 June from 12.00 – 21.00 at Place De Broukère

— Saturday 11 June from 12.00 – 21.00 at Marché aux Poissons

— Sunday 12 June from 12.00 – 21.00 at Mont des Arts

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Brainstorming session Eurodelta scale

The first New European Bauhaus brainstorming session on the scale of Eurodelta, took place on the Friday afternoon of 30th of September in Brussels. The event was organized in collaboration with Architecture Workroom Brussels, who also hosted the event at their PREFIGURATIONS exhibition. A total of 18 NEB official partners, and relevant parties attended from Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands. 

The event started with a short introduction of attendees, then, a speaker from each country was invited to give a short presentation in relation to the NEB discussion. A brainstorming roundtable meeting followed shortly after, where the next steps for NEB in Eurodelta region were discussed. It has been concluded that, as a next step, it is important to establish a specific purpose with a sense of urgency for NEB in Eurodelta. There is a need for more communication and information sharing between Eurodelta partners, therefore several platforms for communication of ideas were created, and the participants agreed on arranging more brainstorming sessions together in the coming future. 

BRAINSTORMING SESSION III DUTCH SCALE 

The third meeting of the Dutch New European Bauhaus partners took place in the afternoon of October 25th at the New Block in Eindhoven during the Dutch Design Week. The meeting provided another opportunity for official NEB-partners, NEB-friends and other interested parties to get to know one another and each other’s perspectives on NEB. Ten different organizations were represented in the meeting and two ministries, that of Culture (OCW) and the Interior (BZK).  

The meeting started with a tour of the highlights of the Dutch Design Week. Afterwards a brainstorming session was kicked off around the central question of: What binds us as Dutch NEB-partners and how do we want to jointly present ourselves as Dutch NEB partners?  

The brainstorming was about three topics: scales, themes and methods, divided over three tables. The main points taken away from the conclusions of each table are as follows: 

From the discussion it became apparent that the organizations tend to work horizontally, not hierarchically. Starting with local communities and connecting ‘projects on the ground’ with a wider regional/national and international scale. There is a tendency to think multi-generationally and for the long-term. We focus on large societal transitions and spatial challenges, and use iterative, participatory methods with a focus on bottom-up and research by design approaches. Strong engagement is important, therefore should be stimulated using various methods. 

After the brainstorm FA, director of the Danish Design Center Christian Bason presented the lighthouse demonstrator project DESIRE (Designing the Irresistible Circular Society). The goal of the project is to accelerate the green transition and create a circular society that is truly irresistible. 

When concluding, all participants agreed on having the next meeting in February 2023, to further discuss the common goals and NEB-related work of the Dutch organizations.

BRAINSTORMING SESSION IIII DUTCH SCALE  

The fourth meeting of the Dutch New European Bauhaus partners took place in the afternoon of February 16th at the University of Amsterdam central library. The meeting provided another opportunity for official NEB-partners, NEB-friends and other interested parties to get to know one another and each other’s perspectives on NEB. There were about 25 partners and friends present and representatives of the municipality of Amsterdam, the Vereniging Nederlandse Gemeenten (VNG) and the Netherlands Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE). 

The meeting started with an update on the progress of the New European Bauhaus. Afterwards we kicked off a brainstorming session about our joint plans for 2023.  

Split into 3 separate groups the participants brainstormed about three topics related to the New European Bauhaus:  

Design thinking and policy 

Cultural heritage and long term thinking  

The just society 

The groups discussed and debated issues and ideas  With a diverse range of perspectives coming together on a wide range of issues the meeting produced significant and insightful outcomes. Highlighting the an imperfect relationship between design thinking and policy, the important roles heritage and history plays in planning, and the challenge and importance of achieving a just society. 

Pleased with the results of the dialogue the groups decided to continue the discussion at the next New European Bauhaus meeting.  

After the brainstorm, Carola Hein, Professor of History of Architecture and Urban Planning at the Technical University Delft and lead of the Port City Futures collaboration presented the Bauhaus of the Seas project.  

There will be follow-up meetings in 2023. Dates will be announced soon.