16.11.2021
Abstract
The New European Bauhaus initiative can make the EU’s green target more ‘tangible and palpable’ through the transformative power of culture for sustainable development.
The European Green Deal is not only an environmental and economic plan. It is part of a broader cultural shift which combines bottom-up participatory approaches and systemic changes in order to make the ecological transition closer to citizens, communities and territories. In the European Commission’s own words, the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative will make the EU’s ambition to become the first climate neutral continent in the world by 2050 ‘tangible and palpable’. The built environment is the elephant in the room to address, as it produces nearly 40% of greenhouse emissions worldwide. The NEB, however, is also about the spaces and societies we want to live in the future, democratic participation and the transformative power of culture for sustainable development. After reviewing the main features of the initiative based on a critical reading of official documents and contributions, as well as recent commentaries and reactions from civil society, the paper proposes policy recommendations for the EU to structurally integrate the New European Bauhaus in its policy-making, as well as to fully realise its potential at local, regional, and global levels.
About the author
Gabriele Rosana is a journalist specialised in EU Affairs and a policy analyst and advisor. He works as a Policy Director at Culture Action Europe, the major European cultural network of cultural networks, organisations, policy-makers, activists, artists and individuals, and writes from Brussels for several Italian outlets, such as D-La Repubblica and Il Messaggero. Previously, he worked as an editor for the Rome-based think tank Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and in the European Parliament, following the political work of the committee on Culture and Education. The views expressed in this document are those of the author.
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