Questions and Answers on the 2022 New European Bauhaus Prize

Source: European Commission (EC) i, published on Tuesday, January 18 2022.

What is the objective of the New European Bauhaus prizes?

Applications are now open for the second edition of the New European Bauhaus prizes. Following the success of the first prizes in 2021, with more than 2,000 applications received from across Europe and beyond, the 2022 edition will celebrate new inspiring examples of the transformations the initiative wants to bring about in our daily lives, living spaces and experiences. By rewarding and putting real-life examples and young talents' great ideas into the lime light, the New European Bauhaus prizes aim to demonstrate that sustainability promoted by the European Green Deal can be inclusive and bring beauty and high-quality experiences in people's everyday lives and in local communities across Europe.

What types of projects are eligible?

The New European Bauhaus prize will reward both existing examples and new ideas and concepts in four different categories.

In each of the categories, there are two parallel competition strands:

  • - 
    The 'New European Bauhaus Awards' - for existing completed examples; and
  • - 
    The 'New European Bauhaus Rising Stars' - for concepts or ideas submitted by young talents

Applications must demonstrate why and how the project/concept represents or embodies the three main values underpinning the New European Bauhaus initiative - aesthetics, sustainability and inclusion - as well as innovative dimension. In addition, for the ‘Rising Stars', applicants must present the steps planned for further development or implementation of the concept/idea.

What are the categories for the prizes this year?

The categories are now four (compared to 10 in the first edition), reflecting the four thematic axes of transformation identified during the New European Bauhaus' co-design phase. They are inspired by the views and experiences of thousands of EU citizens and organisations who helped in that process. At the same time, they are broad enough to encompass different projects, ideas and concepts.

Projects should contribute to beautiful, sustainable and inclusive places in the four categories, which are broadly described as follows:

'Reconnecting with nature'

Inspirational examples of beautiful, sustainable and inclusive projects that bring individuals and communities closer to nature, that contribute to regenerating natural ecosystems and preventing loss of biodiversity, or invite them to reconsider their relationship with nature in a life-centred perspective, as an alternative to the human-centred one.

'Regaining a sense of belonging'

Inspirational examples of beautiful, sustainable and inclusive projects that contribute to bringing a sense of belonging, a 'spirit' or 'meaning' of places, communities (where individuals belong to a group) or goods, and that celebrate diversity.

'Prioritising the places and people that need it the most'

Inspirational examples of beautiful, sustainable and inclusive projects that contribute to addressing the needs of territories, communities and individuals that need a particular and urgent attention because of specific economic, social or physical characteristics.

'Shaping a circular industrial ecosystem and supporting life-cycle thinking'

Inspirational examples of beautiful, sustainable and inclusive projects that contribute to the transformation of the industrial ecosystems towards more sustainable practices in a spirit of circularity, taking into account relevant social aspects.

Who can apply for the New European Bauhaus prizes?

Both EU and non-EU nationals/entities can apply, as long as their concept, idea or project is actually developed and/or physically located in the EU. Joint/partner and consortium applications are also possible, with the same criteria as for EU-based projects.

Young people under the age of 30 on 28 February 2022 can apply for both competition Strands - the New European Bauhaus Awards and the New European Bauhaus Rising Stars.

Project promoters who are over 30 years of age can only apply for the New European Bauhaus Awards.

Can only tangible, physical projects apply for the prize or also concepts and ideas?

Just like in the 2021 edition of the prizes, the first competition strand, ‘New European Bauhaus Awards', will be devoted to existing examples of recent projects. These projects must have already been finalised at the time of the application and should not be older than two years since their completion. Concepts, prototypes and solutions (tools, methods, ideas) that have not been implemented in real contexts are not eligible.

However, these projects do not necessarily have to have a physical manifestation in the form of a building or a material product. For all four categories, they can also take the shape of realised/implemented methodologies or processes, such as, for instance, education models or cultural projects.

The second competition strand, ‘New European Bauhaus Rising Stars' will be devoted to concepts or ideas submitted by young talents aged 30 or less. The concepts/ideas under this strand can be at different stages of development from the early concepts to prototype level, and should be presented with a development plan, outlining planned steps to further develop, promote and/or implement the concept/idea with a particular focus on the year following the application.

Here again, these projects do not necessarily have to have a physical manifestation in the form of a building or a material product. For all four categories, they can also be methodologies or processes, education models or cultural projects, etc.

What is different in 2022, apart from the categories, compared to the first edition of the prizes in 2021?

This year we will award 18 prizes in total. For each category under each strand, two prizes will be awarded for a winner and a runner up (first and second place in each category in each strand), therefore. The selection process based on the award criteria described in the Applicant's Guide will award 16 prizes. An open public vote will award two (2) additional prizes, one in each strand.

In strand A New European Bauhaus Awards, the monetary award in each category will be, respectively (a total of nine awards in this strand):

  • - 
    €30,000 per winner per category and the winner of the public vote
  • - 
    20,000 per runner-up

In strand B New European Bauhaus Rising Stars, the monetary award in each category will be, respectively (a total of nine awards in this strand):

  • - 
    €15,000 per winner per category and the winner of the public vote
  • - 
    €10,000 per runner-up

Beyond the quality assessment of applications, the final stage of the evaluation process will also consider the geographical diversity, the balance between applications referring to physical transformation of the built environment and other types of transformations as well as the diversity of contexts (rural/urban, small scale/bigger scale, etc.).

The public voting process is also different this time as only two dedicated prizes will be awarded that way. In addition, this year the public vote is not limited to the subscribers of the New European Bauhaus newsletter, and anyone interested should be able to cast their vote.

Lastly, in 2022 applications can be submitted only under one category and in one strand only, i.e. the same application may not be submitted under more than one category/strand.

Will you support rising stars winners to turn their ideas into reality?

All the pre-selected examples and concepts/ideas will be given visibility before the final selection on the designated New European Bauhaus website (see below). In addition to a monetary award, each winner of a prize will benefit from a media partnership provided by the Commission for dedicated communication activities.

The communication package received by the Rising Stars is meant to help the winners turn their ideas into reality.

How will the winners of the New European Bauhaus prizes be selected?

The selection process will be in five stages:

  • - 
    review of applications and eligibility assessment;
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    all eligible applications will each be assessed by two external experts in the field of sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics to establish the list of finalists. The finalists will comprise the best assessed applications in each strand and each category and will feature applications representing all EU member states.
  • - 
    the finalists' applications will be published on the website for public voting. The public voting will be open to all individuals and entities that may wish to cast a vote, as long as they have a valid e-mail address.
  • - 
    the finalists applications will be reviewed by a final jury of external experts composed by nine members and a representative of the European Commission acting as a facilitator (without voting powers).
  • - 
    the winners and runners-up will be confirmed by the Commission's evaluation committee.

How will the winners be selected by the final jury this year?

Based on the initial assessment of the applications by the external experts, the final jury will propose a final ranking of the applications considering, beyond the quality of the applications, the following additional criteria:

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    geographical diversity,
  • - 
    balance between applications referring to physical transformation of the built environment and other types of transformations
  • - 
    diversity of contexts (rural/urban, small scale/bigger scale, etc.)

What are the award criteria?

The award criteria are differentiated between the two strands and include the following:

For the New European Bauhaus Awards:

  • a) 
    Exemplary, state-of-the-art character of the project in the selected award category, including how the core values of sustainability, aesthetics and inclusion have been pursued and combined in an exemplary way in relation to the specific category.
  • b) 
    Demonstrated results/impacts of the project in relation to what is expected under each category.
  • c) 
    Citizen engagement and involvement. Specific value will be given to the quality of the involvement of citizens and civil society in the design and/or implementation of the project. The project should show the benefits that derived from the involvement and offer, as much as possible, local solutions to global challenges.
  • d) 
    Innovative dimension in relation to mainstream practices.
  • e) 
    High potential for transferability and replicability of the project to different contexts, based on clear documentation, communication of methodology and principles.

For the New European Bauhaus Rising Stars:

  • a) 
    Exemplary, state of the art character of the project idea or concept in the selected award category. Projects and concepts shall demonstrate how all three core values of sustainability, aesthetics and inclusion may be pursued and combined in an exemplary way in relation to the specific category.
  • b) 
    Innovative dimension as compared to mainstream concepts and practices.
  • c) 
    Relevance, quality and credibility of the development plan with a particular attention to the steps envisaged in the year following the application.

More Information

Press release on the New European Bauhaus 2022 Prizes

New European Bauhaus webpage

Prizes page