The New European Bauhaus can help tackle the climate crisis

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) supports the European Commission's concept of a New European Bauhaus: a holistic approach to building a greener and fairer future for Europe together, based on a new lifestyle that combines sustainability, beauty and inclusiveness.

The New European Bauhaus can speed up the green transition in our economy and society and help fight climate change by creating sustainable, beautiful and inclusive places and ways of living that are accessible and affordable for all.

In the opinion adopted at the February plenary session and drafted by Pierre Jean Coulon and Rudolf Kolbe, the EESC throws its full support behind the Commission's Communication on this new concept of a European way of living, and agrees that a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to building a greener and fairer future for Europe together is key.

We are in favour of a new lifestyle combining sustainability, aesthetics and inclusion, which can accelerate the green transition in several areas of Europeans' daily lives, their regions, places of living, work, mobility and environments, declared Mr Coulon.

The New European Bauhaus is a participatory project in the spirit of the historical Bauhaus created in 1919, and of the global cultural movement it gave rise to, aimed at designing a better everyday life for all generations, added Mr Kolbe.

A new sustainable, beautiful and inclusive European style of living

In the European Commission's view, the New European Bauhaus promotes a new sustainable lifestyle, accelerating the green transition in various sectors of our economy, such as construction, furniture, fashion and in our societies, as well as other areas of our daily life.

It is a project of hope and prospects, which adds a cultural and creative dimension to the European Green Deal, with a view to enhancing sustainable innovation, technology and economy, supporting the regeneration of nature and protecting biodiversity.

This cultural movement aims to provide all citizens with access to goods that are circular and less carbon-intensive in their places of living, work, public buildings and housing, through practical experiences that should be promoted as close to people as possible, in the urban and rural areas and neighbourhoods where they live.

Connecting with current EU initiatives

Against this background, the Committee supports the proposal to link existing EU initiatives to a series of new actions and funding for the New European Bauhaus, in order to test the policies and tools for building a better everyday life as close as possible to local areas, European citizens and their homes.

The EESC intends to get actively involved in the participatory approach promoted by the Commission and in implementing a New European Bauhaus movement, in order to maintain dialogue with citizens and civil society, and thereby provide solutions to their daily problems and improve their quality of life.

More specifically, the Committee will engage by holding a conference on the New European Bauhaus as part of the annual festival proposed by the Commission, and by setting up a civil society platform where proposals and support are provided.

In the EESC's view, this concept of a New European Bauhaus should above all help bring the EU closer to the citizens and local urban and rural areas through appropriate communication, local initiatives and actions to be implemented, and through experiments in daily living and working spaces.