{"id":1215,"date":"2021-05-01T14:30:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-01T12:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/boell.com\/en\/?p=1215"},"modified":"2021-05-10T10:16:50","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T08:16:50","slug":"new-european-bauhaus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/boell.com\/en\/blog\/new-european-bauhaus\/","title":{"rendered":"The New European Bauhaus"},"content":{"rendered":"

A project of hope, change and economic transformation<\/h3>\n

\"New\u201cThis is what the New European Bauhaus is all about. It is about hope. It is about inspiration. It is about new perspectives. And it’s about concrete actions against climate change.” (Ursula von der Leyen)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The #NewEuropeanBauhaus is off to a good start. After the introduction in September 2020 by the European Commission, enthusiasm and ideas were already flourishing. With the recent conference (April 22 & 23, 2021)<\/a>
\nthe initiative presented itself as a possible driving factor for necessary change from deep inside Europe.<\/p>\n

In her welcoming remarks, the Commission president von der Leyen quoted one of the founding fathers of the EU, Robert Schumann<\/strong>: \u201c\u2026 solid and deep cultural relations between European countries? That\u00b4s how we form the European spirit and all the rest will follow.\u201d<\/em> Her opening remarks for the online meetings underlined the importance and value of culture. Her speech were met with open ears, as many of the the 8600 participants from 85 countries came from the Cultural and Creative Industries<\/strong> (CCI) \/ sector.<\/p>\n

But, what is it?<\/h3>\n

But what actually is the “New European Bauhaus” (NEB)? I mean, really? What is it beyond all the words and explanations, you can find here<\/a>\u00a0 and here (pdf)<\/a> ?<\/p>\n

\"WigbertThere is a tendency in large inter-governmental organisations to develop great ideas, tag them with euphemistic & cool words and then – afterwards, let these ideas get lost in the committees, meetings, sub-projects and in general the mundane everyday life. Yet, this here is different. Now is different.<\/strong> The very real crisis of the Covid19 Virus accelerates the understanding of the necessity to act on the even larger crisis of climate change.<\/p>\n

From various (online) conferences and events, I have attended in the last 12 months – including for example the 12th \u201cKulturInvest\u201d Congress<\/a> or the Europeana conference<\/a> in November 2020 (which were both centered around the digital & sustainable transformation of the cultural industry) – I can distill a definitive sense of urgency and of a \u201cclear & present danger\u201d. Governments, international organisations as well as the private sector in many industries begin to really understand, that fundamental change is absolutely necessary and in the benefit for all of humankind<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"SchellnhuberWith the introduction of the New European Bauhaus idea, the EU Commission launched an initiative as a free-thinking part of the \u201cEuropean Green Deal\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 – which, in the real \u201cBAUHAUS spirit<\/strong>\u201d can become a movement – yet this depends not only on the European government bodies, but much more on the public, the citizens and especially the creative & cultural sector. We “Cultural Creatives\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 have the role to encourage all stakeholders to participate in discussions and exchanges, to develop ideas and projects, to change details in view of a larger transformation – all in the spirit of a “sustainable future”.<\/p>\n

\u201cSustainability is the new beauty\u201d (Zden\u011bk H\u0159ib, mayor of Prague)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

the original Bauhaus changed our “living space”<\/h3>\n

As much as the original BAUHAUS movement in the 20\u00b4s of the last century have been a revolutionary movement, pushed forward by some thinkers, who radically changed, how design, architecture, materials and \u201cliving space\u201d<\/strong> was considered (for more on this, see for example: \u201cBauhaus everywhere\u201d<\/a>) – as much the NEB aims to open up the minds – to radically rethink our cities, urban living, building materials, mobility and so forth. The NEB is an invitation to artists, engineers, technicians and crafts people.<\/p>\n

“The Bauhaus strives to bring together all creative effort into one whole, to reunify all the disciplines of practical art – sculpture, painting, handicrafts, and crafts – as inseparable components of a new architecture.\u201d (Walter Gropius)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"BAUHAUS
BAUHAUS 1923 – original poster by Joost Schmidt<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Learning from history and the success of the original movement roughly 100 years ago, the NEB can take three \u201cingredients\u201d or success indicators:<\/p>\n