Valencia is hard at work on its project for the New European Bauhaus

The Valencia Marina and Valencia World Design Capital 2022 have hosted a working session on the New European Bauhaus. The event was held in the space known as “The Sea” in the Veles e Vents building and was attended by different stakeholders, including the Generalitat Valenciana, the Valencia City Council, the Designers’ Association of the Autonomous Community of Valencia and La Pinada Lab.

Entitled “A Mediterranean Bauhaus”, this working meeting was the result of the institutional relationship between several Valencian agencies that are working on proposals for the future call for proposals due to be launched by the European Commission.

The New European Bauhaus (NEB) is an initiative that has been unfurled by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, which seeks, through design, to place the focus on people, their well-being and quality of life, acting as a tool for cohesion in the face of the social and environmental challenges facing humanity. An instrument to advance towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda and to generate activity, employment and other forms of positive economic return. On Wednesday, 15 September, the European Commission announced the guidelines that define the essence of the New European Bauhaus.

A Mediterranean Bauhaus

Under the name “A Mediterranean Bauhaus”, Valencia intends to lead a project whose main axis is “Mediterraneanness”, a distinctive feature that unites and vertebrates values such as identity, a sustainable life model, co-creation, collaboration between cultures, creativity, the opportunity for change and an enterprising nature.

The project has the support of several Valencian entities that have been selected as Official Partners of the New European Bauhaus, including Valencia World Design Capital 2022, the Designers’ Association of the Autonomous Community of Valencia, La Pinada LAB and Trebe. The Valencia Marina, Valencia World Design Capital 2022, the Generalitat Valenciana and the Valencia City Council are working together to chart the way and define the horizon so that the European design of the future has a Valencian Mediterranean perspective, thus promoting a transformative movement towards a more social and responsible economic model.

During the meeting, Vicent Llorens, general director of Consorcio Valencia 2007, addressed the other attendees and explained that “the innovation and creativity project that we at the Maritime District want to work on, fits perfectly with the New European Bauhaus and we want you all to be part of it”.

Along the same lines, Xavi Calvo, director of Valencia World Design Capital 2022, said that “at the Design Capital agency, we are working to reinforce all the values of the New European Bauhaus, whose motto is ‘beautiful, sustainable, together’. We understand design as a design for the senses and as an intellectual activity based on the city, quality of life and people”.

Laura Soto, Regional Secretary for Bioclimatic Architecture of the Generalitat Valenciana, stated that “at the Generalitat Valenciana, we want to be the umbrella that can raise the profile of the initiatives, as well as promoting them and helping to seek funding. We are living in a very disruptive social situation, and we have an opportunity to contribute from our way of life”.

Inmaculada Rodríguez Piñeiro, an MEP and member of the Group of Friends of the NEB, announced that a meeting will be held on 14 October to “define our participation in the NEB programme and add partners to reinforce the Mediterranean perspective”.

Also at the working meeting were Nuria Matarredona, General Director of Ecological Innovation in Construction at the Generalitat Valenciana; Evarist Caselles, Deputy General Director of the Valencia Marina; Ángel Martínez and María Navarro, President and Manager respectively of the Designers’ Association of the Community of Valencia; Miguel Tito Malone, Director of La Pinada Lab; José María Nacher, Professor at the University of Valencia; Xavi Ribera, Director of Initiatives and Strategy at Valencia City Council; Inma Orozco, Regional Secretary of Territorial Policy, Urban Planning and Landscape at the Generalitat Valenciana; Ignacio Garcia Faubel, Director of Mosaik Urban System and Silvia Flórez, Director of Engagement at Valencia World Design Capital 2022.

About the New European Bauhaus

“Shaping more beautiful, sustainable and inclusive forms of living together”. The New European Bauhaus is an initiative led by the European Commission whose aim is to redefine our lifestyles and our cultural and economic system, in order to meet the objectives of the European Green Deal and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The #NewEuropeanBauhaus has been established as a creative and interdisciplinary movement based on partnerships and co-creation between all types of stakeholders – public and private entities and citizens – and all sectors of knowledge and activity. The cornerstones of the initiative are sustainability, accessibility and aesthetic care, and its main mission is to transform challenges into opportunities in order to design a more sustainable, inclusive and better world for everyone.

Its lines of work include the circular economy, environmental management, sustainable building, eco-design, energy efficiency, digital innovation, universal accessibility and sustainable and adapted mobility.