
Climate change is a global issue that poses challenges for every life form on the planet. However, the specifics and manifestation of those challenges can vary as they relate to local factors like the climate, geography, natural resources, demography, economy, of each place etc.
Southern European regions deal with a multitude of similar problems, such as signs of extreme climate events, rising temperatures, overheat islands, desertification or drought. Furthermore, they also share rich histories and a cultural heritage in need of protection while addressing those emergencies.
Acknowledging this common geographical and cultural legacy, the NEB goes South initiative emerged as a direct response to the New European Bauhaus challenge. The project is organized by 6 schools of architecture from Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Croatia and Greece. Its goal is to set up an open and collaborative platform for learning, debating, designing and inspiring actions combining sustainability, aesthetics and inclusion.
Born in the academia, the NEB goes South wants to actively trigger a much needed change by promoting education and research-based initiatives.
The initiative is structured around:
- co-design events for learning and discussion;
- workshops for testing ideas among students and other agents
- education for promoting changes in the curriculums
- research for investigating strategies and solutions towards a more sustainable environment
Project milestones
- 7 June 2021: Kick-off public event
- 28 January 2022: Completion of 6 discussion events by host countries
- October 2022: Structuring the education and research activities
- December 2022: Workshops by partners
- March 2023: Launch of education and research activities, NEBgS platform - results of first phase
Participation in the project
Key beneficiaries of the projects include students, faculty, researchers, local entities and specialists. Overtime, the project seeks to associate a larger number of academic institutions to ensure multidisciplinarity, enrich the debate and increase the opportunities for productive collaboration.
When developing its different activities, the NEB goes South will engage other organizations, such as design studios, cultural entities, municipalities, industrial companies and citizens. An online platform will be developed to register and disseminate the outcomes of the activities, and to collect contributions from anyone interested around the world.
A summary of the ongoing work and conclusions will be presented in annual online events held at the end of each year.
Project team coordination
- Faculty of Architecture, University of Porto, New European Bauhaus partner
- Department of Architecture, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, New European Bauhaus partner
- Valencia School of Architecture
- Toulouse School of Architecture
- Faculty of Architecture, University of Zagreb
- School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens
- High-level roundtable member, Jose Pedro Sousa
Contact
Teresa Calix, Faculty of Architecture, University of Porto
Related information
- Reference
- NEB Lab, Community led project
- Project locations
- Zagreb, CroatiaToulouse, FranceAthens, GreeceBologna, ItalyPorto, PortugalValencia, Spain