Online conference “Common Ground: Making the renovation wave a cultural project” by the New European Bauhaus Collective (29 April)

The High-level Online Conference “COMMON GROUND: Making the Renovation Wave a Cultural Project” will take place on 29 April. The Conference is organised by the New European Bauhaus Collective, composed of 15 European cultural and creative Networks, including Europa Nostra, who are committed to making the most out of the New European Bauhaus initiative recently launched by the European Commission.

The event will aim to explore culture as a key driver of quality in the built environment. It will be an opportunity to debate how a holistic approach that considers and seeks to optimise drivers of sustainability, beauty and inclusiveness can contribute to design and achieve better living spaces, for the common good. The conference will be opened by European Commission President, Ursula von der LEYEN.

See full programme here.

A key part of the programme will consist of 11 break-out sessions, during which conference participants will be invited to discuss and express views on specific issues and challenges relating to the New European Bauhaus: education, quality, bio-sourced materials, sustainability, research, mobility, heritage, to name but a few. Outcomes of the debate will feed into the ongoing co-creation phase of the NEB initiative.

During this important event, Europa Nostra is teaming up with Architects’ Council of Europe and Trans Europe Halles to co-host a break-out session on ADAPTIVE RE-USE: preserving and enhancing the values of our built environment that will take place from 12:00 to 1:30 CET.

In this workshop, we will explore how adaptive reuse can facilitate and support preserving and enhancing the cultural, historic and spatial values embodied in unused heritage sites while at the same time provide to local communities places that meet social, cultural, environmental and economic needs of our time. Through concrete case studies, we aim to showcase how adaptive reuse of heritage buildings can improve social cohesion and the quality of life of local communities.

The format of the session will be as follows:

Welcome and introduction
by moderator Sneška Quaedvlieg – Mihailović, Secretary General of Europa Nostra

5 minutes address
by Hughes Becquart, Policy Officer at DG Education and Culture of the European Commission (TBC)

Four inspirational case studies

• 5 minutes presentation by Lithica Quarry of s’Hostal in Menorca, Spain, an ancient mine that has become a dynamic space for environmental, artistic and cultural activities (Winner of an European Heritage Awards/ Europa Nostra Awards)
• 5 minutes presentation by Oppenheim house in Wrocław, Poland, a multifunctional cultural centre in a carefully restored heritage building with a German-Jewish-Polish history (shortlisted for the 2020 ILUCIDARE Special Prizes)
• 5 minutes presentation by Zentralwerk creative cluster and self-organised co-housing in Dresden, Germany
• 5 minutes presentation by TRUC SPHÉRIQUE / STANICA in Slovakia, an old train station building that combines several functions: an independent venue, artistic laboratory and activists’ collective.

5 minutes reaction
by Reiner Nagel, part of the High-quality Baukultur editorial group (TBC)

Q&A / Debate with the audience

Wrap-up / Reactions
by the 3 co-hosts of the break-out session: Europa Nostra, Trans Europe Halles, Architects’ Council Europe.

Please register to attend the conference here.