The Bauhausing Europe Methodology: Fostering Sustainable Communities Through Building Renovation
The transition towards more sustainable, inclusive and aesthetically enhanced cities, as championed by the New European Bauhaus (NEB), requires more than just infrastructure improvements or building renovations. Crucially, these spaces must address the genuine needs of citizens and actively involve communities in the sustainable management of their surroundings.
The LIFE Bauhausing Europe project, coordinated by EuroVértice and co-funded by the LIFE Programme, has developed a methodology focused on renovating and reimagining public buildings to drive community movements that promote social and environmental circularity. This “Bauhausing” approach aims to engage as many stakeholders as possible throughout the project lifecycle.
A Participatory Process
To demonstrate its adaptability, the project is being implemented in five diverse environments – differing in scale, location, and character – including the Erzsébetváros district in Budapest (Hungary), the city of Cartagena (Spain), and the smaller municipalities of Blanca (Spain), Ādaži (Latvia), and Varaždin (Croatia). This diversity highlights the methodology’s potential to transform various realities when grounded in citizen participation and rigorous technical expertise.
The initial phase of LIFE Bauhausing Europe involved reimagining five public buildings with strong community connections. A participatory process, utilizing collaborative design techniques and creative thinking, brought together citizens, local organizations, technical professionals, and public administrations to define architectural interventions aligned with NEB principles.
To ensure inclusivity, the project identified both current and potential users, detailed their needs related to the buildings, and defined suitable uses to address those needs and promote NEB values within the community. Online surveys supplemented insights gathered from in-person workshops.
Ideas Competition and Innovative Public Procurement
The project then translated these contributions into renovation projects that meet residents’ needs while achieving the environmental sustainability objectives of the NEB and adhering to architectural rehabilitation standards.
A panel of technical experts co-created the basis for an open ideas competition, resulting in proposals that prioritized creativity and innovation in construction techniques and circularity solutions, going beyond merely pragmatic approaches. These requirements were integrated into architectural competitions, incorporating criteria such as sustainability, circularity, accessibility, and energy efficiency.
The design phase culminated in the selection of five winning proposals – one for each municipality – from a total of twenty-six submissions. Juries composed of architects, engineers, artists, and municipal technicians reflected the interdisciplinary philosophy of the New European Bauhaus.
Notably, LIFE Bauhausing Europe adopted an innovative public procurement approach. Instead of solely evaluating proposals based on price, the project prioritized alignment with NEB values and the integration of citizen proposals.
This allowed municipalities to incorporate previously overlooked criteria into their tenders, such as energy-saving potential, biodiversity improvements, renewable energy integration, recycled material usage, and full life-cycle solutions. The five municipalities adapted this model to their national legal frameworks, balancing legal certainty with innovation – a significant contribution demonstrating how public procurement can accelerate ecological and social transitions.
Beyond Architecture: Fostering Community Transformation
LIFE Bauhausing Europe extends beyond building interventions, aiming to transform the neighborhoods surrounding these buildings and foster more sustainable and cooperative models. Each municipality has improved public spaces to support the circular transition, creating meeting places that encourage sustainable behaviors.
Examples include edible gardens, urban furniture made from reused materials, interventions in degraded areas, and the creation of urban allotments. Over 22,000 square meters of circular spaces have been designed, and initiatives launched to improve the urban metabolism of each area.
five Local Working Groups – one in each municipality – have been established as models of local co-governance. These groups actively contributed to diagnostics, defining uses, making decisions about community space management, and selecting workshop topics focused on strengthening community knowledge of the circular economy and sustainability.
Over 700 residents have participated in training and community-activation activities, including workshops on creative recycling, circular cooking, sustainable mobility, household energy savings, urban biodiversity, and everyday object repair. This high level of engagement demonstrates that citizens, with proper support and tools, grow key actors in the sustainable transformation of their territories.
A Replicable Methodology
The experiences from LIFE Bauhausing Europe offer valuable lessons for other European cities. Despite cultural and socio-economic differences, the needs expressed by residents have been remarkably consistent, with a consistent demand for flexible, accessible, comfortable, and sustainable spaces.
Citizen participation not only enhances project quality but also strengthens their social legitimacy and long-term viability. The project demonstrates that the NEB is not merely a conceptual framework but can be fully implemented through effective methodologies to address deep urban transformations extending beyond physical interventions.
As cities face increasingly complex climate, social, and economic challenges, experiences like LIFE Bauhausing Europe demonstrate the possibility of building more liveable and beautiful neighborhoods through participatory processes and innovative approaches like innovative procurement models.
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