New European Bauhaus

What is the New European Bauhaus?

The New European Bauhaus (NEB) is a creative and interdisciplinary initiative launched by the European Commission. Its goal is to shape a sustainable, inclusive, and beautiful future by blending design, culture, social inclusion, and innovation with the principles of the European Green Deal. The initiative promotes cross-sector collaboration to create spaces, products, and solutions that reflect harmony between people, the environment, and technology.
The NEB seeks a unique combination of aesthetics and functionality to address global challenges such as climate change, urban development, and social inequality. By fostering dialogue among professionals, citizens, and policymakers, it ensures that these transformations are people-centered and environmentally respectful.

ESPRONCEDA and the New European Bauhaus

ESPRONCEDA, Institute of Art & Culture, is one of the official partners of the New European Bauhaus. As an innovative center for contemporary art, culture, and research, ESPRONCEDA actively aligns with NEB’s mission to reimagine a sustainable and inclusive Europe.
NEB & Inclusion is the materialization of this vision on a local level, with international outreach. Placing the arts at its core, the program seeks to imagine and build new social horizons. Through this initiative, ESPRONCEDA promotes creativity, collaboration, and innovation to address contemporary challenges.

NEB & Inclusion 2022–2025

2022 – NEB LAB Symposium The program began with the organization of the international NEB LAB Symposium, focused on strategies for creating sustainable cultural ecosystems.

2023 – Digital Art, Sustainability and Inclusion In 2023, the program was consolidated in the field of new technologies applied to art. Artistic residencies were launched around virtual reality, immersive art, blockchain and Web3. ESPRONCEDA participated in international events such as Ars Electronica (Austria), the NEB Festival (Brussels) and the MEET Center (Milan). Digital creative communities were also fostered, prioritizing social inclusion and the circular economy in all activities.

2024 – Decentralization, Participation and New Narratives In 2024, the focus shifted to decentralizing access to culture and encouraging the participation of traditionally marginalized groups. Key actions included: the RISE UP – Voices of Community residency, promoting co-creation between artists and peripheral communities; the presentation of the KEILI project at the Sónar festival, exploring digital identity through immersive technologies; IMMENSIVA, a program of activities on artificial intelligence, the metaverse and extended realities; and the Hackathon Metavers Navas, an interdisciplinary artistic innovation space in the Navas neighborhood.

2025 – International Consolidation and Collaborative Creation 2025 deepened the territorial and international dimension of the program. Highlights include ESPRONCEDA’s participation as official host of the ENCATC Congress 2025 —the leading international congress on cultural management and policies—, the residency of artist Filip Wierzbicki-Nowak focused on urban ecology and spatial memory, the project What is Gender?, an international exhibition with an open call for Catalan artists committed to diversity and the deconstruction of gender identities, and SensAI Hack Barcelona, an international hackathon that brought together over 120 creators of XR, AI and immersive technologies.

Over these four years, NEB & Inclusion has evolved as a collaborative model between art, technology, territory and society, becoming a reference for local implementation of New European Bauhaus values, with a tangible and internationally recognized impact.

NEB & Inclusion 2026 — Sustainability, Innovation and Community Rooting

2026 marks a turning point: ESPRONCEDA hosts the only official satellite event of the NEB Festival 2026 in Barcelona, consolidating its role as the reference node of the initiative in Catalonia. This edition deepens the intersection between sustainability, craftsmanship and contemporary creation, with digital innovation as a transversal and transformative axis — not as an end in itself, but as a tool that expands creative possibilities, connects traditional knowledge with contemporary methodologies and facilitates access to creation for diverse communities.

The program is structured around three thematic axes:

1. Research, Innovation and Artistic Experimentation

• HOMEOSTASIS – Mark Redden (January): Solo exhibition by the Irish artist investigating the relationship between living materials, organic forms and traditional craftsmanship. [More information]
• Wood, Paint & Living Forms Workshop – Mark Redden (January): Collective research laboratory with 20 artists exploring the balance between wood, paint and living forms. [More information]
• ELISAVA Collective Exhibition (January): Exhibition by students of ELISAVA – School of Design and Engineering of Barcelona. [More information]
• «In Between» – Joseph Beuys / Goethe Foundation (February): Critical conversation on Beuys’ legacy and its relevance to contemporary artistic practice. [More information]
• «Somewhere Everywhere» – Paola López-Guerra (April–May): Solo exhibition on identity, displacement and abstraction, with immersive AI-generated projection. [More information]
• «Conexión» – Clara Lotta Dittmer (May): Live concert and solo exhibition exploring synesthesia between music and painting, in collaboration with the German Consulate. [More information]
• Craftwork Academy Greece (September–October): Mobility of two Catalan artists to the Craft Academy in Greece, focused on sustainable jewelry.
• Craftwork 4.0 Residency (October): Research residency hosting two projects combining craftsmanship, textiles, sustainability and digitalization.

2. Environmental Awareness and Sustainability

• «Desplazados II» – Guillermo del Valle / Official NEB Festival 2026 Satellite Event (June): Exhibition on threatened ecosystems focused on the Llobregat Delta. The only official satellite event of the NEB Festival 2026 in Barcelona, with a colloquium featuring SEO/BirdLife, DEPANA and ZeroPort. [More information]
• Workshop «Aluminium, Transfers and Ghostly Presences» (June): Workshop linked to Desplazados II on materiality and transfer processes as an ecological metaphor. [More information]
• HAG Mentorships – Hands Across Generations: Intergenerational program for artisans, with a minimum of 7 mentors selected through open call.
• HAG Sustainable Workshop (September): Training in sustainable innovation and digital fabrication for professional artisans, minimum 20 participants.
• Craft Festival – Collaboration with Drap-Art · 30th Anniversary (2–4 December): Three-day festival bringing together local and international artists and artisans, with a minimum of 6 Catalan artists selected through open call.

3. Inclusive Access and Territorial Rooting

• «Silenci en temps de soroll» – Rita Roqueta and Regina Saura (February): Immersive exhibition, featuring projection mapping and mixed reality installations. Continuation of the research initiated at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion. [More information]
• Naturetales Live (April and September): Free immersive experience for families with children, combining digital storytelling and environmental awareness. European Creative Europe project.
• Artmongers & Escola Baixeras Documentary (September–November): Co-production of a documentary on the artistic collaboration between the Artmongers collective and the Escola Baixeras in the Navas neighborhood.
• ESPRONCEDA & BCN Paste-Up Mural (September): Mural intervention in the public space of the Navas neighborhood with NUBIA digital integration and children’s workshop.
• NEB Prize — Emerging Catalan Artist (December): Creation grant for emerging Catalan artists, open public call with gender parity criteria. Solo exhibition of the winning project.

Join us in shaping the future

ESPRONCEDA’s partnership with the New European Bauhaus underscores its commitment to leveraging the power of art and culture to build a better tomorrow. Together with NEB, ESPRONCEDA seeks to inspire positive change by fostering creativity, innovation, and sustainability. Discover more about ESPRONCEDA’s role in the New European Bauhaus and its ongoing initiatives here.