New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Initiative category

Identify the award category for which this initiative is being submitted
Prioritising the places and people that need it the most

Email user
bruxelles@regione.liguria.it

Basic information
Initiative title
NEBland@Liguria

Full initiative Title
Making Liguria a NEBland through project capacity empowerment workshops

Please provide a short, catchy description of your initiative to be used in communication towards the public.
Our dream is to make Liguria a Bauhaus region and NEBland@Liguria is open to whoever wants to make this dream real.

NEBland@Liguria is a one-year mentorship program that will allow the Ligurian placemakers to learn from certified experts in an innovative way.

The best ideas will win the opportunity to be supported and improved by the mentors during all 4 events which will take place on the territory and be presented in the big final event at the European Parliament in Brussels.

What was the geographical scope of your intiative?
Regional

Where was your intiative implemented?
Member State(s) and Western Balkans
Italy

If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
Regione Liguria and all its Provinces: Genova, Savona, Imperia, La Spezia

Does your initiative address mainly urban or rural issues?
It addresses urban-rural linkages

Does your initiative refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations (hard or soft investments)?
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)

Has your initiative benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
No

Has your initiative won an EU prize with a monetary value awarded?
No

Does your initiative has a minimum level of maturity? The minimum level of maturity is exemplified by stakeholder/ initiative promoter commitment to implement the initiative in practice and a clear methodology /approach.
Yes

On whose behalf are you submitting the application?
As a representative of an organisation
Please provide the contact details for the project promoter (the individual or representative of the organisation authorised to represent the project)
- Name of the organisation(s): Regione Liguria
  Type of organisation: Public authority (European/national/regional/local)
  First name of representative: Laura
  Last name of representative: Muraglia
  Gender: Female
  Nationality: Italy
  Function: Head of European and International Sector of Regione Liguria
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Via Fieschi 15
  Town: Genoa
  Postal code: 16121
  Country: Italy
  Direct Tel: +39 333 491 8848
  E-mail: bruxelles@regione.liguria.it
  Website: https://www.regione.liguria.it/
Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
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In case my initiative is selected as a finalist of the NEB Prizes 2023, I agree to share the name (individual and/or organisation’s), email address, website and social media accounts indicated above with other NEB Prizes finalists. I also agree to publish the name (individual and/or organisation’s), website and social media accounts indicated above next to the public description of my initiative in the channels of the European Commission.
Yes

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes?
New European Bauhaus or European Commission websites

Description of the initiative
Please provide a summary of your initiative
The project goal is to mobilize and stimulate the regional territory to develop value and projects around the key New European Bauhaus (NEB) concepts through an innovative mentorship and training program planned for 2023. Firstly – through a public call – the Region will select 4 projects coming from the 4 provinces the region (Genova, Savona, Imperia and La Spezia). The criteria for selecting the projects are centered on their capacity to express and integrate the three founding pillars and NEB to generate new social, environmental and economic value for the relevant communities. Expected project partnerships will be composed by public bodies (as leaders) and private entities (including citizens’ associations) able to convincingly represent the various layers, interests and potential of the underlying territory. At the same time, we will appoint one expert for each of the three NEB domains as the core actors of the mentorship/training program. Such experts, together with the regional staff of the EU affairs + offices responsible for the structural funds in the perspective of their harmonization under the NEB umbrella, will accompany the selected projects in the process of becoming mature, attract public/private funding and learn from each other. The mentorship program consists in 4 events to be held from April to Nov 2023 in the 4 provinces. Such events will include a morning session devoted to the wider local stakeholders community – aimed at stimulating them on NEB themes, fresh place-making approaches and creativity – and an afternoon training session focused on the empowerment of the selected projects. The mentorship package includes three online session for the frontrunners projects. We foresee also a final communication event in Brussels at the end of the year as an occasion to share with a wider audience our experience and findings. The whole program, including the fees for the experts, facilities, etc is already planned and budgeted.

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with 5 key words.
culture-based solutions

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
Reconnecting with Nature

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
mentorship

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
Cross-disciplinarity

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
Place-making skills

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of sustainability and how these have been/will be met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
For the whole time of NEBland@Liguria, the participants will be supported by tutors with strong expertise in sustainability, that will evaluate how the projects help the territory to reconnect with nature and enhancing a circular economy approach according to the NEB principles. For instance, projects with the potential to offer ecosystem services to the territory will have better chances to be selected for the program. One of the goals of the NEBland@Liguria initiative is to contribute to the sustainability strategy of the Ligurian region. This general aim is divided into three specific objectives:
- Improving the knowledge and the skills of young citizens and local stakeholders (local bodies, policymakers, private sector, citizens association and schools) on environmental sustainability through actions of capacity building. This objective will be reached by supporting the local stakeholders in the development of territorial projects aimed at contributing to the climate change adaptation and mitigation policies in the Ligurian territory (regional law n. 18 20/01/2023, see attached below), and to the territorial regeneration. The proposers will be beneficiaries of a training course carried out by experts that will be able to suggest the best way to maximize the positive impacts of the projects in terms of sustainability.
- Promoting the implementation of solutions to improve environmental sustainability and circularity in our region. The initiatives will contribute to this aim by facilitating the effective realization of the project proposed by the local stakeholder through the program. The experts will in fact teach the learners both how to develop a project and how to finance it.
- Spread a culture of sustainability among the local communities. Through the four events, we will be able to reach a wide audience, making the citizens more aware of the relevance and benefits of adopting sustainable lifestyle behaviours.

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people (through design, positive emotions and cultural benefits) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
In the context of NEBland@Liguria, aesthetics, beauty and culture must be the fil rouge that makes the projects proposed real NEB projects for the Ligurian territory. In other terms, beauty must be the real Bauhaus-added value of the proposals. Projects which will propose culture-based solutions to enhancing local culture, and that will make the most of the beauty of the rich Ligurian landscape or cultural heritage will have way more chances to be selected for the mentorship program. Examples of culture-based solutions include the revaluation of the local cultural heritage through historic, cultural and/or gastronomic paths, intangible events and initiatives that merge sport and culture in order to ease the usability of the territory and of the cultural heritage, with special attention for the disadvantaged people (see next point).
For the selected projects, the group of mentors will include an expert in culture, art and humanities which will maintain strongly the focus on the aesthetical dimension of the project proposed. For a region that relies strongly on tourism like Liguria, beauty is not only a relief for the spirit but a real economic asset. The NEBland@Liguria initiative will be an experience that will grant benefits to the population in terms of positive emotions and cultural impact. Through our event citizens, stakeholders, associations, the public sector and the no-profit sector will have the opportunity to join in a learning path regarding culture and aesthetics. The attention to local art and heritage will be at the core of every step of the initiative, and mentors with the aim to inspire the participants and the learners will carry it out. In a broader perspective, one of our goals is to find self-financing mechanisms to make such cultural services (based on cultural solutions) sustainable in the long term, as is already the case for ecosystem services, in order to enhance participatory pathways of beauty economy among local Ligurian communities.

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of inclusion (ranging from accessibility and affordability for all to inclusive governing systems, design for all principles or new societal models) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
In Liguria the main inclusion challenges are to promote the civic engagement of all the society layers (especially of the elderly population) in social life, the promotion of an active and healthy lifestyle and the dialogue between generations. Projects which will include these aspects will have more opportunities to be selected for the mentorship program. Besides the demographic aspects, the NEBland@Liguria initiative is aimed at the building of skills that can be used in the current job market and at the harnessing of talents, contributing to the contrast to unemployment and to the development of green and digital skills according to the principles of the NEB. The ideas presented by the local stakeholders (as volunteering associations and organizations of the no-profit sectors) identified as more suitable with the NEB should in fact take into consideration the main social frailties of the Ligurian territory and elaborate solutions to transform those frailties into values. This will lead to the concrete implementation of inclusive initiatives in Liguria, but it will also improve the knowledge of the proposers about the social problems that affect our territories and their competencies to solve them. Part of the ecosystem and cultural services developed through the projects will be dedicated to disadvantaged people, such as people with physical or mental handicaps. Natural and cultural-base solutions have in fact proven positive impacts both on health and psychology for the elderly and disadvantaged people. The accessibility to such services for all will be carefully evaluated in the project in order to make them part of the NEBland@Liguria mentorship program. Our broader goal is to develop a one-health approach in our territory through the application of NEB principles to territorial design. A one-health approach aims at achieving optimal health outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants and their shared environment.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the initiative and civil society have been/will be involved in the initiative and what has been/will be the impact of this involvement on the initiative
The local communities are invited to take part in the activities by submitting ideas to make their places more sustainable, beautiful and inclusive. Citizens that will submit the best ideas will have the opportunity to learn how to make these ideas real. Local decision-makers, companies, citizens associations and education institutes are allowed to submit proposals.
In this regard, the winners will benefit from the initiatives becoming better "place-makers" of the place they live in. We expect that associations, industries, academia and public authorities will take part in the initiatives and will work closely during the events. This will be a great opportunity to reinforce the territorial network, and potentially put together the owners of the ideas with the owners of the resources (i.e. foundations and industries) to turn such ideas into concrete implementations, with a benefic effect that will go even beyond the time of the activity. Furthermore, local citizens will benefit from the activity, taking part in the events as auditors and getting a better understanding of the NEB principles, and of innovative ways of thinking the territorial development. Local citizens will indeed be the main targets of the proposed projects, that will include them in the design of the activities and of the culture-based solutions. This approach (which aims at making local communities main driver of local territorial design) has the potential to be replicated in other part of the Region and other National and European realities.
At the end of 2023, Ligurian citizens will be aware that the Regional Authority (and the European Union) are supportive of the ideas stemming from a bottom-up participative process that aims at making the Liguria Region more sustainable, beautiful and inclusive. Moreover, the population will take advantage of the outcome of the projects selected during the activity when they'll be deployed.

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and implementation of the initiative.
In June 2022, the event that Regione Liguria hosted in the framework of the NEB European Festival, has been the kick-off for the involvement of numerous local realities in the NEB initiative. Local authorities, research centers, young students, representatives of associations and enterprises and common citizens were involved to design solutions for the urban, coastal and rural area that make up the Ligurian territory. After the event, and through a continuous exchange with territorial association such as ANCI Liguria (the union of Ligurian municipalities) we became if possible even more aware of the necessity to actively support the local realities in the undertaking of paths inspired by the NEB principles.
Over the last year Regione Liguria developed innovative tools for the engagement of the stakeholders such as a dedicated online platform and the animation of a local community of more than 100 members that engage actively with the processing of new ideas.
In 2023, the NEBland@Liguria initiative envisages a high level of coordination at the local level, especially between Regione Liguria and the four provinces that will be involved in order to include the totality of the Ligurian territory, leaving no place excluded. At the local level, in each of the four provinces involved, Regione Liguria will involve the local authorities, no-profit associations, industries, academia, and other stakeholders in order to ease the exchange of know-how, best practices, and resources and to involve the overall of the society in the training activities. The deployment of the activity will guarantee a multilevel action since constant coordination with the National Ministry of Culture (MIC) will also be guaranteed. At the European level, the European Parliament (and especially the Ligurian MEPs) will be involved in the organization of the final event.

Please explain which disciplines and/ or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and implementation of your initiative. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was
The NEBland@Liguria initiative involve a wide range of discipline and knowledge fields, some of them especially innovative when applied to territorial design, such as place-making and beauty economy. Place-making is the key discipline to bring about the changes we have in mind, and consist of a collaborative process by which citizens can shape the public realm to maximize shared value. It facilitates creative patterns of use, paying particular attention to the physical, cultural, and social identities that define a place and support its ongoing evolution. Beauty economy, for its side, can unlock the potential of our territory through the use of culture-based solutions both for tourist purposes and for increasing the quality of life of the local inhabitants.
The NEBland@Liguria initiative will also include culture-based solutions, circular economy and sustainable building, nature-based solutions, humanities and social sciences, including citizens engagement methodology. The experts that will mentor the selected projects on the territory have already been involved in the initiative, and will be supported by research centers along the way. Many Ligurian research and cultural centers such as Università degli Studi di Genova and Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti have already been involved in the 2022 NEB event mentioned above.
As regards the NEBland@Liguria initiative, such experts (coming from academia, enterprises, the public sector, and the no-profit sector) will be working hand in hand for the whole time of the initiative, thus allowing the participants to get a full and comprehensive view of their ideas, practical tips on how to get them funded, and relevant insights on how to strengthen them before their deployment on the Ligurian territory. This work of contamination among different fields of knowledge is the real added value of our initiative, which will present an innovative way of training, with the potential of being transferred to other contexts.

Please highlight the innovative character of the initiative, when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the initiative
The NEBland@Liguria initiative stems from a work on the frailty of the territory that Regione Liguria is conducting in order to turn them from weaknesses into values, even from an economic point of view. The initiative will be multidisciplinary in nature, and actors coming from different fields of knowledge will constantly work hand in hand. The innovative character of the initiative is also given by the effort of bringing together the NEB with the needs of the territory, spreading the NEB values among all the four provinces which make the Liguria region: Genova, Savona, Imperia and La Spezia. Through place-making approaches, we will promote governance processes at local level among the different stakeholders involved.
One of the goal of the NEBland@Liguria initiative is to turn the typical top-down modus operandi of the Public Administration into a more bottom-up attitude. The activity aims in fact at disseminating an innovative and holistic culture at local level, overcoming the sectorial approach that too often characterizes territorial planning and the projects' development. The main reason why we became passionate about the NEB is its transdisciplinary and holistic nature, which brings together sustainability, beauty, and inclusion. Spreading a culture in line with such an approach is in fact a great opportunity to hybridize knowledge and bring together smart people from different fields, easing the creation of a new generation of "place-makers" with an innovative mindset. Through empowerment, we aim to unlock the creativity of local communities through unconventional methods based on informal learning, leveraging a sense of belonging to the territory.

Please describe which elements of your initiative could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and contexts. This may involve, for example, aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings, etc.
With NEBland@Liguria, we invite different local realities to mutually inspire each-other. Even if the activities are aimed at applying the NEB's principles in the Ligurian regional context, this path can be replicated in all the European Regions. Elements such as the transdisciplinary and participatory approach to the training path can be transferred to other territorial contexts and to other topics since we believe these elements are at the core of every kind of training tailored for the 21st century. The involvement of the citizens in the making of the training activities is an indeal way to make them the owner of the initiative and to raise the sense of belonging to the places of the territorial stakeholders. Over the last year, Regione Liguria has already contributed to the dissemination of NEB principle with the leading of European projects which have involved other EU countries, or acceding and/or extra-EU countries such as Albany.
The applicability of the NEBland@Liguria initiative will be eased by the participation of Regione Liguria in strong European formal and informal networks (such as Errin, the network of the Italian regions in Brussels URC, Necstour) or territorial strategies such as Eusalp, and by the presence of the office of Regione Liguria in Brussels. Moreover, we aim at bringing the local experience in Brussels in final event of the year, in order to give the opportunity to make this experience known at the European level and to expand the NEBland@Liguria network. Finally, Regione Liguria plays an active role also in the NEB's community, with its participation in the NEB Festival in 2022 and its recent admission in the NEB's friends community. Relevant cultural local actors such as Università degli Studi di Genova and Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti are official partners of the NEB.

Please describe the methodology or approach used in your initiative.
The initiative will consist of events conceived as a moment of exchange and innovative informal training. Each of these events will be developed in two different moments: a first part of seminars and a second part of working labs. In the seminar phases, the wide audience (citizens and stakeholders) will be inspired by experts in the different fields of knowledge related to the NEB, while the working labs will be developed through meetings between mentors (experts in different fields of knowledge) and learners (the stakeholders that will submit the selected NEB projects' ideas). If the seminarial part of the event is mostly theoretical, the labs part is in fact totally practical in nature. The two parts of the events will have a different purpose: the seminars are aimed at spreading the NEB values among the citizens as extensively as possible; the working labs will have the aim of supporting the learners in the development of their project proposals. In this way will be possible to use an integrated approach with a mix of theory and practice. The activities aim at transforming the learners in real "place-makers" of the place they live in. Place-making is a multi-faceted approach to planning focused on creating places and on transforming public spaces to strengthen the connections between people and these places. Indeed the connection between people and spaces is at the core of our initiative. The final goal of the training course is the delivery of NEB and place-based projects adapted to the different contexts of the 4 provinces. All the process is bottom-up in nature since Regione Liguria will work on ideas that will derive from the territory.

Please explain what kind of global challenges the initiative addresses by providing local solutions
The solutions implemented at the local level through the NEB projects that will be selected, mentored and prized during the initiative have the potential to address global challenges. First of all the NEB projects will offer solutions to address climate change in a sustainable and creative way, for instance through the deployment of nature-based and culture-based solutions. Moreover, since the matching between sustainability and inclusion characterizes the NEB strategy, the deployed projects naturally contribute to the pursuit of a just transition to a green economy. Projects linked to sustainability can also enhance the energy efficiency and promote the sustainable use of the sources of energy, thus contributing to the goals of the REPowerEU plan. The NEB projects will also have a strong impact on the social dimension (in line with the European Pillar on Social Rights), easing the inclusion of the most marginalized people and contributing to the contrast of loneliness and social isolation. Since the events will be focused also on the skills to become place-makers and territorial planners, the initiative will contribute to the contrast to unemployment and to the harness of talent in the Liguria region. This last goal is especially relevant since 2023 is the European Year of skills. Furthermore, the initiative will enhance the dialogue between different generations and the promotion of active and healthy aging. Under this last regard, Regione Liguria is part of the European Network of Reference Sites on Active and healthy aging. Finally, the events will enhance the care and promotion of local cultures and cultural heritage.

Please detail the scope of progress in the implementation of the initiative. This can include already demonstrated results/outputs related to the chosen Prizes category, and the already achieved benefits from the initiative for direct and indirect beneficiaries. This can also include a development plan of the initiative, with a particular attention to the steps envisaged in the year following the application, and including envisaged results and benefits from the initiative
The event will take place along 2023. As of today (January 2023) a timeline of the events has already been set and the experts have already been involved. The European and International Affairs Sector and the Liason Office to the EU in Brussels have been working actively on the NEB for almost two years and in 2022 participated in the NEB festival with a big event in Genoa which involved around 450 people and was both theoretical and practical in nature, and which has been a kick-off of the path envisaged in 2023. Regione Liguria is then familiar with the topics and the principles of the NEB. Regione Liguria has already set a plan of development for the initiative, and funds have already been allocated. An agreement with the in-house organ Liguria Ricerche SPA set by executive decree of the Manager of the European and International Affairs Sector n.80, 12/01/2023 of the Regional Government (attached below) allows Regione Liguria to allocate 20.000 € for the funding and the organization of the training events and the involvement of experts. The selection of the project ideas will take place between February and March 2023, and the events (the 4 on the Ligurian territory and the last in Brussels) will be deployed from April 2023 onwards.

Please provide documents that demonstrate the maturity level of the initiative and commitment to implement the initiative in practice (e.g.: evaluation report, final or mid-term initiative report, certification, publications, building permit, grant agreement, letter of support, partnership agreement, etc.)
PDF
PDF
- pdf-1-2034.pdf
- pdf-1-2034_0.pdf
If relevant, please describe how your initiative contributes to developing new competences, especially in the context of the European competence framework on sustainability.
The initiative will stimulate the meeting between mentors (experts in the different fields linked to the New European Bauhaus) and learners (the stakeholders that will submit the NEB projects idea in the labs and the general audience of the seminars). Such meetings will be a precious occasion of professional growth and through the development of new competencies and skills for the learners, both from a theoretical and a practical point of view. The events will allow the learners to develop skills valuable for the current and future job market (such as green skills) and also soft skills such as teamwork, problem solving and creative thinking. Furthermore, the events will allow the learners to become more familiar with the EU's programs and funds, and to learn how to make their ideas true thanks to the EU's funding programs. Such set of skills is what we consider necessary to turn the learners in good "placemakers" of the places and spaces they leave in.
Please attach at least 6 high resolution images or visual representations of your initiative to your application.
If you would like to upload additional documentation, please upload or write below.
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By submitting this application, I declare that I am not related to the entities subject to EU restricted measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and subject to Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU)1, and entities covered by Commission Guidelines No 2013/C 205/05), which are not eligible to participate in any capacity.
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By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that you assume sole liability in the event of a claim relating to the activities carried out in the framework of the contest, that the proposed initiative has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Prizes in any other category or strand and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.
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By submitting your application, you understand that all the applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be shared for the purposes of the selection processes, and notably published on the secured platform prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu and for the purposes of the promotion of these on the New European Bauhaus website and/or other European Commission communication channels. In this sense, the applications would be widely available. Applicants should ensure that they present their initiatives, initiative, in such a way that they could be shared without giving rise to intellectual property related concerns. If your submission is selected as one of the finalists, it will additionally be shared for the purpose of the public vote that will take place. The European Union is granted a licence to use and share your application with the general public and the official external experts for the purposes of the selection process, including the voting. The European Union has the right to use the images and visual materials and the description provided in the application for communication purposes related to the contest and beyond. Rights granted comprise the right to store, reproduce, display, publish and communicate or distribute copies in electronic or digital format, including, but not only, through the internet. Unless you have disclosed your name, the European Commission has no obligation to share your name when using or disseminating your contribution to the public. The European Union cannot be held responsible in case any submitted initiative, initiative is found to infringe third party’s rights. The European Union shall be neither responsible for the use that third parties may do of the applications or related content.
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By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you read and understand that the ‘Guide to Applicants’ of the NEB Prizes 2023, available online in the website of the NEB Prizes 2023, is an integral part of this application form and that it must therefore be observed when completing and submitting your application.
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