New European Bauhaus: The EU forest-based sector's role in the transformation of the built and living environment. Open letter to the Permanent Representations of the EU countries to the EU

The Wood4Bauhaus Alliance represents the European industry, research and innovation ecosystem around wood-based materials and engineered products for construction. We wish to support to the EU Commission’s proposal to establish a novel instrument dedicated to the New European Bauhaus (NEB) under Horizon Europe. The transdisciplinary and co-creative approach initiated by the NEB, of which our Alliance has been an early supporter, is an essential driver to speed up and upscale the twin digital and green transformation, notably of the built and living environment within the circular bioeconomy at large – a transformation that is a prerequisite to achieving net zero by 2050.

Building with wood is surging in Europe. Producers of wood and wood-based products have experienced a surge of interest post-pandemic, reflecting higher awareness of sustainability aspects, reduction of carbon emission levels by using wood products as well as time and site construction benefits. In creating this momentum towards better living and the mitigation of climate change, the positive impact of the NEB’s three pillars of sustainability, beauty and inclusiveness can clearly be seen in market tendencies.

Research and Innovation (R&I) in sustainable biobased construction needs more dedicated support. A novel instrument for the NEB can support the reach of the EU programmes substantially towards society, markets and individual citizens, can better align and create synergies of R&I funding, and can onboard innovative financing mechanisms, to scale and speed up the significance of the societal transformation.

The signatories of this open letter are convinced that the NEB should become: 1) the INTEGRATOR of the entire construction ecosystem, 2) the FACILITATOR of the people-centred approach, and 3) the FUNDING BOOSTER of EU programmes and innovative financing related to the built environment.

As evidence, we outline here our perspectives on how the NEB can address Specific Objectives (SO) for urgent R&I needs in relation to the forest-based sector, a key value chain for building a resilient European economy:

• SO 1: The NEB can evolve into the right instrument to integrate all actors in the built environment and foster a holistic technology innovation roadmap of the biobased construction sector. This can address specific R&I needs, which are not well considered yet in EU programmes, as well as harmonisation, standardisation and digitalisation, and respond to up-/re-skilling needs by integrating the NEB Academy training platform.
    
• SO 2: NEB offers a powerful narrative to connect to citizens in the context of neighbourhoods. Incorporating Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in the NEB can ensure that insights and results gained from R&I projects are directly applicable and valuable to empower individuals and collectives. Transdisciplinary R&I can put people & buildings in the focus, vis a vis human health, aesthetics, and traditional knowledge/skills and cultural heritage.
    
• SO 3: The NEB can help mobilise the financial target groups to unlock support and investment in the wider adoption of innovative, regenerative solutions, circularity, sustainable building, and social value. NEB Hubs or clusters driven from the bottom-up will help to break up silos of nationally funded R&I communities and support programmes. The forest-based sector requires much more dedicated R&I funding support to tackle these challenges.

The NEB movement can thus guide the main, interconnected transformational change needed to address the biggest challenge of our times: to rethink and redesign the built and living environments in a sustainable, circular model in response to the escalating climate crisis.

To date, this open letter has received confirmed support from 82 signatories, representing 73 organisations in 21 countries, of which are: 33 universities (academic & technical), 17 RTOs, 2 research networks, 3 VET, 5 industries, 4 industry associations, 8 regional cluster organisations, 4 public authorities. Gender: 23 women, 59 men.

The Wood4Bauhaus Alliance represents the European industry, research and innovation ecosystem around wood-based materials and engineered products for construction. wood4bauhaus.eu | info@wood4bauhaus.eu