Beautiful, inclusive and sustainable neighbourhoods for communities

This Destination addresses three of the Commission political guidelines 2024-2029^[1], namely:

• Supporting people, strengthening our societies and our social model,
• Protecting our democracy, upholding our values, and
• A new plan for Europe’s sustainable prosperity and competitiveness

At a moment where less than half of Europeans believe that society is fair and equal^[2], this Destination focusses on inhabitants, social inclusion and local democracy as key pillars. It seeks to reduce inequalities and strengthen social cohesion, in line with the Strategies for a Union of equality and the European Pillar of Social Rights. It also aims to contribute to local democracy and sense of belonging in communities^[3] as well as the overall increase in their quality of life, and support both a competitive economy as well as an inclusive^[3], fair, climate-neutral and circular^[3] society supporting peaceful coexistence.

This Destination looks into innovative participatory^[3], co-governance^[3] and co-creative approaches to actively engage inhabitants in decision-making processes for the revitalisation of their neighbourhoods^[3]. It also explores how to increase the sense of belonging and engagement between people with different age, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, and physical and psychological functional variations to reunite society, increase ownership of the green transition^[3] on the ground, and ensure more inclusive neighbourhoods.

Moreover, this Destination also fosters a better understanding of how inhabitants experience their neighbourhoods as well as further investigates the role that arts, culture, the cultural and creative sector, cultural heritage, cultural and linguistic diversity, informal and local^[10] forms of knowledge systems and different types of research can play in placemaking and enhancing neighbourhood transformation processes.

As the green transition is at the heart of the NEB Facility, this Destination contributes to the Clean Industrial Deal^[11], the European Green Deal^[12] and the European Climate Pact^[13] as well as to the key policy spending target of Horizon Europe for climate and biodiversity action. This Destination also contributes to the delivery of the New European Agenda for Culture^[14], Davos Declaration 2018^[15], the New Leipzig Charter^[16], the European Framework for Action on Cultural Heritage^[17], and the EU Intergenerational Fairness strategy ^[18].

Finally, by exploring how digital technologies can play a role in transforming neighbourhoods into beautiful^[3], inclusive and sustainable^[3] places, this Destination contributes to the key policy spending target of Horizon Europe for digital.

In Work Programme 2026-2027, this Destination aims to:

• Better understand the impacts of neighbourhoods on inhabitants’ experiences, health and well-being, to inform the development of more beautiful, inclusive and sustainable neighbourhoods.
• Develop innovative design, planning, and management strategies for neighbourhoods to prioritise adaptability, quality of experience, accessibility and inclusion – especially of groups in a vulnerable situation – while enhancing health, well-being and community cohesion.
• Enhance the green transition, including renewable energy supply and efficiency aspects, through inclusive and transdisciplinary^[3] approaches to innovation that leverage arts, culture, cultural heritage, history, design, architecture, digital technologies, social innovation, (citizen-)science, and informal and local forms of knowledge systems.
• Encourage co-governance approaches to enhance transparency, multi-level engagement^[3], and community resilience, to give nature a voice, and to support adaptive and inclusive decision-making for the long-term social, environmental, cultural and economic sustainability of neighbourhoods.
• Explore evidence-based mechanisms to foster ownership, balance public and private interest, and enhance acceptability and democratic participation by neighbourhood actors towards a fair green transition at the neighbourhood level as well as to tailor policy-making and public service design for neighbourhoods.

Proposals for topics under this Destination should set out a credible pathway to contributing to connecting the green transformation, social inclusion and local democracy, and more specifically to one or several of the following impacts:

• Stakeholders involved in the green transition in neighbourhoods adopt a holistic approach which takes into consideration the complex interplay between local and cultural specificities; the social, cultural, economic and environmental dimensions of neighbourhoods; climate; inhabitant’s experiences; health and well-being; inequalities; and democratic, participatory and deliberative practices and governance approaches in neighbourhoods.
• Inclusive, healthy, and active communities with sustainable ways of living and consumption develop a sense of belonging and ownership of change that supports a fair green transition in neighbourhoods.
• Better embedding history, arts, culture, cultural heritage, cultural and creative industries, cultural and linguistic diversity, cultural participation, placemaking and digital technologies in innovation, transformation, social inclusion and civic engagement processes for a fair green transition in neighbourhoods.

When possible and relevant, actions are strongly recommended to collaborate with and build on the results of past and ongoing relevant research projects, including regional, national or European funded projects and/or European partnerships, to ensure consistency and continuity in research, as well as to integrate expertise from the relevant actors from the construction ecosystem^[23] (such as architects, urban planners, landscape designers).

[1] European Commission, ’Von der Leyen Commission 2024-2029', accessed 5 August 2025, https://commission.europa.eu/about/commission-2024-2029_en

[2] European Commission, ’Fairness, Inequality and Inter-Generational Mobility’, accessed 5 August 2025, https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/2652

[3] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[4] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[5] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[6] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[7] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[8] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[9] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[10] See definition of 'Local knowledge’ in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[11] European Commission, ’Clean Industrial Deal’, accessed 5 August 2025, https://commission.europa.eu/topics/eu-competitiveness/clean-industrial-deal_en

[12] European Commission, ’The European Green Deal’, accessed 5 August 2025, https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en

[13] European Commission, ’European Climate Pact’, accessed 5 August 2025, https://climate-pact.europa.eu/index_en

[14] European Commission, ’ A New European Agenda for Culture - SWD(2018) 267 final’, 2020, https://culture.ec.europa.eu/document/a-new-european-agenda-for-culture-swd2018-267-final

[15] Davos Declaration, ’Davos Declaration 2018’, 2018, https://davosdeclaration2018.ch/en/

[16] European Commission, ’The New Leipzig Charter. The transformative power of cities for the common good’, 2020, https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/information/publications/brochures/2020/new-leipzig-charter-the-transformative-power-of-cities-for-the-common-good

[17] European Commission, ’European Framework for Action on Cultural Heritage’, Publications Office of the European Union, 2019, https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/5a9c3144-80f1-11e9-9f05-01aa75ed71a1

[18] European Commission, ’Paving the way for an EU Intergenerational Fairness Strategy’, EU Policy Lab, 2025, accessed 5 August 2025, https://policy-lab.ec.europa.eu/news/paving-way-eu-intergenerational-fairness-strategy-2025-02-25_en

[19] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[20] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[21] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[22] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[23] See definition of “construction ecosystem“ in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Housing-led approaches^[1] aligned with the NEB are made available to stakeholders involved in tackling homelessness^[1].
• Robust evidence on NEB-aligned housing-led approaches tackling homelessness (including people temporarily hosted by acquaintances and family) to inform the development and/or update of policies and services for prevention and early intervention in the context of the green transition^[1] in neighbourhoods^[1].

Scope:

Social and affordable housing is being advanced in the EU, including through the Affordable Housing Initiative^[5]. Despite efforts, current policies for the green transition are failing to adequately address the housing crisis. Homelessness remains a structural challenge across Europe, with negative impacts on both individuals experiencing it (e.g. physical and mental health, social and economic conditions) and neighbourhood communities^[1] (e.g. pressure on public services, erosion of social fabric^[1], etc.).

Research and innovation gaps in tackling homelessness range from data collection (i.e. the variety of approaches to defining, measuring and monitoring homelessness), to integrating housing-led approaches with resilience strategies for homeless populations in a climate-changing world.

Housing-led approaches cover diverse policy responses to homelessness that provide immediate and permanent access to housing, targeted prevention, and needs-based, person-centred support services across several areas of the individual’s life while giving homeless populations a high degree of choice and control.

This topic focuses on developing and/or updating housing-led approaches that apply NEB values^[1] and principles^[1]. Such approaches are expected to cover measures ranging from upstream preventive measures to those giving access to green, low-carbon, climate-resilient, health-promoting and socially inclusive housing that ensures quality of experience for homeless populations across neighbourhoods in urban, peri-urban and rural areas.

Proposals are expected to address all of the following:

• Refine and demonstrate at least three housing-led approaches in at least three neighbourhoods (in urban, peri-urban and rural areas) located in different Member States and/or Associated Countries, that:
  • Are adapted to the specific characteristics of the neighbourhoods where the approaches will be applied (e.g. existing local/national regulations, composition of the population, cultural differences, existing infrastructure, etc.).
  • Provide permanent housing to homeless people, as defined by the European Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion^[10], complemented by services that (re-)integrate homeless populations in their local community.
  • Integrate plans for the green transition of the permanent housing, taking into consideration climate mitigation and adaptation aspects (for instance, through the inclusion of renewable energy solutions and/or nature-based solutions^[11]) and the social dimension of living conditions for a conflict-minimised cohabitation of different social groups.
  • Are co-created^[1] with the targeted homeless populations, paying special attention to families with minor children, and people temporarily hosted by acquaintances and family.
  • Include measures to address the institutional barriers that hinder access to housing in the selected neighbourhoods.
  • Present the highest potential for replication and adaptability to local specificities.
• Develop and implement a methodology to monitor, analyse and document the effectiveness of the selected approaches in reducing homelessness compared to conventional approaches, building upon the European Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion^[10]. The methodology is expected to ensure the comparability of data and results across neighbourhoods.

Proposals are expected to follow a participatory^[1] and transdisciplinary^[1] approach through the integration of different actors and disciplines.

This topic requires the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH)^[1] disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

Proposals are encouraged to explore synergies with successful proposals from the topic ‘HORIZON-NEB-2026-01-BUSINESS-01: Structurally addressing homelessness through coordinated social infrastructure and services in neighbourhoods’ to exploit opportunities for increased impact.

Proposals are expected to allocate at least 0.8% of their budget for engaging with the Horizon Europe-funded 'New European Bauhaus hub for results and impact' to share their intermediate and final results, findings and learning, as well as to contribute to impact assessment.

[1] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[2] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[3] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[4] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[5] European Commission, ’Affordable Housing Initiative‘, European Commission website, accessed on 29 September 2025, https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/proximity-and-social-economy/social-economy-eu/affordable-housing-initiative_en

[6] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[7] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[8] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[9] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[10] FEANTSA, ’ETHOS Typology on Homelessness and Housing Exclusion’, accessed 26 August 2025, https://www.feantsa.org/en/toolkit/2005/04/01/ethos-typology-on-homelessness-and-housing-exclusion

[11] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[12] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[13] FEANTSA, ’ETHOS Typology on Homelessness and Housing Exclusion’, accessed 26 August 2025, https://www.feantsa.org/en/toolkit/2005/04/01/ethos-typology-on-homelessness-and-housing-exclusion

[14] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[15] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.

[16] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP26-27.