EIT Community NEB

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) was established by the European Union in 2008 with the aim of fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and competitiveness across the continent. It connects three sectors—education, research, and business—known as the “knowledge triangle.”

It operates through Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), which work in areas such as climate, energy, health, and technology. Thus, in this context, the EIT Community New European Bauhaus was launched in 2022 with the aim of bringing NEB values to life on the ground and engaging startups, citizens, and cities.

This community is certainly different from all its predecessors, such as EIT Climate-KIC or EIT Digital, as it works across the board with various EIT initiatives, enabling it to fund projects, training, and entrepreneurship, and to connect key stakeholders, including universities, businesses, and regional and local public authorities.

Its goal, in essence, is to apply the European Green Deal to everyday life, but in a more human and creative way: not only to reduce polluting emissions and commit to ecological solutions, but to change how we live, coexist, and design the future, based on strategies of inclusion and citizen participation.

Specifically, the EIT NEB community comprises seven programs that cover the entire innovation cycle, from the idea, prototype, and startup to the community and scaling phases. They are named as follows:

Ignite NEB

This is the entry point for beginners. The program brings together entrepreneurs and creatives to co-create solutions that address urgent social challenges from a multidisciplinary perspective. To this end, they organize workshops and hackathon-style events.

Grow NEB

It supports the transition from idea to implementation by helping teams prototype and test sustainable solutions aligned with NEB’s values. Teams selected through the Ignite NEB call for proposals participate in an eight-month program, which includes personalized mentoring, workspaces, and tools for hands-on experimentation.

One example of a Spanish-led project supported by this program is MEDS Cierzo, a movement of young international architects and designers that was founded in Zaragoza in 2022. Its goal is to harness the creative work of emerging professionals to revitalize urban environments in line with NEB values.

One of its resulting initiatives is KIDCHEN, which has enabled the organization of events, school cooking workshops, and exhibitions in which more than 6,000 people have participated.

Catalyse NEB

It focuses on startups, offering them personalized business training, mentoring, and access to an ecosystem that fosters investment and coworking with experts and fellow entrepreneurs.

A notable example in Spain is Remonda, a Seville-based startup that recycles discarded bitter oranges.

Connect NEB

It supports ideas co-created by citizens that arise from their lived experiences and a tangible understanding of local challenges in peri-urban and rural areas. Its goal is to improve quality of life and foster social cohesion.

Cooperar per viure juntes is part of this program and was created as a proposal to activate and revitalize housing cooperatives based on leasehold arrangements in Valencia. This initiative, led by the cooperatives Crearqció and El Rogle, seeks to offer an alternative to the traditional model of housing access, based on collective ownership and sustainability.

Co-create NEB

It aims to improve public spaces through inclusive, accessible, eco-friendly, and high-quality solutions. This program empowers communities and specific population groups to integrate NEB values into spatial development, thereby contributing to long-term social well-being, creative cooperation, and a better living environment.

One of the Spanish projects participating in this program is the Cocreate-PlaYInn initiative, which, between 2023 and 2025, carried out the beautification and improvement of public squares in the Madrid municipality of Fuenlabrada using recycled materials and with the collaboration of undergraduate and vocational students.

Similarly, in the Villaverde district—also in Madrid—an area with an industrial heritage, workshops and working groups are being held, thanks to the support of Co-create NEB, to rethink public spaces from an inclusive perspective aimed at improving quality of life. The Villaverde+Industrial project combines sociological, economic, and ecological approaches, helping to uncover how different groups perceive and use the industrial park.

Enhance NEB

Supports the scaling up and replication of the most promising initiatives and success stories developed through the Connect NEB and Co-create NEB calls for proposals. It enables the expansion of the reach and impact of these innovations through knowledge sharing and the creation of strategic partnerships with cities, regions, and affiliated entities.

NEB Mentors

NEB Mentors are a group of experts who help ensure that all projects participating in EIT Community programs remain rooted in the philosophy of sustainability and citizen participation promoted by the European Commission. They are independent professionals, selected for their expertise in design, innovation, and business development, who lead individual mentoring sessions, group sessions, and workshops.