The impact of common space on neighbourhood communities
HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
Basic Information
- Identifier
- HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-PARTICIPATION-01
- Programme
- A research agenda for a beautiful, inclusive and sustainable transformation of neighbourhoods
- Programme Period
- 2021 - 2027
- Status
- Closed (31094503)
- Opening Date
- May 6, 2025
- Deadline
- November 12, 2025
- Deadline Model
- single-stage
- Budget
- €12,000,000
- Min Grant Amount
- €6,000,000
- Max Grant Amount
- €6,000,000
- Expected Number of Grants
- 2
- Keywords
- HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-PARTICIPATION-01HORIZON-NEB-2025-01Democratic engagement and civic participationSocial InclusionSocial and behavioural scienceSpatial planning
Description
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Better understanding of the effects of the design, aesthetics and other features of common spaces[1] on inhabitants’ behaviour (including e.g. their social interactions and recognition, civic participation, use of spaces and buildings), health, sense of belonging, diversity and inclusion, security, resilience, and opportunities to produce social, cultural and local economic value.
- Enhanced capacities of relevant stakeholders to integrate insights in policies, strategies, plans and measures for the regeneration of common spaces in neighbourhoods[1].
One of the core NEB values[1] is inclusion[1]. The regeneration of common spaces can facilitate inclusiveness and social interaction in neighbourhoods by providing a safe, accessible, and attractive environment. Attractive, well-designed, well-maintained, and secure common spaces can bring people together for commercial, cultural, and leisure activities. A safe environment can also create a sense of trust and community[1] among inhabitants. Recognising a neighbourhood's diversity “not only improves social and spatial cohesion but also contributes to democratic, peaceful coexistence[6]”. Social, economic, and cultural services and amenities that reflect this diversity and allow for people to come together and interact, can have a particular impact on inclusion and can lead to new forms of collaboration, solidarity and social recognition.
Better knowledge of how common spaces affect social relations is required to scale up successful common space initiatives across Europe. This topic seeks to produce insights on the impacts of common spaces (new, redesigned or redeveloped) on neighbourhoods and their communities.
Proposals are expected to address all of the following:
- Study a range of common space projects in at least three EU Member States or Associated Countries, collecting data and drawing on evidence, to better understand:
- The medium and long-term impacts of common spaces on community cohesion, social interactions, active civic participation, resilience, diversity, as well as sense of security and belonging. This includes identifying if and to what extent these impacts vary in neighbourhoods with different characteristics, for example, in terms of social infrastructure, economy, housing ownership patterns, services, etc.
- How the design and maintenance of common spaces (including the process, for example relying on participatory approaches), the degradation of the bordering built environment, and the preservation of cultural heritage, influences the above identified effects of common space.
- How the integration of the three core NEB values in the design of common spaces impacts the above identified effects of common space.
- How the different groups of people (such as women, children, youth, older adults, people with disabilities, underrepresented, vulnerable and marginalised groups, LGBTIQA+) make use of and experience common spaces.
- How variations in the use of common spaces in different periods of the year influence community cohesion, social interactions, and civic participation.
- Based on the research evidence, provide recommendations for public administrations and other stakeholders involved in the regeneration of common spaces in neighbourhoods.
Proposals are expected to follow a participatory and transdisciplinary approach[7] through the integration of different actors (such as public authorities, local actors from the targeted neighbourhoods, civil society, private owners, cultural institutions, etc.) and disciplines (such as architecture or design, arts, (civil) engineering).
This topic requires the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities[8] (SSH) 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 expected to dedicate at least 0.2% of their total budget to share their intermediate and final results and findings with the Coordination and Support Action 'New European Bauhaus hub for results and impact' (HORIZON-MISS-2024-NEB-01-03).
[1] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[2] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[3] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[4] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[5] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[6] Report of the EU Member State Expert Group 2021 Towards a shared culture of architecture investing in a high-quality living environment for everyone.
[7] See definition on NEB working principles in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25
[8] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25
Destination & Scope
To make the green transition happen, social fairness needs to be at its heart. Inhabitants have to have the opportunity to influence the green transition and feel ownership of the measures to reach climate neutrality and circularity[1], zero pollution and restore biodiversity. It is also important to better anticipate and manage climate-related risks across society, and to interact with inhabitants to build new concepts. All of this requires a closer understanding of people and how they experience their everyday lives. A recent Eurobarometer demonstrates that 88% of EU citizens think that the green transition should be fair and leave no one behind. Yet only 46% of Europeans are confident that by 2050 sustainable[1] energy, products and services will be affordable for everyone, including poorer people[3].
Vulnerable and marginalised groups are often more exposed to climate risks and pollution and affected by adverse impacts (e.g. health, energy poverty), while being least responsible and having lower capacity to adapt. The inclusion[1] of different types of ownership (e.g. private, social, retirement, student housing, etc.) as well as various building typologies (e.g. high-rise buildings, slab blocks, villa blocks, terraced houses, etc.) in the planning of new neighbourhoods[1] or the transformation of existing ones can also facilitate a quicker integration of marginalized and vulnerable groups - particularly younger generations, which should have equal opportunities and conditions for education regardless of their background - and fosters higher social intelligence among privileged groups.
In Work Programme 2025, this Destination contributes to the following expected impacts set out on the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2025-2027:
- 8. Realising the full potential of cultural heritage, arts, and cultural and creative sectors
- 10. Boosting inclusive growth and reducing vulnerabilities effectively
- 31. Sustainably developing rural, urban and coastal areas.
- 32. Developing innovative governance models and tools enabling sustainability and resilience.
This Destination seeks to reinforce ownership and a sense of belonging through more active, engaged and inclusive communities[1] in neighbourhoods for the sustainable, inclusive, and beautiful[1] transformation of neighbourhoods along the values[8] and principles[9] of the New European Bauhaus. This Destination will pay particular attention to the inclusion of different sociodemographic groups – such as families, women, children, youth, and older adults as well as vulnerable groups, including LGBTIQA+, people with physical and psychological functional variations, homeless, migrants and refugees, minorities, etc. – in design, creation and decision-making processes that affect them and the built environment[1] they live in.
Cultural participation, cultural heritage, cultural and linguistic diversity, and the inclusion of indigenous[1] and marginalised forms of knowledge can help enable this by offering a broader menu of interpretations and therefore different ways of making sense and assigning meaning to surroundings. The Destination will also foster social and ecological co-benefits to enable environmentally friendly, healthy and inclusive behaviours, and beautiful and environmentally friendly, healthy, inclusive environments.
More specifically, this Destination aims to:
- Understand how individual and collective mind-sets, habits and behaviours can change into more sustainable and inclusive ones in urban, peri-urban, and rural areas and how to promote interconnections between these diverse realities, turning the limitations and constraints stemming from the green and digital transitions into economic, cultural and social opportunities.
- Further explore the transformative potential of participatory practices and governance models (at local, national and regional levels), notably how culture, the arts and creative industry as well as the socio-cultural work sector can enhance transformation processes for the green transition, help address vulnerability and social equity concerns, and contribute to social inclusion, democracy, and sense of belonging in communities.
[1] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[2] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[3] Fairness perceptions of the green transition - October 2022 - - Eurobarometer survey (europa.eu)
[4] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[5] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[6] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[7] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[8] See the definitions of ’beautiful’, 'inclusive‘ and ’sustainable‘ in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[9] See the definitions of ‘multi-level engagnement‘, ‘participatory process‘ and ‘transdisciplinary approaches‘ in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[10] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[11] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
Eligibility & Conditions
General conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
2. Eligible Countries
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other Eligible Conditions
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]].
described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Specific conditions
described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]
Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):
Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)
Guidance
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Call-specific instructions
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 13. New European Bauhaus Facility (NEB)
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 14. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
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