Apply for NEB Prizes 2025 and the NEB Boost for Small Municipalities

In 2025, New European Bauhaus (NEB) is running two distinct awards in parallel – the New European Bauhaus Prizes 2025 and the Boost for Small Municipalities.

NEB Prizes 2025
Submission Period: 14 January – 14 February 2025

NEB Prizes celebrate innovative projects and ideas that embody NEB values—sustainability, inclusivity, and beauty. Over four editions, the competition has attracted over 5,000 applications and awarded EUR 1.54 million to 72 winners. The Prizes inspire regions, cities, and towns to embrace NEB principles, foster youth participation, and promote intergenerational dialogue.

The NEB Prizes 2025 are open to projects and concepts implemented in the EU, in the Western Balkans and Ukraine.

The Prizes 2025 will award 22 winners and runners-up in four categories, reflecting the key New European Bauhaus transformation themes:

Reconnecting with nature
Regaining a sense of belonging
Prioritising the places and people that need it the most
Shaping a circular industrial ecosystem and supporting life-cycle thinking

In each of these four categories, two competition strands are established:

Strand A: “New European Bauhaus Champions” – devoted to completed projects with demonstrated positive results.
Strand B: “New European Bauhaus Rising Stars” – dedicated to concepts from young talents (aged 30 or under), ranging from clear ideas to prototypes.

This edition of the Prizes will contribute to the EU’s efforts to improve housing affordability by awarding four ‘NEB Affordable Housing’ prizes to completed projects in the EU providing sustainable, inclusive, beautiful and affordable housing solutions in line with NEB values and principles.

The winners and runners-up will receive a monetary prize between 10,000 and 30,000 EUR and will benefit from a communication package provided by the European Commission.

Boost for Small Municipalities
Submission Period: 14 January – 14 February 2025

With support from the European Parliament, 20 prizes will be awarded to empower small municipalities through the NEB boost initiative. This special effort helps these smaller communities develop inclusive, sustainable, and beautiful projects by overcoming early barriers. By providing recognition and visibility, the prizes highlight the outstanding potential of their ideas and the municipalities behind them.

Municipalities either in rural settings or with a population below 20.000 inhabitants will be the target of these awards. Check if your municipality is eligible here.

The NEB boost to small municipalities highlights the essential role of smaller communities in the NEB, focusing on actions at the street and neighbourhood level to create inclusive, accessible, and transformative change. It acknowledges countless small-scale initiatives already taking shape and seeks to amplify their impact.

The award supports proposals that align with NEB values (sustainable, inclusive, beautiful) and core principles (participatory process, multi-level engagement, transdisciplinary approach) while concentrating on built environment projects—such as construction, renovation, or adaptation of buildings and public spaces—through lenses like circularity, carbon neutrality, cultural heritage preservation, affordable housing solutions, and spatial regeneration.

Eligible projects should be sufficiently developed and demonstrate an emerging participatory approach, with demonstrated steps taken to secure political backing and involve citizens, end-users, and stakeholders, yet not be fully completed at the time of application.

The 20 winners will receive a monetary prize of 30,000 EUR and will benefit from a communication package provided by the European Commission.

More Information: prizes.new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu