Project, process, network, platform; in preparation

EUSDR Priority Area(s): PA 3 Culture & Tourism

NEBoD is a think-and-do tank acting as an enabler for the green transition in the Danube Region through establishing a functional cooperation of public authorities, civil society, and the private, investment, and financial sectors to improve capacities of cities and regions for triggering and implementing investments into more responsible land use practices as a basis for new green and just economy. The initiative is also an innovative force, inventing and testing new methods and formats to involve different stakeholders in this transition and foster life-long education on all levels.

Objectives: The Danube Region is the one of the most diverse regions in Europe. Economic disparities are driving the Region’s challenges, causing depopulation trends from rural to urban areas, from less to more affluent countries in the Danube Region. The Region’s well preserved natural and cultural resources offer an opportunity for a new kind of development, yet their preservation is threatened by unsustainable development practices. There is a need to re-evaluate the value and potential of existing assets, including Degraded Areas (DAs), to prevent new land take. Revitalisation of DAs can contribute to a more sustainable territorial development, yet the process is hindered by a lack of capacities and efficient governance to mainstream investment in new, greener solutions in line with ecosystem capacities. NEBoD aims to develop and test new methods, work on concrete sites, and deliver tangible results by:

1. Establishing an ecosystem of public actors, civil society, and the private, industry, financial and insurance sectors, as well as experts and practitioners to develop up-to-date and financially viable solutions for quality future living; NEBoD will support communities in implementing concrete beautiful, inclusive and sustainable solutions on the ground as basis for quality living, as well as for creating green businesses and jobs
2. Developing new business and financial models for green investment to fund the green and just transformation; we want to bring especially the private investors, banks, insurance companies, industry on board to create a new “business as usual” development paradigm.
3. Conceive and implement new educational models like, i.e., the NEBoD Travelling Academy or the Green Investment Hub.

Need and (expected) impact: In line with the aims of NEB and the EUSDR Priority Areas, cities and regions in the Danube Region will be supported in their transition to sustainable, beautiful, and inclusive living spaces in line with the EU Green Deal by improving their cooperation with the private, financial and insurance sector to ensure green investment into concrete transformation projects, bringing tangible results on the ground. NEBoD is designed as a bottom-up-driven process. It aims at directly impacting the quality of life and work of local stakeholders and inhabitants. While acting as a support ecosystem for the Danube Region in general, NEBoD puts special focus on towns and regions outside major capitals and urban centres, where there is less access both to up-to-date knowledge as well as to financial and investment options, as well as less awareness about the EU policies and NEB itself. The general public plays a key role in ensuring that the values of the New European Bauhaus are brought to life on a day-to-day basis. In this respect, our key challenge is to communicate the NEB values in simple and understandable language, translating the key elements of the green transition into concrete consequences for the everyday life of the people living in the Danube Region. NEBoD has also connected with other networks, such as the DANUrB+ network, the Amazon of Europe, the UNESCO MAB programme etc.

Macro-regional dimension: To date, partners from Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Ukraine are involved

Stakeholders involved: Stakeholders from all levels (local/regional/macro-regional) are going to be involved in the future NEBoD activities for the Interreg Danube Region project NONA

Budget and Funding: NONA (DRP0200519) is funded in Interreg Danube Region/Cooperation – Priority 4: A better cooperation governance in the Danube Region. Total budget EUR 2 960 195. In addition, voluntary and unpaid activities of the initiative continue.

Further information:

• https://nebod.eu/
• https://interreg-danube.eu/projects/nona
• https://www.conferencemanager.de/danubefutureworks/conference

Contact: Mr Dipl.-Ing. Alexander Wetzig, Chairman, Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm,