Bringing Creativity and Beauty to Europe's Green Transition

Thirteenth episode of the podcast "Green Deal – Big Deal?"

Publication: Podcast
Citation: Ecologic Institute 2024: Bringing creativity and beauty to Europe's green transition. Online: https://greendealbigdeal.podigee.io/13-new-european-bauhaus

In this episode of Green Deal – Big Deal we discuss what mud houses, 3D printers and beauty have to do with Europe's journey to becoming a climate-neutral continent.

Specifically, we speak with Alina Ujupan, part of the team behind the European Commission's New European Bauhaus Initiative and Edouard Cabay, winner of a recent New European Bauhaus prize for Spain’s first 3D printed building using earth.

The New European Bauhaus Initiative integrates science, technology, art, culture and community participation to propose a sustainable, beautiful, and inclusive future for the European Union. Our guests discuss with hosts Ewa Iwaszuk and Aaron Best the critical role of creativity and interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing environmental and social challenges, highlighting the initiative's impact on urban and community development, policy, and investment in sustainable projects.

The episode explores the significance of the New European Bauhaus in addressing environmental and social challenges, the role of innovative building techniques in sustainable architecture, and the importance of community involvement in the green transformation process. Our guests explain the power of creative thinking and interdisciplinary collaboration in tackling some of the most pressing challenges of our time and discuss how a blend of high-tech and low-tech solutions, coupled with a focus on local materials and community engagement, can lead to groundbreaking advancements in sustainable living and architecture.

Listen now

New episodes will be released every month and can be accessed directly below or streamed on popular podcast platforms, such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Deezer, Google Podcasts or Amazon Music. Check out the Green Deal – Big Deal? website for more information on the podcast and webinar series.

Webinar series

Listening to our podcast is nice, but not enough for you? You are in luck! In addition to the podcast series, we organized a series of eight online events, targeting young Europeans aged 18-35. The recordings of all webinars are available online.

Join us and our invited experts. We are keen to hear your questions, suggestions and ideas and discuss them together. Are you on board? Sign up for our mailing list to stay up to date with upcoming podcasts.

Decarbonizing Buildings and Transport – A new future for EU emissions trading

Fifteenth episode of the podcast "Green Deal – Big Deal?"

Year 2024

Publication:Podcast

In this episode of "Green Deal – Big Deal?", we tackle the complex world of natural resources, a topic that underpins many aspects of Europe's ambition for a green future. In conversation with guests Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director-General of European Commission’s DG Environment, and Janez Potočnik, Co-chair of the International Resources Panel, hosts Ewa Iwaszuk and Aaron Best discuss how the use of natural resources is closely linked to the climate and biodiversity crises, highlighting the global nature of resource use and its impacts.

Material World: Using resources sustainably in a time of planetary crises

Fourteenth episode of the podcast "Green Deal – Big Deal?"

Year 2024

Event:Digital Event

On 24 January 2024, participants joined this webinar to find out what design competitions, 3D printers and beauty have to do with Europe’s journey to becoming a climate-neutral continent?

Bringing creativity and beauty to Europe's green transition

24 January 2024
online

Publication:Podcast

Achieving carbon neutrality in the EU is more than reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It's also about ensuring that the transition to a sustainable future is fair and equitable. That’s where the idea of Just Transition comes in, with its aim to ensure that no people or regions are left behind. In this episode, we dive into the multifaceted nature of Just Transition, covering its environmental, economic, social, and political aspects.

Ensuring a Just Transition to Net-zero Emissions

Twelfth episode of the podcast "Green Deal – Big Deal?"

Year 2024

Event:Digital Event

According to the European Commission, almost 26 million tonnes of plastic waste are generated annually in the EU. And since we learned how to produce plastic, humans have manufactured more than 8.3 billion tonnes of it – most of which ended up as a waste product somewhere on the planet. This process leads to plastic waste entering the landscape, rivers, beaches, and eventually ocean. So how can we possibly address a problem of this size?

From Packaging to Microplastics: Unwrapping EU and international plastics policy

29 November 2023
online

Event:Digital Event

Utility-scale solar photovoltaics and onshore wind are now the cheapest sources of new power in most countries, and according to a 2022 report by the International Energy Agency, renewables will account for over 90% of global electricity expansion over the next five years. To support the rapid change to renewables, dramatic changes in energy infrastructure such as grids are also needed.

Europe's Energy Transition – Rolling out renewables and infrastructure

23 October 2023
online

Publication:Podcast

The latest "Green Deal – Big Deal?" podcast episode, hosted by Ricarda Faber and Aaron Best of Ecologic Institute, features interview guests Professor Johan Lilliestam of the Research Institute for Sustainability Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (RIFS) and Dr. Andrzej Ancygier of Climate Analytics. During the discussion, they shed light on the past, present and future of renewables in the EU, describing the major market shifts, policy events and technological developments that have made renewable energy one of the most exciting facets of achieving sustainability in Europe.

Europe's Race to Renewables – cheaper, vaster, faster

Eleventh episode of the podcast "Green Deal – Big Deal?"

Year 2023

Event:Digital Event

On 28 June 2023, participants joined webinar hosts Ricarda Faber and Aaron Best from Ecologic Institute and their two expert guests: Humberto Delgado Rosa (Director for Biodiversity at the European Commission) and Sabien Leemans (Senior Biodiversity Policy Officer for WWF). Together, they discussed what can be done to restore ecosystems and protect biodiversity in the EU, as well as the new Nature Restoration Law proposed by the European Commission.

Nature Restoration Law: Restoring Europe's ecosystems and protecting biodiversity

28 June 2023
online

Publication:Podcast

Our planet is experiencing a biodiversity crisis. And the problem across the EU is also severe, with more than 80% of habitats in the EU now in a bad or poor conservation status. To reverse this alarming trend, the European Commission has proposed the Nature Restoration Law, which aims to restore at least 20% of EU land and sea by 2030, and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.

Nature Restoration Law: Restoring Europe's ecosystems & protecting biodiversity

Tenth episode of the podcast "Green Deal – Big Deal?"

Year 2023

Language: English
Credits: Concept and Content: Aaron Best, Ewa Iwaszuk (Ecologic Institute)
Technical implementation and Communication: Chiara Mazzetti (Ecologic Institute)
Sound: Lena Aebli (Ecologic Institute)
Hosts: Aaron Best, Ricarda Faber
Interview partners: Alina Ujupan (Joint Research Centre, European Commission) and Edouard Cabay (Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC))
Funding: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV), Germany
Published by: Ecologic Institute, Germany
Year: 2024
Dimension: 39:21 min
Project: Green Deal – Big Deal? Discussing Europe's Green Future
Project ID: 30011
Keywords: Communication

Culture + Ecology

Science, technology, art, culture, community participation, community development, investments, sustainable projects, environmental and social challenges, innovation, architecture, green transformation, creative thinking

Europe

Further Links

Green Deal – Big Deal? Discussing Europe's Green Future

ProjectWangeliner Workcamps – A green idea of future

This project oversees the organization of workcamps for German youth interested in green professions during vacations in 2016-2018. Participation in the one week long vocational camps in Wangelin, Mecklenburg is free of charge. Themes of the workcamps include the... Read more

Wangeliner Workcamps – A green idea of future

Duration: Jul 2016 - Nov 2018
Funding: Verein zur Förderung ökologisch-ökonomisch angemessener Lebensverhältnisse westlich des Plauer Sees (FAL), Germany

New European Bauhaus initiative

TOVA Project