EIT Culture & Creativity, Europe's largest innovation network for the cultural and creative industries, supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, launches two open calls worth a combined €6 million through the NEB Academy. Together, they will accelerate the shift to circular fashion and strengthen skills for sustainable lived environments across Europe.
The way Europe builds its cities and makes its clothes are two of the defining questions of our time; the cultural and creative sectors are where the answers will take shape. EIT Culture & Creativity is driving this forward as implementing partner of the NEB Academy – the New European Bauhaus’ learning and innovation infrastructure giving access to skills, knowledge, and connections for a sustainable, beautiful, and inclusive societal transformation.
Today, EIT Culture & Creativity opens its first calls under this partnership, a direct invitation to innovators, educators and practitioners across Europe to take their work further. The launch coincides with the New European Bauhaus Festival 2026, where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen underscored the NEB Academy as central to building the skills and creativity Europe's transition demands.
Anette Schaefer, CEO of EIT Culture & Creativity, stated: “Europe’s green and digital transitions will not succeed through technology alone. They require creativity, culture and design to translate innovation into solutions that people can see, experience and adopt. The cultural and creative sectors are uniquely positioned to connect sustainability, innovation and human-centred transformation, making them essential partners in building Europe’s future”
The funding opportunities
- NEB Academy | Fashion Shift - Up to €2.5 million in total funding, with up to €500,000 per project: Fashion is one of Europe's most resource-intensive industries, yet it is also a sector where new circular and regenerative approaches are emerging fast. The Fashion Shift funds multi-actor consortia that include independent fashion brands, ready to further develop and scale responsible business models across the European value chain: from material sourcing and design through to retail, circular services and end-of-life management.
- NEB Academy | Skills Infrastructure - Up to €3.5 million in total funding, with up to €600,000 per project: Transforming Europe's lived environment is not only a question of materials, technologies or regulations. It also requires competences across sectors, rooted in cultural and creative practices. The professionals, public bodies and educators who shape our shared spaces need new skills and new ways of working together. The Skills Infrastructure funds five to six trans-regional collaborations to build lifelong learning programmes grounded in local contexts.
