NEB prizes 2025 included new intros and awarded four winners under the NEB Affordable Housing prize and 20 prizes under the NEB Boost for Small Municipalities. The Public voted for an edible school in Portugal and a therapeutic sculpture project in Italy.
By Creatives Unite NewsroomThe 22 laureates for the “most sustainable, inclusive and beautiful projects” of the 2025 New European Bauhaus Prizes, demonstrated “how the lives of people and communities can be enriched by bringing together culture and technology, innovation and design”.
This year’s fifth edition included two novelties. Four winners were awarded the ‘New European Bauhaus Affordable Housing' Prize, a new special prize recognising the urgent need for more affordable and sustainable housing. Secondly, 20 winners were awarded the 'NEB Boost for Small Municipalities', a new initiative supported by a pilot project of the European Parliament.
President von der Leyen congratulated all participants and stated in her video message: “Every year I am so impressed by the creativity in this competition. Your projects inspire us to think in a new way about the places around us [...] And for many people, the most important place is their home. So I am really pleased with this year's special housing prize.”
Public votes to reconnecting with nature
The 22 NEB projects were set under two strands, the ‘New European Bauhaus Champions' for established projects, and the ‘New European Bauhaus Rising Stars', for promising initiatives from younger applicants. The two strands run across the four NEB prize categories, including:
- 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
The Public’s votes for Champion and Rising Star went both to projects of the category on reconnecting with nature.
The Public’s Champion was a project from Portugal: ‘The Edible School: Transforming Education through Food and Ecology’ (video above). The project fosters food literacy and environmental awareness within the school community by integrating vertical farming, permaculture, agroforestry, and composting in playful outdoor learning activities.
All winners received up to EUR 30,000 and a dedicated communication package by the European Commission. The awards ceremony was held in Brussels on 30 September, in the presence of Rafaelle Fitto, Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms, Jessika Roswall, Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy and Dan Jørgensen, Commissioner for Energy and Housing.
The award ceremony included the launching of the upcoming NEB Trophy 2026, an EU-wide competition for students to design the first official trophy of the New European Bauhaus Prizes. Applications are open until 31 January 2026 here.
In parallel, architects, citizens, companies, cultural actors, innovators, and researchers are invited by the European Commission to contribute to the New European Bauhaus Festival 2026, planned for 9-13 June 2026. Applications are open until 15 October 2025 for the Fair and Fest, and 31 December 2025 for Satellite events. For submissions click here.
The New European Bauhaus (NEB) Prizes celebrate innovative projects and ideas embodying sustainability, inclusivity, and beauty, as the NEB values. Launched in 2021, following President von der Leyen's 2020 State of the Union address, the initiative has inspired almost 500 projects to date and the annual competition has awarded EUR 1.54 million to 72 winners, among over 5,000 applications.
Find more here
Image - snapshot from the award ceremony, available to watch here
