European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Commissioner Roswall's closing speech at the Festival of the New European Bauhaus 2026 Brussels, 12 June 2026 Ladies and gentlemen, Dear friends of the New European Bauhaus, Festival visitors. Good afternoon to you all, We're coming to the end of this year's New European Bauhaus Festival. And what a Festival! Let me start by saying a heartfelt thank you - to all s...
European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Commissioner Roswall's closing speech at the Festival of the New European Bauhaus 2026 Brussels, 12 June 2026 Ladies and gentlemen, Dear friends of the New European Bauhaus, Festival visitors. Good afternoon to you all, We're coming to the end of this year's New European Bauhaus Festival. And what a Festival! Let me start by saying a heartfelt thank you - to all speakers, organisers, exhibitors, artists, researchers, entrepreneurs, and participants. You made this such an inspiring and insightful event. In times of great challenges, war in Europe, global disruption, this Festival was a much needed injection of hope, creativity and perspective. It has shown the great diversity and importance of the New European Bauhaus. We discussed what exactly it means when we talk about “home”. We explored how to make neighbourhoods more democratic and resilient. We talked about how to renovate and build housing with bio-based, circular and innovative materials. We looked at how investment, entrepreneurship and innovation can scale up sustainable solutions and create new markets. And we reflected on how art, culture, skills and training must remain at the centre of a circular and clean transition. A home is where lives take shape, where communities thrive, and where people feel safe, seen, and connected. Housing is the foundation of our neighbourhoods, an expression of our culture, and the cornerstone of our democratic societies. Yet today, for millions of Europeans, this foundation is cracking. And as climate change tightens its grip—through floods, wildfires, droughts, and water scarcity—our communities face not just a housing crisis, but a social and environmental one. That is why the overarching them for the festival was ‘affordable housing'. And that is why we cannot talk about housing without talking about resilience and sustainability. A home that is unaffordable offers no stability. A home that is not resilient offers no security. But within these challenges lies an opportunity to rethink how we design, build, and live in our homes and neighbourhoods. This is where the New European Bauhaus comes in. It proves that sustainability, inclusion, and beauty are not competing ideals—they are reinforcing ones. When we create homes that are energy- and water efficient, climate-adapted, and community- centred, we do more than cut carbon emissions. We reduce long-term costs for families. We ease the burden on public services. We improve well-being. In short: sustainability and affordability go hand in hand. Just before joining you here, I had the chance to visit several inspirational projects at the FAIR. These projects, and others like them, are showing how the New European Bauhaus is being translated into innovative solutions across Europe and beyond. The BIOARC project is creating sustainable construction and insulation solutions rooted in regional resources and knowledge. Through concrete examples in textiles, construction and battery systems, the Pathfinders initiative is exploring one of the key questions of the clean transition: how do we make the circular economy work in practice? The projects presented by Natureza Urbana are all about bringing more nature into cities through greener public spaces, water-sensitive design and ecological restoration. LIFE BE-WoodEN promotes more sustainable and climate-friendly construction by encouraging the wider use of wood in buildings. And LIFE Bauhausing Europe uses the renovation and rethinking of an iconic public building as a starting point to promote circular initiatives. These projects show us the possibilities within reach. The next step is to enable such progress at scale — through innovative instruments, alliances, and new forms of learning and support. In the coming years, I hope the NEB will increasingly become an enabler of the clean transition and of the regeneration of neighbourhoods. We have a growing Community, we have the political direction, and we have the instruments, including funding. So, my last words are a call for action. I invite all of you - architects, designers, policymakers, businesses across all sectors and citizens - to spread the word, contribute, replicate, and innovate. The Commission will continue to support this movement through funding, research, and policy support. And we will work closely with the European Parliament, Member States and other key stakeholders. But real change will come when these ideas take root in your cities, your towns, your streets. And in two years' time, we will hopefully meet again, in even bigger numbers, to celebrate more milestones in the next New European Bauhaus Festival. Ladies and gentlemen, We're not finished here yet. There are still inspiring panel discussions, workshops and exchanges ahead this afternoon. In fact, immediately after this session, we will continue with the award for the first Trophy of the New European Bauhaus Prizes. I warmly invite all of you to stay with us for this moment to celebrate creativity. Thank you. SPEECH/26/1356
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