NEB Compass self-assessment – Step 3/6 – Values

Values – TOGETHER

Together

How can we create spaces and projects that bring people together?

The Value Together in the New European Bauhaus (NEB) Compass builds on the concept of inclusion, enriched with equality, accessibility and affordability.

A together project embodies the spirit of togetherness with a positive, open and nondiscriminatory approach that goes beyond categorizing social groups based on differences.

Read more about the ambitions

To Include

Equality • Accessibility • Prioritizing disadvantaged people

A project at ambition level I prioritizes inclusivity, providing accessibility and affordability for all, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, ability, age or sexual orientation. It emphasizes the crucial need to prioritize less represented individuals, groups and communities for equality of treatment and opportunities.

Example
Cristobal de Moura Green Street (Spain) is a park project in Barcelona. The project includes affordable public housing and gives people with fewer economic resources the opportunity to enjoy living in a park environment too. It also includes kindergartens, social centres, a public gym, co-working and other social, cultural and educational equipment for different groups to enjoy.
Possible guiding questions
  • Is the project easily and equally accessible? In what sense?
  • Is the project affordable? How can a project become more affordable?
  • Does the project consider the needs of less represented communities? Which ones? How?
 

To Consolidate

Overcoming segregation • Representation and social stability • Sharing resources and opportunities

A project at ambition level II actively fosters inclusive relations between users and communities, prioritizing equal treatment and social justice over time. This commitment is reinforced by formal mechanisms like funding, business models, planning, policies, regulations and institutionalization processes.

Example
The Municipal School of Architecture in Borlänge (Sweden) is a tool for democracy. At the school, children and young people learn about both the physical environment and the community-building process. After joining, the children become members of an expert group that helps planners build the municipality. This is a method not only to bring the child’s perspective into planning but also to establish the right of every child to freely express their views in all matters affecting them, as the built environment does.
Possible guiding questions
  • Does the project secure social justice over time? How?
  • Does the project offer equal resources and opportunities? In what ways?
  • Does the project help to overcome segregation between different communities?
  • What kinds of instruments can be put in place to reach this objective?
 

To Transform

Fostering shared social values • Societal development and collective growth • New ways of living together

A project at ambition level III draws inspiration from new ways of living together, emphasizing solidarity and raising awareness of discrimination. When exemplary and replicable, these projects can break obsolete social models, create value and bring transformative benefits, influencing world views, paradigms and social behaviours for broader societal transformation.

Example
Borgo Sostenibile Figino (Italy) is one of the first social and collaborative housing projects in Italy. The experimentation undertaken for its design and creation helped define the social housing sector in Milan, not only creating affordable housing districts but also encouraging the development of collaborative and sustainable communities. The presence of shared spaces and services enables residents to organise and share everyday activities with their neighbours, transforming them into key active players in enhancing their living conditions and contexts.
Possible guiding questions
  • Does the project promote new ways of living together? What kinds of instruments can be put in place to reach this objective?
  • Does the project have the ambition to break obsolete and unjust social models? How does it plan to do this?