SEEKING FINAL RESEARCH PARTNER for HORIZON-NEB-2026-01-BUSINESS-03: Approaches to reuse vacant, obsolete or underutilised spaces

We are developing a multi‑country New European Bauhaus project, to be run by a Finland-based central coordination team, to answer the call: HORIZON-NEB-2026-01-BUSINESS-03: Approaches to reuse vacant, obsolete or underutilised spaces.

The problem we are trying to solve is the growing volume of vacant and underused spaces across Europe, combined with fragmented assessment methods, limited community voice, siloed co‑design practices and a lack of shared frameworks for cross‑regional learning.

Our project brings together digital tools and participatory methods to help European neighbourhoods identify and reactivate vacant or under‑used spaces. Coordinated from Finland, the initiative connects residents, owners and municipalities through a shared digital environment that supports open exploration, idea‑generation and collaborative decision‑making.

Across several pilot locations, local authorities lead engagement and ensure strong community involvement. Residents contribute local knowledge, municipalities and owners share contextual information, and design partners help visualise emerging ideas. These inputs collectively reveal opportunities for reuse and support transparent, community‑driven development pathways.

The consortium includes committed municipalities, digital and technology partners, and multiple research organisations. We are now seeking one final research partner to complete the core consortium and contribute to the project’s analytical dimension.

The gap we are trying to fill is the need for a research partner who can generate comparable, EU‑wide evidence on the types, locations and drivers of vacancy. This role provides the structured analysis that municipalities, owners and communities currently lack, creating a shared foundation for co‑design and reuse across regions.

Please reach out if are you interested to join our consortium!