"Compassionate Commons" - The impact of common space on neighbourhood communities,University of Bergen, Norway (HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-PARTICIPATION-01)

Compassionate Commons is a Nordic-European research and innovation project that rethinks how care and health can be embedded in everyday life—through the power of culture, participatory design, and shared space. In the face of aging populations, social fragmentation, and service pressure, we ask: How can neighborhoods foster connection, dignity, and belonging across generations?

At its core, the project embraces a simple but radical principle:
“A compassionate city is a community that recognizes care as everyone’s responsibility.”

Led by the University of Bergen, in collaboration with AHO (TBC) and potential partners in countries like Norway, France, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, Italy, Sweden, the UK, Compassionate Commons uses art, music, architecture, and design to prototype inclusive, sustainable, and beautiful neighborhood environments rooted in community.

Working across three scales—compassionate cities, neighborhoods, and institutions—the project brings together municipalities, healthcare professionals, cultural practitioners, and researchers to co-create new models for public space, where care is not only delivered, but shared, supported, and celebrated.

We are now expanding our consortium and invite new partners (especially from the above mentioned countries)—municipalities, cultural institutions, healthcare actors, and universities—who share our commitment to culture, care, and community as foundations for a more compassionate future.

Leading team: University of Bergen
Researcher: Prof. Wolfgang Schmid (music therapy), Assoc. Prof. Jérôme Picard (architecture and design), Prof. Eamon O’Kane (fine arts), Research advisor: Thomas de Ridder, Anne-Len Aase Thoresen
Contact: Thomas de Ridder