Seeking Consortium for Horizon Europe NEB 2025 Call (HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-PARTICIPATION-01).

We are a group of high-profile researchers on Public Space and Urban Commons currently exploring opportunities to join or help shape a consortium for the New European Bauhaus (NEB) Horizon 2025 call: The impact of common space on neighbourhood communities (HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-PARTICIPATION-01).

 We already have a suitable work package written on ‘public spaces and social cohesion’, grounded in recent EU-Australia comparative research and developed by myself with Prof. Gary Bridge (Cardiff University) and Prof. Quentin Stevens (RMIT Europe, Australia). Our approach is tried and tested, supported by prior pilot studies, community engagement, and published findings.

 We have already formed a small group of High-Profile Researchers on Public Space & Urban Commons:

·       Cardiff University (Patricia Aelbrecht, Gary Bridge working on public space and social cohesion)

Open University (Sophie Watson public space as contact spaces)

·       TU Delft (Janina Gosseye, Mohammad Mohammadi working on POPs)

·       University of Antwerp (Stijn Oosterlynck, Pascal Gielen, and colleagues working on community infrastructures, urban commons)

·       RMIT Europe/Australia (Quentin Stevens working on the public space, temporary urbanism, and social cohesion)

We are particularly keen to connect with:

·       Universities with EU grant experience

·       Design/architecture/planning firms

·       Local authorities

 If you are already forming a consortium or know of one looking for strong partners with a developed concept, please get in touch. We are ready to contribute, co-develop, and move fast ahead of the summer deadline.

Below is a small selection of our published work on the topic to date.

 Aelbrecht, P., & Stevens, Q. (Eds.). (2019). Public space design and social cohesion: An international comparison. Routledge.

 Aelbrecht, P., & Stevens, Q. (2023). Geographies of encounter, public space, and social cohesion: reviewing knowledge at the intersection of social sciences and built environment disciplines. Urban Planning, 8(4), 63-76.

Aelbrecht, P., Stevens, Q., & Kumar, S. (2022). European public space projects with social cohesion in mind: symbolic, programmatic and minimalist approaches. European Planning Studies, 30(6), 1093-1123.