Inclusive, Sustainable and Beautiful: The Conclusion of the European Youth 4 Bauhaus Project

Launched in 2022, the European cooperation project Youth 4 Bauhaus, supported by the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships programme, brought together Braga and the cities of Bucharest (Romania), Ghent (Belgium), and Košice (Slovakia) to reflect on and debate the urban, environmental, political, social, and cultural dynamics of contemporary cities.

Over the course of the project, 80 students and nine teachers from the four cities — including young people with reduced mobility, hearing impairments, and autism spectrum disorders — developed participatory and co-creation practices in public space. These spaces were analysed and tested in accordance with the principles of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) — inclusion, sustainability, and beauty. Throughout the three-year period, the initiative strengthened the capacities of both the participating organisations and young people, while fostering their active participation as citizens in shaping urban environments, using the educational programme Minecraft as a supporting tool.

The results achieved during the project have now been published in full by the partner consortium, including a manual of participatory practices for the creation of sustainable public spaces, an inclusive guide, and a Minecraft tutorial. These resources provide free public access to all the tools and methodologies used by the participants. Through these outputs, the project can be replicated and implemented by teachers, educators, trainers, specialists, and other professionals anywhere in the world, helping to establish an inclusive educational framework that promotes youth engagement in the future of cities.

Youth 4 Bauhaus is a project funded by the Erasmus+ programme and grounded in the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative, launched by the European Commission in October 2020. Inspired by creativity, art, and culture, the initiative adds a new dimension to the European Green Deal, with the mission of bringing it closer to all citizens and their everyday lives.