Parma (Italy)
20 – 22 May 2025
The first transnational meeting of the RETHINK project took place in Parma from 20 to 22 May 2025. The three-day event focused on exploring the values and tools of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) and their application in participatory urban transformation.
The meeting opened on 20 May at the Complesso San Paolo – Laboratorio Aperto, with institutional greetings by the Deputy Mayor of Parma, Lorenzo Lavagetto, who also holds responsibility for Culture, Tourism, and European Projects.
The core of the first day was a training session led by Francesco Marchionni from EuLabTEC, official partner of the New European Bauhaus, titled “Navigating the New European Bauhaus: tools, practices, and participatory public design”. The training was structured in five modules:
Module 1: Introduction to the origins, principles, and community of the NEB, and its links to the European Green Deal.
Module 2: Presentation of the NEB Compass and NEB Toolbox, with a focus on how they support community involvement and integration in urban planning.
Module 3: A hands-on lab where participants evaluated projects using the NEB Compass and tested participatory techniques from the Toolbox.
Module 4: An overview of best practices, including NEB Prize-winning initiatives and NEB-funded projects led by local authorities and civic networks.
Module 5: An open dialogue on how to apply NEB principles locally, exchange ideas for future projects, and map opportunities for collaboration.
The afternoon also included a presentation of the RETHINK project within the Municipality of Parma’s CERV programme, with a focus on citizen engagement, cultural inclusion, and links between NEB and active citizenship.
On 21 May, participants visited WOPA (Workout Pasubio), a space for youth creativity, entertainment, and urban regeneration. The visit was followed by presentations from project partners on local examples of city revitalisation, highlighting political context, stakeholder involvement, and participatory approaches. The day concluded with reflections on the two-day training.
The final day, 22 May, was hosted at Il Punto – Hub Creativo. The agenda focused on internal project coordination, including a video on the European Youth Capital, technical and administrative aspects of the project, and planning of the next meetings in Lublin and Trollhättan.
