The New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative promotes the integration of sustainability, beauty, and social inclusion into daily life and the built environment, with education playing a central role. The conference will highlight how this initiative encourages creative and sustainable teaching methods, such as blended learning and inspiring creative learning spaces, to equip citizens with the critical thinking and skills needed for a sustainable future.

Furthermore, the conference will showcase how educational organizations (schools, universities, science centers) could act as drivers for the development of green neighborhood “living labs” (Designing project-based, experiential learning led by schools with parents, local businesses, the wider community). These organisations are considered open schooling environments, “learning organisations” and “core social centres” that can react more quickly to changing external environments, embrace innovations in internal organisation, and ultimately improve learners’ and visitors’ educational outcomes and attitudes.

Co-organised by University College Cork, the Environmental Education Unit (EEU) of An Taisce, Ellinogermaniki Agogi and Alliance Sens & Economie in the framework of the NEB-LAB, ECO2-SCHOOLS as New European Bauhaus Labs project, the aim of the “The Role of Schools in the New European Bauhaus” Conference is to bring together researchers, educators, different stakeholders and policy makers to share their views and experiences and also to present the outcomes of the work that was realized in the framework of the project. The conference will discuss the concept of the Open Schooling where schools partner with their local communities and stakeholders to become agents of community well-being through their involvement in co-creative research and innovation on energy and resource efficiency in the school settings, inspired by the green school demonstrators.