1st NEB Academy Conference: Knowledge, Skills, and Innovation in Sustainable Construction for a Resilient Future of Europe | Barcelona, Spain

On 27 February 2026, over 80 participants from across Europe gathered in Barcelona for the 1st New European Bauhaus Academy Conference on “Knowledge, Skills, and Innovation in Sustainable Construction for a Resilient Future of Europe”. The event brought together educators, trainers, researchers, architects, innovators, and policymakers, all committed to accelerating the sustainable transformation of Europe’s built environment. The conference showcased plenty of good practices in skills and training for sustainable construction and opened a strategic reflection on the NEB Academy’s future role as a comprehensive support system for creating beautiful, regenerative, and inclusive neighbourhoods across Europe. The event was part of the UNESCO-UIA Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture programme and co-hosted by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), InnovaWood, and the University of Primorska,

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The NEB Academy: a flagship initiative for the sustainable transition 

In a rapidly changing global context, Europe’s economy must transition towards a sustainable, digital, and inclusive future, by strengthening both competitiveness and resilience while delivering at the same time on social and climate goals. The New European Bauhaus Academy (NEB Academy) is the European Commission’s flagship initiative to support this transition. Its mission is to drive a beautiful, sustainable, and inclusive transformation of the built environment, a key sector for the economy and for climate action.  

The 1st NEB Academy Conference in Barcelona showcased the first pillar of the Academy: the NEBA Alliance, launched in 2021, has initiated a European network for training and skills development in sustainable construction. The NEBA Alliance presented its first achievements, including the network of regional training hubs, the accomplished pilot trainings in the field of sustainable construction with wood and other biomaterials, and the outreach actions towards interested stakeholders outside of Europe. Furthermore, various invited other NEB projects presented their innovative approaches to knowledge-sharing, cultural inclusion, reconstruction, and urban transformation.  Overall, the 1st NEBA conference offered a vibrant forum for exchange and networking of all NEBA Alliance partners, other NEB projects, local stakeholders and the NEB Unit of the JRC.

Highlights from the Opening Session:

  • Anna Ramos, Director of the Mies Foundation, welcomed the participants at the conference venue the City Council of Barcelona’s Culture and Education Centre and presented some highlights of Barcelona’s leading role as a leading metropole for urban sustainability and citizen engagement.
  • Ruth Reichstein, Member of Cabinet of Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, congratulated the NEBA Alliance for the already accomplished work. Because of the successful progress, it was decided to widen the scope of NEBA beyond skills and include also new features for innovation and knowledge, which will be codesigned through constant dialogue with the Alliance and NEB community partners.
  • Daniel Ibañez, CEO and Director of IAAC, highlighted the urgency to speed up the green transition in the construction sector. This can be achieved through closer collaboration between architects, engineers and urban planners, and more innovation, fast prototyping and experimentation with materials, digitalization and prefab systems.  Preview presentation | Download presentation

A renewed policy vision of the NEB Academy 

The NEB Academy’s goal is to support the European construction ecosystem in achieving carbon neutrality, taking into account the new emerging global policy context. In view of the good achievements since its launch, the European Commission has decided to enlarge the NEB Academy to an even more ambitious, wider scope. Guided by the 2025  Communication on the New European Bauhaus, the NEB Academy contributes to the EU ambition to move towards a climate neutral and circular economy, to the Clean Industrial Deal, the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, the EU Water Resilience Strategy, the European Affordable Housing Plan, the European Strategy for Housing Construction, and the Circular Economy Act.  

The NEB Academy will provide a comprehensive support system targeting all relevant professionals, practitioners and decisionmakers in the construction ecosystem who work towards creating beautiful, regenerative, and inclusive neighbourhoods across Europe. It will combine three building blocks:

  1. “Learn” includes capacity building and skills development;
  2. “Experiment” comprises innovation and business development support;
  3. “Envision, Connect, Reflect” is about knowledge exchange and research.  

Integrating these pillars and support tools for capacity building, research and innovation into one major, cross-sectoral initiative will enable them to grow together and reinforce each other, and will boost faster experimentation, enhanced replication and scale-up of NEB solutions across the entire building value chains. The long-term ambition is to establish the NEB Academy as Europe’s reference point in bio-based, circular, and digital solutions for the built environment.  

  • Elena Montani, Head of Unit of the New European Bauhaus at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre presented the new strategic reflection about the Academy’s future role and development at the conference. View | Download 

Panel discussion: the future of the NEB Academy

Five NEB experts took part in the panel discussion to explore the role of skills and innovation in shaping the next phase of the NEB Academy.

  • Matti Kuittinen, Professor for Architecture at Aalto University.
  • Ambra Trotto, EIT Culture & Creativity, Director of RIS and Transformation,
  • Selma Harrington, Union of International Architects & Architects’ Council of Europe.
  • Vicente Guallart, Co-Founder of IAAC, former chief architect of the City Council of Barcelona.
  • Uwe Kies, InnovaWood, Secretary General, and Chair of the Wood4Bauhaus Alliance.

NEB Academy Hubs – Success stories of pilot trainings 

Six short talks highlighted engaging success stories from different regions of Europe, including:

NEB Project Pitches – knowledge sharing in culture and urban transformation 

In a dynamic PechaKucha session, six initiatives presented innovative approaches to knowledge-sharing, cultural inclusion, reconstruction skills, urban transformation, and public building renovation. Projects included contributions from:

Networking

The afternoon featured an interactive networking session, encouraging cross-sector collaboration and exchange among participants. Florence Kuijl, InnovaWood, provided participants with a dedicated approach to go from connections to collaborations. The idea was to allow participants to initiate discussions and engage in follow-up meetings.

Open invitation to host candidates for the 2nd NEB Academy Conference 2027 

Following the success of the first edition, we invite interested organisations or partnerships to submit their expressions of interest for hosting the 2nd NEBA Conference flagship event in a location of your choice. It will be a unique opportunity for you to showcase your local ecosystem, strengthen European collaboration, and contribute to shaping the future of skills, education, and innovation in the built environment. Please contact the NEBA Alliance Outreach Hub at secretary@innovawood.eu . 

Pictures of the conference

© NEBA Alliance, InnovaWood / Francisca Siza, 2026