Novia strengthens its sustainability efforts – now an official member of the NEB network

17.11.2025
News
Novia fasad

Novia University of Applied Sciences has been accepted as an official member of the European New European Bauhaus network (NEB). Novia becomes the third Finnish educational institution, after Aalto University and Metropolia, to join NEB. Membership in the network is part of Novia’s sustainability work.

The New European Bauhaus is an initiative from the European Commission that combines sustainability, aesthetics, and social inclusion in the development of future living environments. It functions as a creative and interdisciplinary movement where architecture, culture, design, art, technology, research, and societal development meet.

The process of applying for membership in the NEB network for Novia began 1.5 years ago, after Research Director Therese Sunngren-Granlund and Project Manager Malin Winberg participated in a NEB festival in Brussels. The application was based on Novia’s documented merits in sustainability, inclusion, culture, and place-based development, as well as concrete projects aligned with NEB’s values.

– In the application we described, among other things, Novia’s work with creative learning, culture-driven regional development, and interdisciplinary collaborations. After a quality review, Novia was recently approved as a member, says Therese Sunngren-Granlund.

Great significance for Novia

For Novia, the membership is an important step ahead of the upcoming program period. It opens doors to international collaborations and strengthens the university’s role in sustainability and inclusion.

– Becoming part of the NEB network is a mark of quality for our work and gives us the opportunity to contribute to the development of future sustainable societies, says Sunngren-Granlund.

The network’s mission

In practice, NEB is both a network, a knowledge platform, and a vision for creating better, more sustainable, and more human places to live and inhabit.

The NEB network brings together organizations across Europe working with sustainability, aesthetics, and social inclusion in the development of places and communities. Its mission is to:

  • support shared learning
  • disseminate good practices
  • develop methods
  • strengthen collaboration around concrete projects in architecture, culture, education, design, and regional development

The network functions as a knowledge hub and as a link between the European Commission and local actors.

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