Beautiful, sustainable and inclusive street furniture for the transformation of neighbourhoods

Infrastructural decay, unequal access to essential public amenities (e.g. seating elements, facilities for people with disabilities such as ramps and lifts, etc.) and safety concerns (e.g. related to insufficient lighting or hazardous spatial conditions) represent just some of the challenges that especially older and poorer European neighbourhoods face.

The design of street furniture in neighbourhoods can have a positive impact on people's lives by enhancing comfort, safety, well-being, health, and accessibility. It can also foster social interaction, cohesion, a sense of belonging, cultural identity and community[[ See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.]], respect for common spaces[[ See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.]], etc.[[ A discussed in several studies, such as: Mehta, V. (2014). Evaluating Public Space. Journal of Urban Design, 19(1), 53-88; Cozens, P. M., & Love, T. (2015). A Review and Current Status of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED). Journal of Planning Literature, 30(4), 393-412; Gehl, J. (2011). Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space; Carmona, M. (2019). Principles for Public Space Design, Planning to Do Better. Urban Design International, 24(1), 47-59; Whyte, W. H. (1980). The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces.]]

Furthermore, the attention to aesthetic values in the design of street furniture can contribute to local economies by attracting new visitors (e.g. developing creative tourism) and supporting local businesses, cultural and creative sectors and industries, and social economy entities and enterprises.

More prototyping and demonstration are essential to speed up the integration of innovative street furniture, that offer more attractive, sustainable, and inclusive design solutions for common spaces, following the values and principles of the New European Bauhaus[[ See definitions for NEB values and NEB working principles in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.]].

Proposals are expected to address all of the following:

• Develop and demonstrate innovative designs for sets of street furniture which:
  • Contribute to a functional common space throughout the year that includes relevant features such as resilience to vandalism and weather, protection from the effects of climate change, consideration of local specificities (such as coastal areas), and low maintenance cost.
  • Improve the environmental performance of street furniture and, where relevant, integrate nature-based solutions[[ See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25]], and sustainable, secondary (bio-based), recycled or upcycled materials as well as a digital dimension.
  • Strengthen the aesthetic and cultural integrity of the history of the common space and the neighbourhoods.
  • Meet the needs of different population groups throughout time (through modular and adaptive designs, and considering age, gender, mobility, etc.) by improving comfort, safety, accessibility, social interaction and well-being.
• Apply participatory methods while co-designing and prototyping innovative street furniture.
• Based on the research insights, produce recommendations to inform procurement processes for street furniture.

To achieve this, project consortia may provide financial support to SMEs, education or research institutions, and other relevant actors (such as not-for profit entities) in the form of Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP). Given the type of action and its level of ambition, the amount to be granted to each third party may be a maximum of EUR 100 000 to allow for the prototyping and demonstration of the innovative designs.

Proposals are expected to follow a participatory and transdisciplinary approach through the integration of different actors (such as public authorities, local actors from the targeted neighbourhoods, civil society, actors from the cultural and creative sectors) and disciplines (such as architecture or design, arts and crafts, (civil) engineering, health).

This topic requires the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities[[ See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.]] (SSH) disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

Proposals are expected to dedicate at least 0.2% of their total budget to share their intermediate and final results and findings with the Coordination and Support Action 'New European Bauhaus hub for results and impact' (HORIZON-MISS-2024-NEB-01-03).