Carlo Battisti, President of Living Future Europe, participated in the Horizon Europe-funded Eyes Hearts Hands Urban Regeneration (EHHUR) General Assembly from 8-10 April in Maia, Portugal, together with lead partner RINA and 30+ partners.
EHHUR👁️❤️🖐️ is part of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative, a creative and interdisciplinary movement connecting the European Green Deal to our living spaces and experiences in practice. EHHUR involved over three years with 28 partners and four third parties from eight countries.
The General Assembly began with a guest presentation and roundtable discussions on the first day, followed by updates on the progress of the seven EHHUR Work Packages (WP) and seven Lighthouse Demonstrators on day two, and concluded with workshops on day three, held at the City Council building.
The roundtable explored the innovative aspects of NEB, the challenges faced, and key lessons learnt. Carlo Battisti highlighted that its holistic, circular, and scalable methodologies set NEB apart. However, applying such a novel approach to public urban regeneration remains a major challenge. The most eye-opening lesson was the power of collectively developing and sharing knowledge generated across Europe, connecting the many initiatives under the one NEB framework.
The General Assembly marked the completion of WP4, ‘Building and District Renovation’, with its four Tasks, in which Living Future Europe took a crucial role. Carlo Battisti presented the outcome and success of the WP:
Living Future Europe coordinated Task 4.1, the authoring of the ‘Catalogue of Best Practices Solutions and Integrated Selection Method’. The Catalogue provides a comprehensive collection of effective strategies for urban regeneration.
Task 4.2 of WP4 saw the development of another key tool, Decision Support System (DSS), a technical, financial, and social guidance for decision-makers in planning, executing and monitoring built environment interventions. Coordinated by Roma Tre University, Living Future Europe took a reviewer role in this Task.
Task 4.3, overviewed by RINA-C, included feasibility studies to assess the drivers and barriers of the pre-selected solutions planned for demonstration.
Task 4.4, coordinated by CERTH, was guiding the implementation of building and district-level renovations at the seven Lighthouse Demonstrator sites. The main results achieved were assessed by how each of the seven site aligned with NEB values, such as Beautiful, Sustainable, Together; and NEB working principles, namely: Participatory process, Multi-level of engagement and Trans-disciplinary approach.
On the closing day, three workshops were held on the DSS tool, on Communities of cities, and finally, on the replicability and scalability of EHHUR.
The future of EHHUR holds valuable insights for urban regeneration programmes across Europe. By September 2025, the tools developed will be implemented within the seven Lighthouse Demonstrators sites across Europe, allowing for drawing insight on successes and challenges based on various localities.
The Catalogue and DSS Tool are expected to increase the uptake of green & just urban regeneration methodologies across Europe, easing the decision-making and application processes, catalysing additional investments, demonstrating the holistic applicability of sustainability, inclusion & aesthetics.
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Living Future Europe is currently providing advisory services for the seven Lighthouse Demonstrators to fully apply the NEB methodologies, and is able to offer consultancy to any urban regeneration projects hoping to apply NEB’s new, holistic urban planning process – get in touch with us.
