To connect the European Green Deal to our living spaces and experiences, the EU has launched the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative. The initiative promotes a new lifestyle where sustainability matches style, thus accelerating the green transition in various sectors of our economy and in our societies. Essentially, the NEB expresses the EU’s ambition of creating beautiful, sustainable, and inclusive places, products and ways of living, bringing out the benefits of environmental transition through tangible experiences at local level to improve our daily lives.
Historically, the creation of the Bauhaus in 1919 emerged at a moment of deep transformation – towards the modern societal and industrial era bringing together artists, designers, architects and craftspeople. This transdisciplinary approach is very much needed for the challenges of our times where we are once again facing profound transformation. Three core inseparable values guide the NEB: Environmental sustainability, from climate goals, circularity, zero pollution, and biodiversity; Aesthetics, quality of experience and style, beyond functionality; and Inclusion, valorizing diversity, equality for all, accessibility, and affordability. At the same time, three fundamental principles emerge during the co-design process of the NEB: combining global and local dimensions, participation and transdisciplinarity.
Motivated by the above, this shift towards sustainability and the green and digital transitions creates new demand in Art & Design Education, as today's graduates will be the ones to facilitate and continue this vision in relation to the ambition of creating beautiful, sustainable, and inclusive places, products and ways of living.
In response, current professionals have the need to upskill and reskill to ensure employability and career progression further ensuring that our future creative and cultural industries are equipped with the skills necessary for the demands of the green transition and beyond. Furthermore, it is imperative that the competencies of our current students and educators are also in line with the needs and requirements of the green transition.
The sudden digital transitions experienced by Art & Design disciplines during the pandemic of Covid-19 explored opportunities for online and hybrid learning scenarios within the creative sector, for both current students and working professionals. The design studio can no longer be viewed as the only space of learning, a more flexible and hybrid model of delivery taking place in different settings should be embraced. In line with the NEB various alternative spaces of learning should also be utilized (green spaces, transdisciplinary spaces, online spaces etc.).
Using alternative spaces of learning to host micro credential courses, can also serve as facilitators for co-design experiences, multidisciplinary projects, and places to meetup, discuss and demonstrate the ideals of the NEB. These developments not only provide opportunities to current students but also flexible and easily attainable solutions to working professionals who wish to upskill or reskill.
As well as curricula development, using shorter micro credential courses with fewer ECTS within Art & Design HE can promote a development in the educational structure of current HE Degrees allowing students to choose a larger number of reduced load courses, resulting in a greater number of skills in comparison with current high numbered ECTS art and free electives. Learning opportunities of smaller volume, in comparison to traditional qualifications, are being developed rapidly across Europe making them a highly attractive way of acquisition of new skills and the development of already held skills.
