Finland, Sweden, and Estonia collaborated with the European Commission to organise the Into the Woods event at the Haltia Finnish Nature Centre in Nuuksio on November 24, 2022. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen was visibly excited to be out in nature, and was intrigued by both the beautiful wooden building and the topic under discussion. The discussion group included Prime Minister Sanna Marin, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas, Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch, and European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevicius. Themes centred on the future of forests, carbon-neutral construction, and architecture inspired by nature.

The New European Bauhaus academy was announced at the event. Finland, Sweden, Estonia and the EU funded the new institution to a total of three million euro to improve skills for the circular economy, nature- based solutions, wood construction, and architecture. This two-year project aims to produce an online learning package for designers.

The New European Bauhaus is a European Commission initiative that connects European green development to the European Green Deal programme on housing and construction. Its goal is to make sustainable innovation visible in our everyday lives as a concrete and positive experience. In Finland, the contacts for the initiative are the Finnish Ministry of the Environment Matti Kuittinen and Archinfo.

The Ministry of the Environment, Aalto University and the Ministry of Education and Culture have been the main drivers behind the Nordic Bauhaus network. The Nordic partners are the Nordic Council of Ministers; the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning Boverket, Sweden; Council for Sustainable Cities, Sweden; Innovation Agency Vinnova, Sweden; Design and Architecture Norway; Danish Design Centre; Iceland Design and Architecture and the network of old wooden towns in the Nordic countries.

Read the article in Finnish here.