We proudly present the winners of the NEB Academy’s Open Call for Cascade Funding. The NEB Academy’s mission is to support the beautiful, sustainable and inclusive transformation of the built environment by offering tangible training and upskilling opportunities for practitioners, workers and changemakers in the construction ecosystem. The objective of the open call is to expand the NEBA Alliance’s regional and topical coverage by involving and onboarding new partners and new pilot trainings from all around Europe.

A total of 59 submitted proposals representing institutions in 26 countries have been assessed. Out of these, a total of 17 grants has been selected for funding in two grant categories. The selected winners are :

a) Training course and material grants: 10 grants, 6 countries

• Volupte Studio (Spain)
• Fondacija Novi evropski Bauhaus za Bosnu I Hercegovinu-NEB4BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• Urbana (Greece)
• Julia Steketee - BAGACEIRA Material Research & Design (Spain)
• Stowarzyszenie Badawczo-Animacyjne Flaneur (Poland)
• Contexts Beata Patuszynska (Poland)
• Stichting Institute for Urban Excellence & Studio Barnard (Netherlands)
• Atelier La Juntana – Armor Gutierrez Rivas (Spain)
• Nationaal Kennis Centrum Biobased Bouw (Netherlands)
• Centrum pro podporu podnikání a zaměstnanosti, z.ú. (Czech Republic)

b) Partnering with existing NEBA hubs grants (7 grants, 9 countries)

• University of Beira Interior & C-MADE Centre of Materials and Civil Engineering for Sustainability (Portugal)
• The Estonian Union of Co-operative Housing Associations (Estonia)
• Vilniaus Gedimino Technikos Universitetas (Lithuania)
• Cluster Legno Arredo e Sistema Casa FVG SRL Consortile (Italy) with POLITECNICO DI MILANO, and UNIVERSITA’ DEGLI STUDI DI UDINE, ISTITUTO TECNICO SUPERIORE ACADEMY UDINE
• BDO Consulting LLC (Ukraine) with Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture and Higher Education Institution Academician Yuriy Bugay International Scientific and Technical University
• SocialTech Lab (Cyprus) with Society and Urban Form (SURF) Lab, KARMA Mixed Reality Lab and Ankara Aks Association (Aks Creative Hub)
• MOZAIK Institute - institution for adult education (Croatia) with Creative Educational Center and E-NERGY NGO

The NEBA Alliance consortium congratulates all the winners and is eager to start the collaboration!

On July 7, 2025, a joint kick-off meeting was held online, during which all participating organisations could introduce themselves and briefly present their proposed contributions to the NEBA. The NEBA coordinators explained the call results and the expected steps for implementation of the cascade grants. In total, 28 new institutions from 11 new countries have been invited to onboard the NEB Academy. Over the next months, the proposed training formats will be created and be launched in the NEBA digital platform,and be supported through aligned communication activities.

A few quotes highlighting the expectations by the winners:

“At Bagaceira, we believe that waste is just raw potential waiting to be transformed.” Julia Steketee, Founder & Creative Director “Ukraine’s green transformation begins with education... where sustainability, inclusiveness, and beauty are not trends but a fundamental foundation.”

Stowarzyszenie Badawczo, Animacyjne Flaneur

“By giving communities the tools to rediscover and celebrate their local heritage, we don’t just preserve the past — we inspire a more connected, inclusive, and creative future.”

Oleksii Shkuratov, First Vice-Rector, KNUCA

Follow our journey on LinkedIn and stay tuned for more news soon!