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In leading the way to a fundamental shift from buildings as consumers of energy to buildings as producers of energy, schools need a systemic renovation. Therefore, we joined the ‘Eco² Schools as New European Bauhaus Labs’. On behalf of VenhoevenCS, Cecilia Gross is part of the NEB|LAB Chamber of Quality, guiding and supporting five school pilot projects in Europe on their road to becoming zero-energy and energy-positive, by design and by community.

Set the example
Eco² Schools as New European Bauhaus Labs capitalizes on five eco-renovation educational building projects that are currently in progress. By building on the concept of Open Schooling, the selected pilot sites are developing concrete and replicable climate action plans to be transformed into innovation hubs in their communities, raising citizen awareness activities to facilitate social innovation, promoting education and training for sustainability, conducive to competences and positive behaviour for a resource-efficient and environmentally respectful energy use.

The 5 pilot sites are:
University College Cork, Ireland
Eco²Campus Microville Durable, France
Ciência Viva “Pavilhão do Conhecimento”, Lisbon, Portugal
Sigtunaskolan Humanistiska Läroverket, Stockholm, Sweden
Ellinogermaniki Agogi, Greece

Roadmap for Eco-Renovation
The process is being guided and supported by the NEB|LAB Chamber of Quality, an innovative partnership that brings together expertise of architects and landscape designers, technology and solutions providers, financial bodies, and local stakeholders. In this Chamber, we bring forward our expertise on innovative school design related to sustainability, climate-adaptivity and biodiversity, to urban revitalization and a healthy lifestyle.
The iterative process (test, learn, consolidate, upscale) will increase knowledge gained working with Green Action Plans based on existing Eco-Renovation pilot projects. The central outcome will be a Roadmap to zero-energy and energy-positive educational buildings.

Empower to act
Our shared vision here is to empower citizens to act on sustainability, the environment, and climate change. In the context of the new Education for Climate Coalition, the vision is to empower neighbourhoods in transition within 3 generations.
The common feature in all pilot sites will be a by-product of the desire to create a building that inspires forward-looking, inquiry-based learning, and a sense of ownership among students and building stakeholders alike. The vision is for the school, the university, as well as the science centre environment to help fuel the student body’s enthusiasm for learning, promoting engagement with peers, teachers, and even the building itself.
A final ambition for systemic change is that by 2025 the project has gained the involvement of +150 ‘follower schools’, that will start developing their own climate-neutral renovation Green Action Plans.

NEB|LAB Eco²-Schools is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programma of the European Union.
We invite you to follow NEB|LAB on LinkedIn, and to visit the website.