NEB_ONTOUR in Halle (Saale) with guests from the DG REGIO NEB Peer2Peer Community (P2P) to Schwemme e. V.
Schwemme e. V. in Halle (Saale) had only just received its funding decision for the NEB_PROJEKT ‘LEHM - BAU - KULTUR’, funded by the EU's Just Transition Fund, at the beginning of May 2025 when a European visitor was already on the doorstep! On 18 June 2025, guests from the DG REGIO NEB Peer2Peer Community (P2P) were welcomed as part of a NEB_ONTOUR.
The delegation, accompanied by employees from the Structural Change in the Central German Mining Region staff unit, came to the courtyard on the cosy Schwemmesaale square to get to know both the NEB_AKTEURE in Halle and their ambitious NEB_PROJEKT, make contacts, engage in direct dialogue and share important experiences. The framework was provided by a NEB_ONTOUR, a format in which the Saxony-Anhalt NEB_NETWORKOFFICE moderates a day-long exchange between participants, experts and interested parties at the location of the event and brings together project ideas, expertise and support. With the guests from the European Commission, we had profound experts ‘on board’ for the common NEB_GOAL: creative and sustainable solutions for ecological change.
Schwemme project manager Johanna Voll first gave a tour of the 300-year-old brewery building, taking the audience on a journey through the history of the building, its present - and its bright future. The 40 or so Schwemme association members have been working on this since 2015, gradually saving, preserving and renovating the listed industrial monument using traditional craft techniques, with clay construction taking centre stage. With their NEB_PROJEKT ‘LEHM - BAU - KULTUR’, a regional clay building specialist & lay education centre is now to be created as a third location in Halle, with the aim of developing a clay building competence centre - and this in collaboration with their NEB association partner, the Centre for Social Research Halle e.V.
The P2P guests and their companions took an interested look around the construction site and inspected the rooms where an open learning and meeting centre will later be opened and the potential of natural building materials such as clay will be communicated. Under the motto LEARN - SHAPE - ENGAGE, the centre aims to combine theoretical knowledge and the practical application of circular building methods through workshops, educational opportunities and collaborative design. The Schwemme is already a living example of the New European Bauhaus with its claim to social participation, ecological sustainability and building culture. The European guests, including a representative from Romania from the Regional Development Agency West, were particularly interested in how exactly these high standards are put into practice in the Schwemme, what challenges, difficulties and problems the #NewBauhäusler face and where help and support are needed. The discussions were approachable, open and honest, and the participants sat together in Halle's Lehmbau-Brauhaus and exchanged ideas in order to find out how other European countries are succeeding in anchoring NEB in EU cohesion policy. The regional and local perspective was more than important. Only in this way will it be possible to jointly explore the potential for improvement in EU funding programmes.
A perfect reality check!
Interview with Sarah Meier-Koch, Staff Unit Structural Change in the Central German Mining Region, on the visit of the European NEB Peer2Peer Community of DG Regio (P2P)
Sarah, the staff unit took part in the NEB_ONTOUR with the EU guests in Halle (Saale). A special day?
Sarah Meier-Koch: Absolutely! Having representatives of the European Commission as guests in our country and a representative from Romania who has a special connection to the NEB in cohesion policy - that was good to experience. And there was an open and honest exchange of views, including on the practical implementation of our JTF funding approach in Saxony-Anhalt. The hybrid meeting in the morning and on site during a NEB_ONTOUR with the Schwemmeverein in the afternoon on the NEB_PROJEKT ‘LEHM - BAU - KULTUR’ was a perfect reality check - at all levels.
What were the findings?
Sarah Meier-Koch: For example, that there were also challenges in other EU countries when designing the funding guidelines in order to harmonise European and state law. Unfortunately, it took Saxony-Anhalt a year and a half. We now know that we are in a similarly good or poor position compared to other European countries. However, it was always important for us to get the implementation of the funding approach off the ground with legal certainty. Nevertheless, the challenge now remains to complete the projects on time in the remaining time of a rather short funding period.
Why is such an exchange with each other and in person so important?
Sarah Meier-Koch: The EU is becoming more tangible, more approachable. For some people, the Commission hovers over everything like a UFO and there are no real insights into the opportunities that are available. An informal meeting of the community is the perfect platform for sharing tangible experiences. Talking to each other in a smaller group, getting specific and also criticising, helps us all move forward. For us as a staff unit, the feedback from the stakeholders is just as important as it is for the guests. They take their experiences back to Brussels. The aim: to improve EU funding programmes.
Thank you very much!
The interview was conducted by Cornelia Heller on behalf of NEB_NETWORKOFFICE Sachsen-Anhalt.
With a European spirit
Interview with Johanna Voll, Schwemme e. V., project manager of the NEB_PROJECT ‘LEHM-BAU-KULTUR’ on the visit of the European NEB Peer2Peer Community of DG Regio (P2P)
Johanna, a European visitor came to the Schwemme, how did you experience the day?
Johanna Voll: The morning meeting in the ‘Lichthaus’ was a hybrid exchange in the form of an evaluation, where we learned how the NEB funding guidelines were set up in the other European countries and how the various NEB projects are organised. We reported from Saxony-Anhalt on how NEB works for non-profit, association-based initiatives such as Schwemme e. V. and what great opportunities, but also risks, there can be when utilising NEB funding, the latter with regard to private liability, lack of reserves or advance funding. This was new to the visitors and of great interest.
In the afternoon, it was off to the Schwemme ...
Johanna Voll: ... where we were able to show the guests around the historic brewery, talk about the significance of the building and its history for our association, and why the focus from the outset was on creating a ‘third place’ with a clay building centre of excellence. It was a wonderful moment to feel how the guests understood that our main aim here is to bring people together: different people from different parts of society with very different socio-economic backgrounds and age groups can come together in the Schwemme and talk to each other. That is our aim. And for this, of course, we need a few funds both for building and for actively organising the ‘third place’, i.e. for staff, fees for workshops and specialist lectures. But we are already organising various formats in the building during the construction phase.
What was particularly remarkable about the exchange for you?
Johanna Voll: That we were able to share our thoughts very openly and trustingly! That's not a matter of course, because when ‘politics’ is sitting at the table, you start thinking: how openly can I speak? I was very impressed by this open-mindedness. Not along the lines of: ‘We are now the critical EU controllers here’, but quite the opposite: at eye level. The guests brought this ‘European spirit’ with them and, quite honestly, brought it back to life for me personally. In times when so much is going against each other, being able to drive things forward together again, to learn from each other in the best sense - that is a great value.
What remains?
Johanna Voll: The memory of a wonderful day! And the fact that we have been invited to Brussels for the Peer2Peer Community meeting in September 2025! We look forward to further dialogue with Europe!
Thank you very much!
The interview was conducted by Cornelia Heller on behalf of NEB_NETWORKOFFICE Sachsen-Anhalt.
Good feedback
Interview with Katrin Kanus-Sieber, Head of the NEB_NETZWERKBÜROS Sachsen-Anhalt on her visit to the European NEB Peer2Peer Community of DG Regio (P2P)
NEB_ONTOUR in Halle (Saale) with the European NEB Peer2Peer Community: In the morning, we had a hybrid meeting with a large group of experts ...
Katrin Kanus-Sieber: Yes, we were able to introduce our European guests to Saxony-Anhalt and convey to them the continuity of the work of the Bauhaus and its successor institutions in our region: that we are ‘Bauhausland’! It was about the knowledge we already have in terms of transformation, ecological and societal aspects that have already been addressed in the ‘Industrial Garden Kingdom’ and the ‘IBA Urban Redevelopment 2010’ and from whose experience the state initiative for #NeueBauhäusler draws. For many of the participants, it was new that the current goals of the New European Bauhaus have been integrated into research and pilot projects in many respects since the late 1980s.
Then it was time for a direct exchange. What was of particular interest to guests and hosts?
Katrin Kanus-Sieber: Many questions were asked and discussed that centred on finding, creating and promoting NEB_PROJECTS, their quality according to the NEB_CRITERIA and the development of networks. The European perspective took centre stage here and it was exciting to hear how things are going elsewhere. We were able to report that there are many initiatives working in Saxony-Anhalt that already fulfil these criteria and whose ideas simply fit our NEB funding call. Just like the Schwemme project or the Kulturvilla in Droyßig.
And together we thought about how we could make it even better?
Katrin Kanus-Sieber: Exactly! Where are the levers for success: both with regard to the European NEB initiative and, in particular, to social cohesion and the design of funding programmes? How can this be achieved between the regions in Europe and here in Germany? I am convinced that it is absolutely necessary to support local initiatives in their integrative locations, to get the small approaches up and running. This became very clear in the afternoon during the remarkable tour of the historic Schwemme brewery and while socialising with the members of the association. And very practical aspects of implementation, the concrete challenges, the NEB's everyday life, so to speak, were discussed. An important insight for which we and the guests are very grateful.
A summary?
Katrin Kanus-Sieber: It was an impressive meeting, at the end of which an invitation to Brussels was extended. And the good feeling has arisen that we are being recognised at EU level, that they know what we are here in Saxony-Anhalt #NeueBauhäusler in the sense of the NEB and that we are able to support great projects. Our experiences are well received in Brussels. Good feedback.
Thank you very much!
The interview was conducted by Cornelia Heller on behalf of NEB_NETWORKOFFICE Sachsen-Anhalt.
Impressions
