By Torben Klitgaard, BLOXHUB CEO
Beautiful. Sustainable. Irresistible. Together. These are the pillars of the EU-funded DESIRE project – where living sustainably in cities is second to none, and urban life flourishes in harmony with our planet.
In the face of urgent global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, and the growing strain on Earth’s capacity, a shared vision for a better future is more critical than ever. This vision must inspire collective action and be deeply rooted in cultural values. The EU-funded project DESIRE (Designing the Irresistible Circular Society) set out to rethink the built environment – going beyond conventional approaches to architecture, design and art. “We aimed to envision a society where environmental transformation is not only possible, but also visible, livable and desirable,” says Torben Klitgaard, DESIRE project coordinator and CEO of BLOXHUB. Grounded in fairness and inclusion, this vision aspires to create opportunities and safety for all – while restoring ecosystems, eliminating waste, and tackling the climate crisis.
Reimagining Cities: Social Housing, Symbiosis, and Nature
DESIRE is one of six pioneering lighthouse projects under the New European Bauhaus initiative, launched in 2020 to bring the European Green Deal to life through tangible, transformative change. By combining innovation, ambition, and creativity, DESIRE offers a new urban vision for cities worldwide. The project developed eight lighthouse demonstrators, each rooted in insights from transformation sites across Europe and designed around distinct themes. “At the heart of our initiative are three themes that guided the choice of sites and partners,” says Klitgaard. “The first, ‘Creating Social and Inclusive Housing’, explores how communities can harness collective power to transform social housing through circular solutions.” The second theme, ‘Reconciling Cities with Nature’, focuses on designing urban habitats and ecosystems that are functional, inviting for all species, and balanced – ensuring responsible land use and biodiversity preservation. The third theme, ‘Transforming through Symbiotic Relationships’, looks at how cities can optimise material flows and rethink urban systems through mutually beneficial interactions.
Tools and Principles for Sustainable Urban Living
“We developed the DESIRE Manifesto and five co-created DESIRE Principles aligned with the New European Bauhaus values,” explains Aase Højlund Nielsen, project manager at BLOXHUB. “The principles serve as guiding perspectives for urban transformation.” To support the practical application of these ideas, DESIRE also introduced a toolbox filled with tested tools and methodologies from the eight demonstrators – ready to be tailored to local contexts and needs. In addition, a transformation guide was developed to help apply the tools and principles in diverse settings. “The DESIRE approach was deeply collaborative,” adds Højlund Nielsen. “Everything – from principles to tools – was co-created with input from a broad range of stakeholders and shaped by real-world testing at the demonstrator sites.” Notable tools emerged from Denmark and Italy. “For example, ‘Think it, Sketch it, Show it’ is a design kit that enables co-designing with children, while the Beauty4All model offers a new way to evaluate the role of aesthetics and art in urban transformation,” notes Klitgaard. The project also introduced Monitoring, Assessment, and Learning Tools, which help capture learnings at three levels: DO (active implementation), ASSESS (evaluation), and EMBED (integration into future practice). These tools promote three learning modes, namely learn-by-doing, learn-by-interacting and learn-by-reflecting. All of DESIRE’s learnings and outputs – including publications and in-depth information on each of the eight demonstrators – are available on the official project website.