On Wednesday, 14 June 2023, the University of Primorska, in collaboration with the InnoRenew CoE, established the New European Bauhaus Academy Pioneer Hub for Sustainable Built Environments with Renewable Materials (NEBAP Hub), a University centre that will focus on regenerative and inclusive spaces that minimise environmental impacts through decarbonisation and lead to positive societal and economic impacts, including health and wellbeing. In the same week, on 15 and 16 June, the first meetings of the Council Board and the Management Board of NEBAP Hub took place.

On Thursday, 15 June 2023, the newly elected members of the NEBAP Hub Management Board met at the InnoRenew CoE, namely Dr Anna Sandak, Associate Professor in Wood Engineering and Head of the Materials Research Group at the InnoRenew CoE, Dr Neža Čebron Lipovec, Assistant Professor and researcher in the field of cultural heritage at the University of Primorska, Dr Štefan Bojnec, Professor in Economics and Head of Department of Economics at the Faculty of Management, University of Primorska, Dr Rok Prislan, Assistant Professor in Physics and Head of the Buildings research group at the InnoRenew CoE, and the newly appointed Hub Head, Dr Andreja Kutnar, Professor in Wood Engineering and Director of the InnoRenew CoE.

The very next day, on 16 June 2023, the NEBAP Hub Council Board met online for the first time, with the newly elected members Dr Philipp Misselwitz, Architect and Director of the German Bauhaus Earth Institute, Dr Uwe Kies, Secretary General of the international association InnovaWood, Dr Matti Kuittinen, Professor of Sustainable Construction at Aalto University and Advisor to the Finnish Ministry of the Environment, Frida Knutsson, Project Manager at RISE, Stefan Leitner, Engineer for Timber Structures at Holzbau Austria, Dr Jan Wurm, Europe Research and Innovation Leader at the international construction company Arup, Dr Anetta Kepczynska-Walczak, Professor and Head of the Department of Digital Technologies in Architecture and Urban Planning at the Lodz University of Technology, Dr Jakub Sandak, Associate Professor of Wood Engineering at the University of Primorska and Head of the Advanced Manufacturing Technologies Research Group at InnoRenew CoE, and the Hub Head, Dr Andreja Kutnar.

The two Boards agreed and confirmed the future plans for the Hub, its tasks and objectives, annual plan, content, target groups, upcoming trainings, and outlined the first steps of the Hub to be implemented already this summer. Then they discussed new ideas and proposals during the fruitful brainstorming sessions of both meetings. In the coming days, a questionnaire will be published in 17 languages of the European Union as a basis for a survey on the knowledge gaps and needs of the building ecosystem across Europe, prepared in collaboration with InnoRenew CoE (Slovenia), Czech Technical University in Prague (Czechia), Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia), InnovaWood (Belgium), Bauhaus Earth (Germany), University of Sopron (Hungary), University of Florence (Italy), Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry (Latvia), Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (Slovakia), Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain), Danish Technological Institute (Denmark), Xyhlo Biofinish (Neatherlands) and RISE (Sweden).

The members left with new creative ideas, plans and tasks that they will diligently put into practice, full of enthusiasm, inspiration and aspiration for a more sustainable future, contributing to the green transition of the built environment worldwide.