The new Europan competition E18 on the topic of „Re-Sourcing” has started on March, 3rd 2025.

Europan is a competition of projects at different scales – from territory to proximity – aimed at young European professionals in architectural, urban and landscape design under the age of 40.

Each biennial session, around fifty cities in Europe offer sites on which these professionals (more than 3,000 each session) answer. They imagine a better future for the proposed contexts, adapted to major ecological and societal changes. The competition takes place simultaneously in several European countries and is evaluated by juries of renowned experts with varied skills. Each session more than a hundred projects are awarded, with several ideas on each site.

Re-Sourcing: Rethinking resources

Large and small cities, just like urban landscapes, are confronted with the challenge of developing the built environment in harmony with natural processes. The Europan 18 competition invites young architects and planners from all over Europe to try out new design strategies and work with them to create projects that use existing resources wisely – instead of relying on demolition and new construction. Three guiding principles define the E-18 competition:

1. Natural elements as design partners
Water, air, soil and energy characterise our cities – but often as risks rather than potentials. The aim is to integrate this potential and harmonise it with the existing instead of building against it.

2. New lifestyles, different spaces
The digital transformation is shaping social coexistence, living and working. What is needed are urban and architectural spaces that relate intimacy, community and solidarity differently – inspired by bioclimatic and permacultural principles that also include non-human actors.

3. building with what is already there
Buildings and existing infrastructures are material stores. Reduce, reuse, recycle: Instead of always building new structures, we need to transform existing structures and rethink materials locally. This will result in resource-conserving architecture worthy of the name in the future.

The aim of the competition is to develop ideas for neglected, derelict, empty, stigmatized or monofunctional urban spaces that can transform them back into vibrant, integrative and mixed urban spaces.

As the built environment is already a source of existing material and space, it is important to develop concepts for the redesign of existing buildings and areas that are based on the strategy of the 3 Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle).

Deadline for the online submission of the projects: June 29, 2025.
Registration is possible at: www.europan-europe.eu