Project Structure

Through a design-driven co-creation process, BRICKS integrates participatory design, qualitative and quantitative research and systemic assessment to test and scale viable, context-sensitive business models for neighbourhood transformation.

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How the work packages connect

WP2, WP3 and WP4 form the co-creation loop around the pilots. WP1 feeds it with a shared framework, WP5 turns its results into evidence, WP6 carries them to policy.

WP7 Project Management & Ethics: consortium coordination and compliance around everything

Core pilot
co-creation loop 5 Place-Based Innovation Labs

  1. Transdisciplinary R&I Framework WP1 · NEB methodology, co-design, shared tools
  2. Place-Based Innovation Labs WP2 · five real-world pilots
  3. Reflective Learning WP3 · peer-to-peer knowledge sharing
  4. Systemic Assessment WP4 · impact and business viability
  5. Scientific Evidence WP5 · cross-pilot synthesis
  6. Dissemination & Policy WP6 · sandboxes and outreach

Policy and replication across Europe

The seven work packages

  1. Work package 1 Transdisciplinary R&I Framework

    Lead partner Technische Universität Dortmund

    WP1 establishes the foundational intellectual and methodological backbone for the entire project. It integrates participatory design, place-based innovation, systemic assessment and reflective learning into a unified, shared methodology aligned with New European Bauhaus (NEB) values. To support the project's real-world pilots, WP1 is creating an open-access online repository of methods and tools, while hosting capacity-building training sprints to prepare municipal, local and academic partners for collaborative neighbourhood transformation.

  2. Work package 2 Place-Based Innovation

    Lead partner Climate-KIC International Foundation

    WP2 translates the project's transdisciplinary framework into concrete action by setting up and orchestrating experimental Place-Based Innovation Labs (PBILs) across the five European pilot cities. In Aberdeen, Cluj-Napoca, Marseille, Tallinn and Valladolid, WP2 facilitates localized co-design workshops, trust-building exercises and community-led partnership models. These labs are actively prototyping, documenting and testing context-specific Social Entrepreneurship Initiatives (SEIs) to address urgent local challenges in energy transition, circularity and active mobility.

  3. Work package 3 Reflective Learning

    Lead partner Climate-KIC International Foundation

    Operating alongside pilot implementation, WP3 ensures that real-world experimentation translates into systematic, shared knowledge. It facilitates bi-monthly "Learning Breakfasts" and collaborative workshops among pilot teams to reflect on emerging barriers, operational successes and local governance shifts. Additionally, WP3 coordinates a structured Peer-to-Peer learning exchange programme with at least five follower European neighborhoods. The work package consolidates these practical insights into five detailed "social innovation biographies" to guide replication across Europe.

  4. Work package 4 Systemic Assessment & Business Modelling

    Lead partner Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi

    WP4 designs and implements the project's rigorous Monitoring, Assessment and Learning (MAL) framework. It performs ex-ante context analyses to establish precise local baselines before deploying context-specific, NEB-aligned indicator handbooks to monitor pilot performance. WP4 uses a collaborative, participatory approach to co-design and refine custom Social Entrepreneurship Business Model Canvases (SEBMCs). This process validates the long-term business viability, governance and social impact of each pilot, compiling them into actionable "Impact & Investment Sheets".

  5. Work package 5 New Scientific Evidence

    Lead partner Politecnico di Milano

    WP5 functions as the scientific engine of the project, extracting and consolidating research evidence from the empirical data generated across WPs 2, 3 and 4. It systematically monitors project-level challenges, local legal-regulatory hurdles and market barriers affecting the competitiveness of bottom-up social enterprises. WP5 validates the transdisciplinary framework through pilot comparative analyses and peer workshops. This work package ultimately delivers academic publications, policy recommendations and a concrete operational model demonstrating how citizen-led social entrepreneurship can structurally drive NEB-aligned neighbourhood development.

  6. Work package 6 Dissemination, Policy Co-Creation & Networking

    Lead partner The Lisbon Council

    WP6 builds and runs the project's communication and engagement backbone, creating a single, coherent narrative that connects BRICKS with the EU-wide New European Bauhaus community. It establishes structured liaisons with key bodies like the NEBJunction project and the Joint Research Centre. Crucially, WP6 operates local policy sandboxes in the pilot cities to translate real-world empirical findings into city-level policy briefs and procurement roadmaps. It also hosts investment dialogues with urban funds and public authorities to guarantee the financial uptake of the most mature pilot initiatives.

  7. Work package 7 Project Management & Ethics

    Lead partner Politecnico di Milano

    WP7 provides the strategic, financial and administrative stewardship needed to keep this multi-partner European consortium operating smoothly. It establishes standard governance procedures through the Project Handbook, monitors progress against critical milestones and coordinates risk management and quality control protocols. Furthermore, WP7 oversees compliance with EU ethical and legal frameworks, coordinates administrative reporting and manages the project's Data Management Plans (DMPs) to ensure adherence to open-access and FAIR data principles.