At the Days of Architecture festival in Sarajevo (26–28 September 2025), ACE EB Board Member and Coordinator for Research and Innovation, Dubravko Bačić, represented the Architects’ Council of Europe at the Round Table of the NEB Forum BiH.

În ceea ce privește NEB Forum BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina) sees the New European Bauhaus initiative as a longer-term opportunity to re-evaluate local and regional spatial practices and policies. The Forum seeks to become a motivator and a potential vehicle to strengthen local, regional and international collaboration and thus contribute both to quality of built environment and processes of European integration.

În ceea ce privește Days of Architecture (Dani Arhitekture) is Sarajevo’s leading architectural festival, hosted at the Bosnian Cultural Center. As one of the largest festivals in South Eastern Europe, the 2025 edition welcomed international practices such as OMA și Atelier Bow-Wow, and featured the Fresh & Bold Architectural Award (FBAA) celebrating innovative projects.

In his talk “Empowering the Profession”, Dubravko Bačić presented ACE’s current activities and achievements, focusing on the New European Bauhaus, Solidarity with Ukraine, and EU Projects work groups. He also previewed an upcoming ACE publication mapping 20 years of EU-funded projects, highlighting how architecture continues to innovate and redefine its role in society.

Dubravko Bačić emphasized ACE’s outreach to professional associations in Eastern and Central Europe, the Western Balkans, and candidate countries—calling for stronger collaboration across the profession. His remarks provided a timely backdrop to the Forum’s panel discussions, reinforcing the partnership between ACE and NEB Forum BiH, both part of the Europe-wide NEB community.

Opening the local debate, Dr. Selma Harrington, Chair of ACE EU Projects Work Group and co-founder of NEB Forum BiH, called for “bypassing silos and sharpening focus” when applying the New European Bauhaus to local contexts.

Six local experts presented projects covering:

• urban interventions,
• the Bauhaus legacy in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
• collaborative design processes,
• emerging bio-based technologies, and
• digital tools in architectural education.

The gathering was greeted and briefly addressed by the new Irish Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, HE Adrian Farrell.

The Sarajevo discussions showed how the Noul Bauhaus european connects international expertise with local creativity, inspiring dialogue across borders. ACE’s participation underlined the importance of solidarity, collaboration, and innovation in shaping a sustainable built environment in Europe and beyond.

About the NEB Forum BiH

NEB Forum BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina) sees the New European Bauhaus initiative as a longer-term opportunity to re-evaluate local and regional spatial practices and policies. The Forum seeks to become a motivator and a potential vehicle to strengthen local, regional and international collaboration and thus contribute both to quality of built environment and processes of European integration.

NEB Forum BiH is a knowledge exchange platform in the field of architectural and urban design, education, environment, heritage, and sustainability. It connects virtual and physical space in Banja Luka, Mostar, Sarajevo and other centres in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Its mission is to provide an open and poly-centric platform for the exchange of knowledge and information among creative networks and individuals in Bosnia and Herzegovina, interested to advance, engage and promote responsible and sustainable design in their local environment, as well as to network with like-minded regional and international networks.