Juries

Composition of the Juries

Each country sets up a jury, whose members are appointed by the national structure and approved by the European Europan Association.
The jury considers all the projects that comply with the competition rules. Its judgement is final. In the event of non-compliance with the rules, it has discretion whether or not to disqualify the entrant.
According to the country, the jury consists of 7 (or 9) independent members with no relation to a site proposed to the competition and is constituted as follows:

- 2 representatives of the urban order –or 3 in case of a 9-member jury;
- 4 representatives of the architectural and urban design (architects, landscapers, urban planners) –or 5 in case of a 9-member jury–, among which at least 2 architects;
- 1 public figure.

At least 2 out of the 7 members must be foreigners –at least 3 in the case of a 9-member jury. The national structure also appoints at least 2 substitute jury members, representatives of the architectural and urban design.
Jury members may consult city and site representatives, but on no account may the latter have voting rights for the final selection of winners, runners-up and special mentions.

Structure of the juries

The jury’s decisions are final in compliance with the Europan rules. Before beginning to work the jury receives recommendations from the European Association.

The jury meets in 2 separate sessions at different times:

First round – At the beginning of this session, the jury appoints one of its members as chairman and agrees on its working method. Sites representatives can be integrated to this jury level and, in some countries, may participate to the selection of the shortlisted projects.
The jury then studies the projects that do not comply with the rules and decide whether or not to disqualify them.
It later on assesses the projects on their conceptual content and the degree of innovation according to the Europan 16 topic and shortlists 20% maximum of the submitted projects.

Second round – During the second round, the jury examines –on its own and independently– the shortlisted projects and points out the winners, runners-up and special mentions. The jury could assess the projects on basis of: the relationship between concept and site; the relevance to the questions raised by the topic and in particular to the issues of sustainable development and adaptability; the relevance of their programme to the general brief for their specific site; the potential for integration into a complex urban process; the innovative nature of the proposed public spaces; the consideration given to the connection between different functions; the architectural and technical qualities.
The jury finally writes a report giving the reasons for the choice made in relation to the requirements of the competition and the concerned sites.

Each country budget includes the equivalent of a Winner’s and a Runner-Up’s prize per site. Still, each entry is judged on its sole merits and the winning teams are not chosen on basis of an equal distribution between sites – the jury can therefore distribute prizes among entries up to its will or decide not to award all the prizes. In this case, the reasons shall be made public.
The jury may single out projects for Special Mention. These projects are recognised by the jury as presenting innovative ideas or insights, yet not sufficiently suitable for the site. The authors of such projects do not receive any reward.
If disqualified after validation of participation a prize-winning project may be replaced by another project if the quality is satisfactory

Disclosure of Names

The projects assessed by the experts and juries are anonymous.
Once the decision of results is taken, the jury reveals the names of the winners, runners-up and special mentions. This operation is done through the European database, which automatically links the codes of the projects and composition of teams.

Results Announcement

After disclosure of the names of the winning teams and following any adjustments to rankings that may prove necessary, the national secretariats ratify the decisions and disclose the names of all the participants.

The European secretariat publishes the complete list of results online on December 13th, 2021.