Rules
Rules of the Europan 15 Competition
Content
1. Entry Conditions
1.1. Entrants
1.2. Composition of the Teams
1.3. Non-Eligibility
2. Registration
2.1. Europan 15 Website
2.2. Team Registration
3. Information Available to Teams
3.1. Synthetic Site Files
3.2. Briefs
3.3. Complete Site Folders
3.4. FAQ
4. Submission of Entries
4.1. Digital Submission
4.2. Anonymity and Compulsory Content
4.3. Language
4.4. Items to Submit
4.5. Control of the Submissions
5. Results and Prizes
5.1. Results
5.2. Winners
5.3. Runners-up
5.4. Special Mentions
6. Communication of the Competition
6.1. Events
6.2. Publications
6.3. Websites
7. Rights and Obligations
7.1. Ownership
7.2. Exhibition and Publication Rights
7.3. Disputes
8. List of Europan 15 Competitions
RULES OF THE EUROPAN 15 COMPETITIONS
1. ENTRY CONDITIONS
1.1. Entrants
Europan 15 is open to any team consisting of one architect in partnership, or with one or more professionals of the same or other disciplines of the urban-architectural field (architects, urban planners, landscapers, engineers, artists…) and/or associated with none, one or more students graduated from a bachelor or licence’s degree in the field and disciplines mentioned above.
Every team member, whatever his/her profession, must be under the age of 40 years old on the closing date for submission of entries.
1.2. Composition of the Teams
There is no limit to the number of participants per team. Multidisciplinary teams are strongly recommended with regards to the sites issues.
A registered team can modify its composition on the European website until the closing date for submissions.
No further change shall be accepted after this date.
Each team member (associate and collaborator) shall be registered as such on the European website before the closing date for submissions.
One team can submit a project on different sites in different countries with participation limited to two sites of the same country and one person can be part of different teams provided that that the projects are not submitted in the same country.
Associates
Associates are considered to be authors of the project and are credited as such in all national and European publications and exhibitions. They are young professionals with a university degree recognised by the Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications, in any of the relevant disciplines and regardless of nationality. The compulsory requirement is to hold such a degree. If they are students in these same fields and disciplines, they have to be associated with at least one graduated professional.
Membership in a European professional body is optional, except for associates without a European degree.
Contributors
Teams may include additional members, called contributors. Contributors may be qualified or not but none of them shall be considered as an author of the project. Just like the associates, the contributors must be under the age of 40 years old on the closing date for submission of entries.
Team Representative
Each team names one Team Representative among the associates. The Team Representative is the sole contact with the national and European secretariats during the whole competition.
Furthermore, every communication shall be done with one email address, which shall remain the same during the whole competition. The Team Representative must be an architect or must have the architect status under the laws of a European country. In specific cases and when mentioned on the site definition (see Synthetic Site File), the Team Representative can be an architecture, urban or landscape professional (architect, landscaper, urban planner, architect-engineer). In this case the team shall necessarily include at least one architect among the associates.
1.3. Non-Eligibility
No competition organizer and/or member of their families are eligible to take part in the competition on a site where he/she is involved. Still, he/she can participate on another site in which he/she is not involved.
Are considered as organizers: members of the Europan structures and their employees; employees and contractors working for partners with sites proposed in the current session, members of technical committees; observers; jury members and their employees.
2. REGISTRATION
Registration is done on the European website –www.europan-europe.eu– and implies the acceptance of the competition rules.
In compliance with French Act #78-17 of Jan. 6th, 1978, on Information Technology, Data Files and Civil Liberties the protection of personal data communicated during registration is guaranteed. With the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) introduced in May, 25th, 2018, you hold the right to access and modify the information regarding your participation, as well as the right to limit, transfer personal files and eliminate your personal data.
2.1. Europan 15 Website
The European website for the fifteenth session of the competition is available online from the opening date of the competition, at the following url – www.europan-europe.eu
It includes: the complete European rules for the Europan 15 competition; the session topic; the Synthetic and Complete Site Files grouped geographically or by themes; the juries compositions; and an organisational chart of all the Europan structures.
The website also offers the possibility to register to the competition and submit the complete proposals.
2.2. Team Registration
Registration to the competition is done through the European website (Registration section) and implies the payment of a €100 fee. There shall be no refund of the registration fee.
The fee includes access to one Complete Site File and the printing of the panels –necessary for the evaluation– on a rigid support by the national secretariats.
Payment is automatically confirmed on the website. The team can then access a personal area and the digital entry area, and download the Complete Site File for the selected site.
An additional Complete Site File costs €50 per site.
3. INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO TEAMS
3.1. Synthetic Site Files – Available for free
The Synthetic Site Files present a summary vision of the site. They are available for free on the site presentation pages of the European website and help the teams to have a global view of the sites.
This document is in English (and sometimes also in the site language).
The Synthetic Site Files provide for each site:
- Good-quality iconographic documents:
- 1 map of the city or conurbation identifying the location of the study site and giving the graphic scale;
- 1 aerial picture of the study site in its context identifying the location of the study site in red and the project site in yellow;
- 1 oblique aerial picture (semi-aerial) of the study site;
- 1 oblique aerial picture (semi-aerial) of the project site;
- 1 map of the area identifying the study site and the graphic scale;
- 1 map of the area identifying the project site and the graphic scale;
- at least 3 to 6 ground-level pictures showing the site’s characteristic elements (topography, natural features, existing architecture);
-Written information:
- the site category;
- the profile of the team representative: architect or professional of the urban design;
- names of the town and place; population of the town and conurbation; surface area of the study and project sites; representative of the site; site owner(s); expected follow-up after the competition;
- the developer’s and the city’s specific objectives; strategic issues of the site; relation to the session topic: “Productive Cities”.
3.2. Briefs – Available for free
The Brief is a 20-to-25-page illustrated document, the aim of which is to provide a better understanding of the main elements of the context through the existing elements as well as through the site’s mutation issues and its environment. It is available for free on the site presentation pages of the European website in order to help the teams select their project sites.
It includes the following elements:
- A summary of the main elements of the site;
- The site specificities – site representative; others actors involved; function of the team representative; expected skills among the teams; post competition phase; operational mission;
- A detailed analysis of the regional and urban context, putting in perspective the transformations of the city and the region and including all the elements on this scale that may have a current or future influence on the site –mobility networks, ecological elements, urban structure, landscape, etc.– within the general framework of productive cities;
- A detailed analysis of the study site putting in perspective the transformation of the site (the site and its environment) and illustrating how the session topic is taken into account.
The following information is also provided:
- Role of the study site in the city policy, with details on the goals of the planning imagined by the municipality;
- Programmatic framework: planned transportation networks; public and private spaces to build and/or upgrade, with assumptions about planned functions and/or dimensions; goals for public spaces and infrastructures; and detailed explanations of the choices of the developers for each aspect of the programmes.
- A detailed analysis of the project site putting in perspective the site transformation and the way to make it productive.
The programmatic framework is also detailed, with: the spaces to build and/or regenerate, with functions and dimensions; the precise goals for public spaces and infrastructures; detailed explanations of the developers’ intentions on the parts of the programmes to be included.
- The main elements linked to the Europan 15 topic and their implication on uses and flexibility of spaces (built and public), natural elements and implementation processes of the mutation;
- A description of the sociocultural context of the site, the city and the region and its evolution to help participants better understand the local urban lifestyles and the citizens’ rhythms;
- A description of the economical context of the site, the city and the region and its evolution to help participants better understand the potential productive spaces to create.
This document is in English and sometimes also in the site language.
3.3. Complete Site Folders (available upon registration)
The Complete Site Folders include detailed visual documents on the city, the site, the context as well as drawings, pictures and any graphic document required for the design process.
These Files are available on the site presentation pages of the European website after registration on the site and logging in to the website.
They include pictures, diagrams and graphics of the following scales:
a. Territorial Scale – Conurbation
- 1 aerial picture of the city;
- 1 map on regional (urban geography) or urban scale (conurbation) with an appropriate graphic scale showing the major features structuring the area (buildings, networks, natural features).
b. Urban Scale – Study Site
- 1 aerial picture of the study site;
- at least 1 semi-aerial picture of the study site;
- at least 5 ground-level pictures showing the characteristic features of the study site: topography, natural features, existing architecture, etc.;
- plans of the study site with an appropriate scale;
- characteristic features: infrastructure, existing and future plans, etc.
c. Local Scale – Project Site
- at least 3 semi-aerial pictures of the project site;
- at least 10 ground-level pictures showing the characteristic features of the project site: 5 topography, natural features, existing architecture, etc.;
- map(s) of the project site with an appropriate scale, showing:
o the project site’s location within the study site;
o the project site’s plot divisions, constructions, natural elements, etc.;
- topographical map of the project site with an appropriate scale and, if necessary, characteristic features (buildings and natural features to be retained or not, etc.)
3.4. FAQ
Questions on the sites
A meeting is organised with the teams and the municipalities and/or developers on each site to give a detailed picture of the issues related to the site. The national structure of the site then publishes a report in English in a maximum of two weeks after the meeting. This report is available online on the site presentation pages of the European website.
In addition to this an FAQ section is open on each site webpage on the European website for a limited period of time (see calendar). Only the registered teams can ask questions on sites.
Questions on the rules
An FAQ section on rules is open on the European website for a limited period of time (see Rules).
4. SUBMISSION OF ENTRIES
4.1. Digital Submission
Digital submission is compulsory. It includes the 3 A1 panels, a 4 pages illustrated text (max) explaining the link between the project and the theme of the ongoing session as well as the implementation and building processes of the project, also documents proving the eligibility of the team members and finally documents for the communication of the project.
The complete submissions shall be submitted by midnight (GMT+1) on July 28th, 2019, on the European website (Entry section).
Failure to comply with the hereunder-mentioned requirements on panel presentation may result in the disqualification of the team.
The number of entries per site is available on the European website on the European map of the sites (column on the right).
4.2. Anonymity and Compulsory Content
The site name and the project title must be displayed on every documents: panels, illustrated text and communication documents.
A specific code is automatically attributed to each project upon upload. The teams do not know this code, through which the jury members take note of the project. The teams’ identities are revealed via an automatic link between the code and the team on the online projects database.
4.3. Language
The panels and the texte presenting the ideas shall be either written in English or bilingual (English + the site language).
4.4. Items to Submit
Submissions include documents divided as follows:
- 3 vertical A1 project panels composed of visual elements of the project;
- 1 illustrated text presenting the ideas of the project (4 pages max.);
- Documents proving the eligibility of the team members;
- Documents for communication (3 images + a short text of 800 signs, spaces included);
- for Winners and Runners-up: 1 commnication video presenting the rewarded projects.
A1 Panels
Content – The 3 panels must:
- explain the urban ideas developed in the project with regards to the site issues and the themes of the session;
- present the project as a whole, highlighting the architecture of the project, and particularly the relationship between the new developments and the site’s existing context, including three-dimensional representations of the project;
- develop the method foreseen for the implementation process.
All graphic and descriptive documents must have a graphic scale.
Technical spectifications:
- PDF format;
- Vertical A1 (L 594 mm x H 841 mm) ;
- Maximum 20 Mb
- One box (L 60 mm x H 40 mm) is left blank in the upper left corner for the automatic insertion of the code; the name of the city must be placed next to it;
- Panels numbered from 1 to 3 in the upper right corner;
- The team is free to decide on the positioning of the proposal title.
Text
Content – This text must present the ideas of the project and its links with the theme of the ongoing session but also explain its processes and periods of implementation.
Technical spectifications:
- 3 to 4 (max) pages with limited visuels;
- PDF format;
- Vertical A4 (L 210mm x H 297mm).
Documents to prove the eligibility of the team members
Documents for the disclosure of names and verification of the validity of the proposals shall be uploaded as PDF’s on the European website.
Personal information include:
> FOR THE TEAM: the Team Form and Declaration of Author- and Partnership and of Acceptance of the competition rules available online on the team’s personal area; to be filled out and signed;
> FOR EACH TEAM MEMBER:
- A copy of an ID document with a picture, providing evidence that they are under the age of 40 at the closing date for submission of entries (see calendar.)
- A copy of their European degree as an architectural, urban or landscape professional (architect, landscaper, urban planner…) or proof of such a status under the law of a European country.
No other document than the ones above-listed is necessary.
Attention: The personal documents must be uploaded individually for each team member before the submission deadline. Only team members that correctly registered and submitted their eligibility documents separately shall be considered within the team final composition.
The upload of one sole document with all the required information (copies of the ID’s and degrees) will not be accepted.
Documents for the project communication
Each project must be summered up as follows:
- One short text of maximum 800 signs (spaces included, to be typed in during submission) developing the project ideas;
- 3 separate JPG images that symbolize the project (max. 1Mb per image).
Communication video
Winners and Runners-up of the E15 session will make a communication video presenting their proposal (length and format to be determined) and will be forwarded, after the announcement of the results on Monday, December 2d, 2019, to the European Secretariat before Friday, December 28th, 2019.
4.5. Control of the Submissions
Each team can check the upload of their projects on their online personal area. They can also –if needed– modify these documents until the deadline for submissions.
A period of 7 days is left open after the deadline for submissions (see Calendar) for the European secretariat to control the upload of each submission sent before the expiry of the deadline, as well as to correct the potential problems that might have appeared during the upload of the documents.
5. RESULTS AND PRIZES
5.1.Results
The list of the Europan 15 winning teams (Winners, Runners-up, Special Mentions) is available online from December 2d, 2019, on the European website.
5.2. Winners
Winners receive a reward of the equivalent of €12,000 (all taxes included) in the currency of the site’s country (at the exchange rate on the date of the announcement of the results). The organizers undertake to abide by the decisions of the national juries and to pay the reward within 90 days of the announcement of the results.
5.3. Runners-up
Runners-up receive a reward of the equivalent of €6,000 (all taxes included) in the currency of site’s country (at the exchange rate on the date of the announcement of the results). The organizers undertake to abide by the decisions of the national juries and to pay the reward within 90 days of the announcement of the results.
5.4. Special Mentions
A Special Mention can be awarded to a project considered innovative although not completely adapted to the site. The authors of such proposals do not receive a reward.
6. COMMUNICATION OF THE COMPETITION
6.1 Events
- At the national scale of the organizing and associate countries
Promotion is organized about the competition launch.
After the first jury round, an exhibition or online publication of all the submissions on one site can be organised, provided that it respects the teams’ anonymity and it is correctly communicated beforehand. This communication shall be specified in the site brief.
The results announcement is accompanied with results ceremonies and presentations and/or workshops creating a first contact between the winning teams and the site representatives.
- At the European scale
A European event called Inter-Sessions Forum is the link between a finishing session and the beginning of the new one. This forum gathers the winning teams and site representatives of the finishing session and the site representatives of the new one around the results and first implementation steps of the projects awarded during the last session.
A €500 compensation is granted by the National Secretaries to each winning team (winners and runner-up) participating to the Forum to cover the journey and accommodation expenses.
6.2. Publications
The competition results can be the opportunity for publications in every organizing or associate country.
The European secretariat publishes a catalogue with the European results along with expert analyses. This catalogue is available either for free consultation or for sale on the European website.
6.3. Websites
Websites are open by the national structures to promote the current session, future events and archives (previous sessions, team portraits, etc.) At the European level, the European website allows participants to find information on all the sites, to register to the competition, to submit their projects and to know all the results of the current session on the European level.
7. RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS
7.1. Ownership
All material (images, texts, videos…) submitted to the organizers becomes their property, including reproduction rights. The intellectual property rights remain the exclusive property of their author(s).
7.2. Exhibition and Publication Rights
Moratorium on Publication
Teams may not publish drawings submitted to the competition or disclose their names by using their project for any communication before the official announcement of the results. Any such publication may result in the disqualification of the team.
Publications
The organisers reserve the right to publish all the projects submitted to them. Projects are exhibited or published under the names of their authors.
7.3. Disputes
The Council of the Europan European Association, which is empowered to arbitrate, shall hear any dispute.
8. LIST OF EUROPAN 15 COMPETITIONS
The Contact section of the European website shows the detailed national competition conditions country by country (number of sites and prizes, conditions of construction rights, etc.) as well as the details of the national and European structures, with the names of the people working for them.
The Jury section of the European website lists the members of the national juries.
Internal Europan Competitions Procedures
Content
1. Inter-Sessions Forum
2. Items to Provide to Entrants
3. Jury Procedures
3.1. Technical Committees
3.2. Juries
3.2.1 Composition
3.2.2 Working Method and Evaluation Criteria
3.2.3 Disclosure of Names
3.2.4 Results Announcement
3.3. European Comparative Analysis
3.3.1. European Comparative Analysis Committee
3.3.2. Forum of Cities and Juries
4. Implementations
4.1. Activities to Promote Implementations
4.2. Websites
4.3. Implementation Books and Booklets
INTERNAL EUROPAN COMPETITION PROCEDURES
1. FORUM INTER-SESSIONS
Before the launch of the competition, the Inter-Sessions Forum is the link between a finishing session and the beginning of the new one, gathering the winning teams and site representatives of the finishing session and the site representatives of the new one.
This Forum, for Europan 15, took place in Brussels (BE) on November 17 and 18, 2018. Meetings were organized on Nov. 17 on the Europan 14 results and first implementation steps of the session’s winning projects. Oct. 18 was dedicated to the presentation of the sites proposed for Europan 15. The aim was to finalize the competition briefs, establish the sites thematic classification, involve cities, urban developers and contracting authorities in the Europan process and ensure that the different partners share a common culture.
Next Inter-Sessions Forum –presenting the Europan 15 results and the sites proposed for Europan 16– should be organized in October 2020 and still needs to be discussed.
2. ITEMS TO PROVIDE TO ENTRANTS
The National Secretaries shall provide the entrants with all the documents specified at point 3. Information Available to Teams of the Rules of the Europan 15 Competition, i.e.:
- One Synthetic Site File per site, with good-quality iconographic documents and written information;
- One Brief per site, with a detailed description of the main elements of the context to consider and an explanation of the site’s issues;
- One Complete Site File for each site, with pictures, diagrams and graphics.
These elements are available on each site presentation webpage and help teams prepare their projects. The Synthetic Site File and the Brief are available for free consultation; access to the Complete Site File requires registration and payment of a registration fee (€100 for the first site, €50 for any additional site).
3. JURY PROCEDURES
3.1. Technical Committees
Each country sets up a Technical Commission, which does not judge but examines all the projects submitted in the country to prepare the work for the jury. Its members are appointed by the national structures. This committee may include city representatives and national experts.
3.2. Juries
3.2.1. Composition
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 and is constituted as follows:
- 2 representatives of the urban order –3 in case of a 9-member jury– with no relation to a site proposed to the competition;
- 4 representatives of the architectural and urban design (architects, landscapers, urban planners) –5 in case of a 9-member jury–, among which at least 2 architects;
- 1 public figure.
At least 2 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. The jury members are identified when the competition is launched and their names are listed for each country on the Jurys section of the European website.
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.
3.2.2. Working Methods and Evaluation Criteria
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 15 topic and shortlists a maximum of 10 to 20% 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 can 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 and a Runner-Up 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.
3.2.3. 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.
3.2.4. 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 2nd, 2019.
3.3. European Comparative Analysis
3.3.1. European Comparative Analysis Committee
Between both jury meetings the members of the European Scientific Committee meet to familiarize with the anonymous projects shortlisted by the different national juries. They compare the projects and classify them by theme on basis of the problems raised by the site categories and the proposed ideas. Under no circumstances does the European comparative analysis committee express a judgement – it simply classifies the projects from a purely thematic and comparative perspective.
3.3.2. Forum of Cities and juries
Between both national jury sessions a Forum gathers the national juries and site representatives to discuss the conclusions of the European comparative analysis committee. It aims at ensuring that the different experts participating in the evaluation process share a common culture. Projects remain anonymous throughout the procedures and are only identified by their code.
4. IMPLEMENTATIONS
4.1. Activities to Promote Implementations
The European Association and the national structures undertake to do what is required to encourage cities and/or developers that have provided sites for the competition to engage the prize-winning teams for the operational phase.
The national structures undertake to organize a first meeting between the cities and the clients and the prize-winning teams within 90 days after the official results announcement. This meeting may take various forms and is the starting point for the site representatives to initiate implementation processes with the prize-winning teams on the ideas developed in the projects.
In some countries –and provided this step falls under public market regulations– the winning teams can be involved in a study and/or workshop organised in partnership with the Europan national structure and the site’s representatives, after which the latter –the city or another public official– chooses the team(s) for implementation.
The operational follow-up consists of a series of events as stages: preliminary studies, operational studies, construction and within a contractual agreement. If necessary, they may be implemented on another site than the competition site as long as the ideas of the prize-winning projects are maintained.
The prize-winning teams must comply with the professional rules that apply in the country where they are engaged to work. After the competition, the prize-winning teams must appoint one of their architect members as a representative, who is the sole spokesperson for the team with the municipalities and/or developers.
A summary of the countries’ legislations on the rules of professional practice is available in the Contact section of the European website (Complete Card).
4.2. Websites
The Europan national structures present the implementations at the national level.
The European secretariat presents completed or ongoing implementation processes on the European website (Projects & Processes section).
4.3. Implementation Books and Booklets
The European secretariat coordinates European publications on implementations, showing winning and runner-up projects from previous sessions that were implemented or are still in progress.
Organizers
Contents
1. Definition
2. Objectives
3. Europan Organizers and Associates
3.1. Organizers
3.2. Cities and Urban Developers, Contracting Authorities
4. List of the 12 Europan 15 Structures
5. List of the 47 Europan 15 Sites
6. Europan 15, Charter of the 12 Participating Countries
ORGANIZERS
1. DEFINITION
Europan is a European federation of national organizations, which runs urban-architectural competitions leading to building or design projects, launched simultaneously by several countries on a given theme and with common objectives. The present rules apply to all the competitions in the Europan session.
2. OBJECTIVES
In a spirit of open dialogue and cooperation within a broader Europe, Europan aims at generating greater understanding of and reflection on housing and urban planning issues and at promoting exchanges on this subject among the different European countries.
The goal of Europan is to help:
- Europe’s young architecture, urban and landscape design professionals develop and promote their ideas in Europe and further afield;
- European cities and developers proposing sites to find innovative architectural and urban solutions to the problems they face.
The function of Europan in participating countries is therefore to promote urban studies and experimental projects in the urban-architectural field and to encourage the implementation of innovative urban processes.
3. EUROPAN ORGANIZERS AND ASSOCIATES
3.1. Organizers
National Organizing Structures
In each country, the competition is organized by a national structure made up of representatives of the government or supervisory authorities, municipalities, public and private developers, architects and the organizations which represent them, and cultural figures.
This national structure has the legal status of a non-profit association. Its role is to oversee its national competition and to promote the ideas of the prize-winning architects with a view to their practical implementation.
Each national structure has a national secretariat.
Organizing Countries
The national structure of each organizing country that signed the Charter undertakes to propose at least two sites and to organize a competition on a topic, rules and calendar common to the organizing countries.
Associate Countries
The national structures of each new associate country that signed the Charter undertake to propose at least one site. They enter into a partnership with one organizing country or with different associate countries for the judging process and participate in the competition on a theme, rules and calendar common to the organizing countries.
The Europan structures in these associate countries undertake to work with the organizing country or other associate countries to organize the judging of the project entries.
Europan Association
A European Europan Association acts as a unifying structure for the different national structures.
Its General Assembly is made up of 4 representatives from each national structure of the organizing countries, representatives of the associate countries, and honorary members. Its Council is made up of one representative from each organizing country.
A Scientific Council of European experts is responsible for formulating proposals on the themes, conducting a comparative analysis of the sites and results, moderating the Forum debates and contributing to strategic ideas on urban development in European towns and cities.
The Association has a General Secretariat, which organizes the work of the Association and coordinates the activities of the national secretariats, the Council and the General Assembly. The European secretariat, in consultation with the national secretariats, is responsible for organizing European events and competitions. It ensures compliance with procedures.
The President of the Association is Anna Catasta. Anna Catasta is Italian and a former member of the European Parliament. She currently is the director of the CdIE, a company acting for the promotion and participation of projects linked to local development and human resources, with a particular focus on Community policies on the City and the Territories, the European citizenship and the social quality of interventions.
3.2. Cities and Urban Developers, Contracting Authorities
Europan’s theme involves a relationship and close cooperation with cities, urban developers and European stakeholders in the organizing countries. These cities, developers and contracting authorities are approached by each national structure to propose urban sites that meet the Europan competition requirements.
For these Europan partners, the collaboration provides an opportunity to use the prize-winning projects and the ensuing debate as a basis for an open reflection that is essential to the future development of their sites. It also permits them to enlist the services of the prize-winning teams, whatever their nationality, in the planning and implementation of the urban and/or architectural studies and projects that they require.
4. LIST OF THE EUROPAN 12 STRUCTURES
Details of the national and European structures and the names of the people involved in each country are available on the European website.
5. LIST OF THE 47 EUROPAN 15 SITES
The list of the sites proposed to the Europan 15 competition will be available on the European website soon.
The sites are: Auby (FR), Barcelona (ES), Bergisches Kooperation (DE), Borås (SE) Casar de Cáceres (ES), Charleroi (BE), Champigny-sur-Marne (FR), Enköping (SE), Floirac (FR), Graz (AT), Guovdageaidnu (NO), Halmstad (SE), Helsingborg (SE), Hyvinkää (FI), Innsbruck (AT), Karlovac (HR), La Louvière (BE), Lasarte-Oria (ES), Laterza (IT), Madrid (ES), Marseille (FR), Nin (HR), Oliva (ES), Palma (ES), Pays de Dreux (FR), Port-Saint-Jérôme-sur-Seine (FR), Raufoss (NO), Rochefort Océan (FR), Romainville (FR), Rotterdam Brainpark I (NL), Rotterdam Groot IJsselmonde (NL), Rotterdam Kop Dakpark (NL), Rotterdam Vierhavensblok (NL), Rotterdam Visserijplein (NL), Rødberg (NO) Saint-Omer (FR), Sant Climent de Llobregat (ES), Selb (DE), Täby (SE) Tuusula (FI), Uddevalla (SE), Verbania (IT), Villach (AT), Visby (SE), Warszawa (PL), Wien (AT), Weiz (AT).
6. EUROPAN 15, CHARTER OF THE 12 PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES
We, representatives of the national Europan structures for Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden, signatories of this Charter, undertake to take part in Europan 15.
Within the context of the new paradigm of the sustainable city and the qualitative changes that it brings with the acceptance of the economy of resources, the new forms of mobility and the enhancement of natural spaces, we believe that architecture and urban design play a major role in the evolution of urban areas and landscapes, of the public spaces of the city, of social relations and the living conditions of 21st-century city-dwellers, and contribute in a fundamental way to the cultural life and urban identity of Europe.
We always continue to endorse the initial objective of Europan to give shape to the concept of a Europe in which young people can make an innovative contribution to architecture, urban design and landscape, by organizing a federation of European countries around competitions of architectural and urban projects and professional discussions in these spheres of design.
For these reasons:
- We hereby establish scientific and cultural exchanges. The purpose of these exchanges is to facilitate better communication of that which the towns, cities and countries of Europe have in common, so that they can each benefit from the other’s experiences, while maintaining their national, regional and local characteristics;
- We offer young European professionals of architectural and urban design the opportunity to express new ideas in their projects and thereby to contribute to the development and renewal of Europe's cities, and we assist them to implement operations that put these ideas into practice;
- In our undertakings, we work in partnership with European towns and cities which are seeking innovative urban responses to changing lifestyles;
- We wish to extend the scope of Europan’s ideas beyond the organizing countries, and encourage and invite other European countries, which are not yet able to organize a competition, to join our organization in an associate capacity;
- We hereby decide to start a fourteenth session of Europan on the generic theme of: “Productive Cities 2: Resources, Mobility, Equity”.
In accordance with these objectives, and in order to ensure their fulfilment, we undertake:
- to guarantee the quality and autonomy of decision of our organization on a national and European scale, of the teams and the resources of the executive secretariats, in order to ensure that the competitions and events are properly conducted, in keeping with the rules, decisions and actions of the General Assembly and the Council;
- to guarantee the organizing countries the financial stability of the European organization by paying the subscriptions in the amounts agreed and on the due dates, and by paying interest on any late payments;
- to guarantee that the sites proposed for the competitions (1 for each associate country and 2 or more for each organizing country) comply with the rules set by the General Assembly (compliance with the theme, official undertakings, potential for implementation, quality of information and of documents provided);
- to guarantee publicity for the competition and promotion of the prize-winning projects;
- to guarantee the quality and status of jury members and the proper conditions for the working of the juries;
- to guarantee that competition documents are translated into the agreed languages;
- to guarantee support and assistance for prize-winners, irrespective of their nationality, so that they are engaged in an implementation and/or design process based on the ideas contained in their projects;
- to guarantee cities and developers, contracting authorities, that the ideas, designs and implementations of prizewinning projects meet the requirements for the Europan 15 competition sites;
- to guarantee payment of the prizes within the established timeframes.
1. Europan is open to young professionals of the architectural and urban design (architects, urbanists, ingeneers, landscapers) under 40 years of age and with a European degree or working in Europe and to the students of disciplines of the urban-architectural field, graduated from a bachelor/licence’s degree. Each team must include at least one graduated architect except on sites where it is notified.
2. Europan is a call for projects of ideas at the urban and architectural scale, followed by implementations.
3. Europan is a European federation of the national structures organising the competitions, launched simultaneously on a common theme and with common objectives.
4. A series of urban sites in European towns, accompanied with a programme brief, is proposed to competitors. There are three scales sites: X (micro sites linked to a macro scale), L (urban/architectural sites) and S (territorial/urban/architectural sites). Competitors choose from these sites the one(s) on which they want to submit their projects – if there is more than two sites, those have to be located in different countries.
5. Rules and judging methods are identical in all the participating countries. The competitions are open, public, European and anonymous. Competitors can register freely in the country of their choice.
6. Each project must have two types of entry: the first one is a strategic reflection project responding to the session topic and the urban challenges, and on the territorial scale of the site; the other one is an urban-architectural project on a defined area of the site.
Submission is strictly done on the European website. It includes 3 panels, 3 images and a very short text for communication as well as a text of 4 pages focusing on project ideas and processes.
7. In each country a national jury of experts preselects the most innovating projects per site. The Europan Scientific Council then compares and analyses these projects at a European level, launching the debate between the sites representatives and the jury members during a Forum. The national juries meet a second time to make the final decision of the winning teams.
8. Finally, each jury that designates –for each country– winners and runners-up, that are to receive a prize. Some non-rewarded projects may receive a special mention.
9. The Europan organisers then help the prize-winning teams to obtain commissions to be implemented. After the announcement of the results, meetings are organised on each site with the city representatives, the juries and the winning teams.
10. Prize-winning projects are exhibited and published on a national level. The results are promoted at European scale and an Inter-Sessions Forum is organized to discuss the results with the winning teams, the sites representatives, the juries and the organisers.
Questions on rules
Ask your questions on the rules here
Questions on rules
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Fr. 16 May 2025
Deadline for submitting questions
Fr. 30 May 2025
Deadline for answers
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Please ask questions on rules in the Rules section.
If your question does not receive any answer in 10 days, check the FAQ to make sure the answer does not appear under another label or email the secretariat concerned by the question (national secretariat for the sites, European secretariat for the rules).