European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has announced plans to create a new Bauhaus modelled on the influential design school as part of the European Union's ?670 billion coronavirus recovery plan.
Speaking in her inaugural State of the Union address to the European parliament, Von der Leyen outlined her plan to create a "new European Bauhaus" to kickstart a cultural and sustainable movement in the European Union.
"We will set up a new European Bauhaus ? a co-creation space where architects, artists, students, engineers, designers work together," she said.
"A new cultural project for Europe"
The European Bauhaus, which takes its name from the hugely influential German design school founded by Walter Gropius in 1919, will be part of the ?672.5 billion Next Generation EU investment and recovery plan put in place following the coronavirus pandemic. German politician Von der Leyen, who became president of the European Union's executive branch in December 2019,  explained that culture, as well as sustainability, will be the focus of the union's recovery plan.
"I want NextGenerationEU to kickstart a European renovation wave and make our Union a leader in the circular economy," she said.
"We need to change how we treat nature"
"Our current levels of consumption of raw materials, energy, water, food and land use are not sustainable. We need to change how we treat nature, how we produce and consume, live and work, ...