We are proud to announce that SocialTech Lab’s Social Impact Generator Hub has been selected as a finalist in the New European Bauhaus Prizes 2026, under the Enablers for New European Bauhaus Transformation category, proudly representing Cyprus as the country’s only finalist in this year’s competition.
The New European Bauhaus Prizes celebrate inspiring projects that bring together sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics, recognising initiatives that improve everyday life and contribute to a more beautiful, sustainable and inclusive future.
Transforming a Space of Division into a Space of Possibility
Located in Nicosia’s UN Buffer Zone, in Europe’s last divided capital, the Social Impact Generator Hub began with a simple belief: places shaped by division can also become places of collaboration.
By transforming a former UN peacekeeping container into a living innovation lab, the hub has become a welcoming space where entrepreneurs, creatives, young people and communities come together to learn, experiment and build solutions for a more sustainable and inclusive future.
What was once a symbol of separation now generates ideas, ventures and partnerships that extend far beyond the Buffer Zone.
Enabling New European Bauhaus Transformation
The Social Impact Generator Hub was recognised in the Enablers for New European Bauhaus Transformation category for demonstrating how innovation ecosystems, community participation and entrepreneurship can help scale the values of the New European Bauhaus.
Through adaptive reuse, circular design and collaborative programmes, the hub enables innovators to transform ideas into real-world solutions addressing the circular economy, sustainable materials, waste reduction and inclusive urban development.
This impact is reflected in the ventures that have emerged from the hub. Projects such as Pit to Table, transforming discarded olive pits into sustainable furniture; NEEMA, creating vegan leather from prickly pear cactus; DERGON, producing furniture from recycled plastic through 3D printing; and the Mobile Creative Capsule, reimagining underused public spaces, demonstrate how community-led innovation can generate practical solutions for a more sustainable and inclusive future.
At the same time, the hub provides an open and accessible environment where people from different communities and backgrounds can work together, creating opportunities for learning, experimentation and shared progress.
By the Numbers
Since its launch, the Social Impact Generator Hub has:
- Delivered 150+ programmes
- Engaged over 7,000 community members
- Supported more than 500 startup teams
- Worked with 100+ ecosystem partners
- Distributed over €100,000 in startup support
- Helped supported ventures raise more than €1.1 million in follow-on funding
Together, these achievements demonstrate how community-led innovation can create lasting social, environmental and economic impact.
More Than Recognition
For SocialTech Lab, this recognition belongs to the entire community that has helped shape the Social Impact Generator Hub over the past years—our partners, mentors, entrepreneurs, volunteers and supporters.
Together, they have shown that even in places marked by division, it is possible to build spaces that foster creativity, belonging and positive change.
Because the most powerful spaces don’t simply change places.
They empower people to change them.
Support Us in the Public Vote
As part of the New European Bauhaus Prizes, finalists now enter the public voting phase.
If you believe in the power of community-led innovation to transform places and create more sustainable, inclusive futures, we would be grateful for your support.
How to vote
- Visit: https://prizes.new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/public-vote
- Submit your email address to receive your personal voting link.
- Select Social Impact Generator Hub under Enablers for New European Bauhaus Transformation.
- Confirm your vote.
Public voting closes on 10 July 2026 at 18:00 CET.
Every vote helps showcase how local initiatives can inspire positive change across Europe.
Thank you for being part of this journey.
