DESIRE - Designing the Irresistible Circular Society is an international European research project involving the Department of Design within the framework of the New European Bauhaus initiative, launched by the European Union to promote the culture of the European Green Deal among citizens.

DESIRE addresses global challenges by proposing a transformative approach that avoids exceeding planetary boundaries. By rethinking conventional paradigms, practices, and mindsets, the project aims to design inclusive housing solutions through the optimisation of material flows and the rebalancing of land use to support both resource production and biodiversity.

As a Coordination and Support Action (CSA), DESIRE contributes to the “100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities” mission by advancing a design approach grounded in the principles of circularity and open to collaboration with artists, creatives, makers, and other organisations. Drawing on architecture, design, and the arts, DESIRE seeks to establish an open learning environment, defined by principles, methodologies, and guidelines that support the transition towards an irresistible circular society.

DESIRE is one of the six “demonstrator” projects of the New European Bauhaus initiative and will be implemented across eight urban areas and neighbourhoods in six European countries, including Denmark, Italy, Latvia, Slovenia, and the Netherlands.
DESIRE will operate within these contexts, focusing on three key challenges: the development of inclusive housing models; the enhancement of 'symbiotic relationships' within urban landscapes through the optimisation of material flows; and the 'reconciliation of cities with nature' by designing liveable habitats and functional ecosystems from a multispecies perspective, achieved through a rebalancing of land use to support both resource generation and biodiversity.