For 30 years, the Europan competitions have been raising topical issues and responding to current social and spatial challenges. Emerging from the PAN (Plan architecture nouvelle), Europan is extending another French initiative, simultaneously seeking to both anticipate and respond to identified social, spatial, developmental and other issues, but also enable young architects up to 40 years of age to become established in the European and global trade scene. From housing, over time, the thematic framework of individual cycles has focused on more complex issues. These are explored within the framework of activities of the Scientific Council, composed of eminent architects, urban planners, philosophers, etc., who are all professors, deans of universities and scientists working in the European cultural milieu. A key characteristic and comparative advantage of Europan is the synergy between an international platform, an international multidisciplinary jury, a solid organizational structure, and a scientific approach.

The E15, the 15th competition cycle, addresses the integration of individual production activities into the life of the city – food and energy production, services, industry of the new age, modalities of living in a production environment, cohabitation between production and housing, waste management, consumption, etc. The answers will merely open the door for exploration into opportunities for transformation, the development of cities of the future, and new urban metabolism. Croatia participates in the E15 with two locations, the solution of which, in addition to spatial issues, also implies outlining the direction for the development of two cities – Karlovac which, despite its proximity to the capital, is stagnating and does not have a clear development direction, and Nin, a historical heritage site par excellence, on its way to become a tourist resort. The young architects are faced with the difficult task of thinking out, projecting, and examining the potential, all based on a careful analysis of the situation.