Participation - All European architects can enter for one or two of the Europan sites, individually or as a team with fellow professionals from other disciplines. All participants, regardless of their discipline, must be under the age of forty on the final submission date.
The condition is that participating architects must be qualified to practice their profession in the country where they are living in accordance with the regulations in force in the country where they are established at the time of registration.

In the Netherlands, architects, urban designers, interior architects and landscape architects should be entered in the register at the Stichting Bureau Architectenregister (SBA), established in The Hague. For more information about registering: SBA.

By presenting broad assignments Europan stimulates the creation of teams in which the knowledge and expertise of professionals from differing design disciplines are combined, including architecture, urban design, landscape architecture, the visual arts, civil engineering, etc.
Teams may be formed without any restrictions, on condition that the contact person is an architect.

The international Forum of Results Europan 7 in Athens

Registration - Registration for the competition Europan is possible via the Europan Europe web site. This web site contains all the information about the current competition round, such as regulations, the theme, the composition of the juries, the schedules and a brief summary of each site. The contact person can enter for a specific site according to choice. After registration and payment of the registration fee the participant receives a password with which he/she can study and download a comprehensive version of the site book. This document contains texts with detailed information about the town or city, the site, the context and the intentions of the party making the site available, as well as drawings and photographs necessary for making a design.

Time Schedule - Because the competition is organised once every two years, the time schedule for the coming years is already fixed.

• Even years (spring to winter): preparation of competition (collecting sites. etc.)
• Uneven years (spring): start of competition and national information market
• Uneven years (autumn): submission of plans
• Uneven years (winter): adjudication
• Even years (spring): announcement of winners, award ceremony, exhibition; national and international completion of current competition round.

Information Market - At the beginning of the entry period an information market is organised in the Netherlands. On this day all the Dutch sites are presented by those making the sites available and there is the opportunity of asking questions. There are talks and discussion about the theme, and the agreements between Europan and those making the sites available are signed.

Entries - The entries sent in (anonymously) by the participant or team should comprise three panels, a small explanatory booklet and a CD-ROM. The entry should be submitted or sent to the secretariat of the country of the site chosen. A maximum of two sites may be chosen, on condition that these sites are situated in different countries.

Jury and Adjudication - In each country a jury is put together. The members of the jury are appointed by the national organisation and approved by the international organisation of Europan.
Each jury comprises nine members and two substitute jury members who have no connection whatsoever with the sites:
- a government representative
- two representatives of the commissioning parties
- four architects
- two experts
At least three members of the jury should be of foreign origin.

The jury meets twice, on two separate occasions. At the first meeting the plans are studied to make sure that they conform with the theme of the competition round, and a maximum of twenty per cent of the entries are selected on the basis of quality and ideas. During the second meeting the innovative character of the entries is considered, and the plans selected are examined to see if they fit within the context of the sites for which they have been submitted and the prize-winning plans are identified.

Between the first and second meeting the international Towns and Juries Forum takes place. During this forum the entries selected for all the countries are brought together and thematically discussed with jury members and site representatives.

The Europan 7 jury visits the site in Rotterdam

Winners - The awards for the winner and runner-up are accompanied by a sum of money; the sum is determined with each round of the competition. No prize money accompanies the special mention award.
After the announcement of the winners Europan Nederland organises a festive prize-giving ceremony.

Realisations - The European Association and the national organisations do their best to ensure that the municipalities and/or developers that make the competition sites available offer the winners a commission.
In a letter of intent, the parties making a site available in the Netherlands pledge that the winners will be offered a realistic chance of obtaining a commission for, in the first instance, the site made available for the competition. Should this fail to materialise for whatever reason within a reasonable period of time, then an alternative site will be sought.

In order to stimulate the collaboration between the winners and the site representatives, after the winners are announced Europan Nederland organises a workshop in which the winners can present their plans to the site representatives. The aim of the workshop is to make the initial arrangements about the follow-up process.

Publications - After each competition round Europan Nederland compiles a publication containing the results for the Dutch sites, interviews with the winners and essays by those involved.
In addition, the European secretariat prepares the publication of a European catalogue in which all the entries from the winners and runners-up are presented thematically.

Exhibitions - After announcing the winners, Europan Nederland organises an exhibition in which all the entries for the Dutch sites are on view. The winners and the special mentions receive extra focus in the exhibition.
Activities are also organised at the sites themselves. These take place in the form of an exhibition, for example, a debate or a discussion evening. The aim of these activities is to publicise the results of the competition locally, thus generating discussion in the city concerned.

International Concluding Manifestation - The competition round is concluded at an international level with the Forum of Results, where all the European winners and runners-up and all the site representatives come together for discussions, talks and meetings.