Partnerships

Driving Urban Transistions (DUT)

Driving Urban Transistions (DUT)

Partnership website: https://dutpartnership.eu/

The Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) Partnership addresses the challenges European cities face regarding the transition to a sustainable urban future. The DUT Partnership also contributes substantially to the Horizon Europe Missions: Climate-neutral and Smart Cities and Mission Adaptation to Climate Change, the European Green Deal, and the Urban Agenda for the EU.

The Driving Urban Transitions is an co-funded partnership, bringing together private and public stakeholders in the research and innovation ecosystems. The DUT partnership incorporates all urban stakeholders (local authorities, municipalities, business and citizens) to co-create innovative, systemic and people-centric approaches, tools, methods and services in support of urban transformative transitions.

CET Partnership aims to achieve this through annual calls addressing three transition pathways, further divided in three themes:

  • Circular Urban Economies (CUE)
    • Built environment as a resource base
    • Integrated approaches with social cohesion and resource issues
    • Regenerative urbanism
  • Positive Energy Districts (PED)
    • PED as a tool to decentralise the energy system
    • PED as a socio-technical concept
    • Mainstreaming and replication of PED concept
  • 15-Minute City (15mC)
    • Sustainable urban mobility
    • People-centred urban planning
    • Smart logistics

A co-funded partnership: participation in Flanders

There are two active Flemish participating members in the DUT call: Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) and the Fund for Scientific Research (FWO). The latest DUT call for Flemish participants is open until 21 November 2023.

VLAIO

For consortia applying through VLAIO, more information can be found on the official webpage. Applications can include a research project, a development project or a PILBO application.

VLAIO has a total budget commitment of €800.000. A project can attain a maximum funding of €500.000. 

PILBO has various requirements and funding characteristics:

  • In case a Flemish local government wishes to apply, at least one Flemish company has to be part of the consortium
  • no more than 70% of the project budget can go to one partner

It is highly advised to contact VLAIO to ensure project funding eligibility (see contact details below).

FWO

For consortia applying through FWO, more information can be found on the official webpage. Applications can include fundamental research ("FO") and strategic basic research ("SBO").

FWO will support at least three Flemish projects with a maximum funding support of €250.000. A project can run for a maximum of 36 months.

A project coordinator can only apply for one DUT project as coordinator. Project applicants can only join a maximum of two different DUT projects/consortia.

It is highly advised to contact FWO to ensure project funding eligibility (see contact details below).

The DUT Partnership has a matchmaking platform for interested parties to connect and collaborate.

Key documents

Contact

What are partnerships?

Partnerships group the EC and private and/or public partners, to coordinate and streamline the research & innovation initiatives and funding in some selected key domains.

How to use partnerships?

  • orientation
    Partnerships publish strategic documents, e.g. outlining the main research and innovation challenges or key focus points.
  • networking
    Partnerships often organise events, such as info days, brokerage events, etc. Meet potential partners and learn about the nuances that are not visible in the official documents.
  • ecosystem analysis
    Partnerships typically have an advisory board, and publish impact studies of previous actions. These are good sources of information to uncover the main R&D&I players in the domain.
  • steering the agenda
    Partnerships collaborate with the EC on outlining the strategy and the future funding opportunities in their domain, based on input from industry, academia, and other stakeholders.

Testimonial

image of AgrifoodTEF - the AI Testing & Experimentation Facility for the agri-food sector

AgrifoodTEF - the AI Testing & Experimentation Facility for the agri-food sector

The AgrifoodTEF, funded under the Digital Europe call for a Testing and Experimentation Facility for Agri-Food, is a network of world-class testing and experimentation facilities (TEFs) in the agri-food sector that supports testing state-of-the-art data, AI, and robotics solutions in real-world environments to accelerate their market introduction. ILVO, Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Flemish node of the AgriFoodTEF supports the entire agri-food business, leveraging its infrastructures, experience and vast network established through participation in numerous Digital Europe and Horizon Europe initiatives.