Project description
City-university interactions driving the EU’s green and digital transition
Cities require agile and high-performing urban innovation ecosystems to transform and maintain resilience, according to the European Commission. Interactions between cities and universities are essential for achieving climate neutrality and sustainable growth. The EU-funded SUNSET project aims to enhance research and training capabilities linked to the city-university interactions driving the EU’s green and digital transition. The project brings together researchers from leading universities and partners from city governments, innovation companies, research institutes and civil society organisations to analyse and promote the performance of urban innovation ecosystems, fostering their growth. The Doctoral Network will explore how universities can become key drivers of the twin transition, and train researchers to lead this transition.
Objective
SUNSET aims to develop innovative research and training capacity around city-university interactions driving the EU’s green and digital transition. This twin transition is a defining element of the current EU policy agenda towards achieving climate neutrality and sustainable growth. The European Commission considers cities to be frontrunners in this transition agenda, but their transformational capacity and resilience crucially depends on the presence of agile and high-performing urban innovation ecosystems. SUNSET brings together (1) prominent researchers working in diverse geographical and disciplinary settings at leading universities (N=6) with (2) partners (N=16) from city governments (often participating in the Cities Mission to achieve climate neutrality by 2030), innovation companies, research institutes and civil society organizations to analyze and foster the performance of these urban innovation ecosystems: drawing on a purposeful range of interdisciplinary, international, and intersectoral exchanges, the Doctoral Network will investigate whether and how universities can successfully become key drivers of the twin transition in cities via their role as innovation partners, the implementation of campus living labs, and as architects of decision-making in governance ecosystems. Through a tailored combination of network-wide training events and academic and non-academic secondments, the SUNSET Doctoral Network will train a new generation of researchers to become future urban innovation ecosystem leaders in the pursuit of the twin green and digital transition. The findings will lead to practical guidelines regarding the design and implementation of living labs for university and city management, tailored strategies to foster more inclusive and diverse urban ecosystems, and diverse forms of scientific outreach and dissemination.
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-DN - HORIZON TMA MSCA Doctoral NetworksCoordinator
3000 Leuven
Belgium
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Participants (5)
4021 Stavanger
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51005 Tartu
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02150 Espoo
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00014 Helsingin Yliopisto
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3584 CS Utrecht
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Partners (16)
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
3000 Leuven
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
3000 Leuven
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
51003 Tartu
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
4068 Stavanger
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
02610 Espoo
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
51005 Tartu
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
65101 Vaasa
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
4006 Stavanger
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
3000 Leuven
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
00099 Helsinki
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
02150 Espoo
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
3941 EP Doorn
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
3521 AZ Utrecht
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
00100 Helsinki
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
15100 Lahti
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
02070 Espoo
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