URBAN MATRIX is based on the fact that networking knowledge is a key contributing factor to Sustainable Urban Development (SUD), and that cities have a growing need for practical know-how to facilitate decision-making. The project will connect knowledge providers and end-users to allow exchange of best practice, expertise and application of SUD solutions, with the objectives of meeting the needs of cities and helping dissemination and implementation of current and future EU legislation affecting cities and the use of EU project outputs.

To achieve this, the project will chart knowledge demands, stemming from current and future challenges in the area of SUD in Europe, and the existing information offer as given by the outputs of relevant research projects of previous and current EC R&D programmes, most importantly, but not exclusively, the KA-4 'City of Tomorrow' (FP5). The demand from cities will be charted through the use of surveys and analyses of urban data and policy requirements, such as, for example, the Urban Audit II, whereas the information supply will be organised on the basis of a further development of the existing SUD-LAB website portal. Eventually, the cross comparison of demand and offer identification will result in the organisation of thematic workshops to ensure that the knowledge available reach city officers and decision-makers on the basis in a tailor-made format.

The project will assess the potential of organising such small-scale tailor made workshops on a regular and systematic basis. This should allow for much more efficient and better-targeted outputs delivery and uptake across cities and towns all over the European Union. The approach will be evaluated, to draw conclusions on what types of mechanisms will be needed to ensure a better take up of European R&D activities and related outputs and, at the same time, elaborate a more precise determination of future information and R&D needs within the urban context.