Bax recently confirmed its commitment to progressing Europe’s sustainable urban future with the launch of a four-year collaboration with the Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) Partnership.
The DUT Partnership is an intergovernmental research and innovation programme supporting much-needed urban transformation processes across Europe. It aims to strengthen capacities and tools to make urban change happen and boost transformations towards climate-neutral, liveable, and inclusive cities. DUT is a public-public partnership, co-funded by 28 Europeean countries and the European Comission under the Horizon Europe. It is a consortium with over 65 national and regional R&I funders, authorities, urban policy agencies, research organisations and other organisations as strategic partners. The Partnership is committed to addressing urban sustainability challenges and contributing to the European mission of climate-neutral cities, the European Green Deal, and the Urban Agenda for the EU.
With the majority of Europeans living and working in urban areas, the transition to a sustainable urban society is now as relevant as ever, and mobility, energy, and use of resources and natural environments are seen as key factors in this transition.
The framework contract will see Bax provide expert support on the strategic development of DUT’s three key Transition Pathways (TPs) for the next four years through the realisation of four core tasks. With a team of 9 experts from 8 European countries, Bax will support DUT with:
- State-of-the-art and strategic development of the TPs
- Exploitation of synergies in the cross-connections between the TPs
- Exploration of cooperation opportunities with neighbouring initiatives
- Facilitation of science-to-policy and practice collaboration uptake
Working alongside the DUT Partnership will allow Bax to continue expanding its presence in innovations supporting transitions in urban environments, with several ongoing initiatives in areas including urban logistics, urban mobility, urban energy systems, urban greening, health and urban planning.
On a company level, the collaboration with DUT will see different teams within Bax working together on the specific elements of the urban transitions, presenting the opportunity to combine expertise on these topics and support the research and innovation agenda for cities across Europe.
Having been selected as experts to support the partnership that frames the research and innovation for urban themes in Europe, this is a reflection of our growth as a company and influence across the region, allowing us to combine our teams and work together to drive urban transitions.
– Sebastiaan van Herk, CEO of Bax
Over the next four years, Bax will help DUT boost urban transitions through the development of three key Transition Pathways (TPs):
Circular Urban Economies
The Circular Urban Economies Transition Pathway aims to support the planning and design of inclusive urban spaces sustained by circular resource flows and regenerative urbanism. This TP encourages a multitude of tools and approaches that combine efforts towards increased urban resource efficiency and liveability in cities. For instance, activities within this TP will focus on nature based solutions, circular built environments, resource-sharing approaches, and urban food systems, areas in which Bax is already present across Europe.
The Circular Urban Economies TP reflects very well our key components for a liveable city. Our work on this TP allows us to combine our expertise from different fields such as circular and shared resource flows, circular economy policies and business models, and urban greening, climate and biodiversity strategies, into one holistic concept. This collaboration presents an exciting opportunity to address these topics at a system scale – beyond projects.
– Camilla Sandberg, Innovation Consultant in Liveable Cities
Positive Energy Districts
The Positive Energy Districts Transition Pathway aims to develop innovative solutions for the planning, large-scale implementation, and replication of PEDs across Europe. PEDs are energy-efficient and energy-flexible urban areas that generate net zero emissions while managing renewable energy. As we move towards climate-neutral cities, the Positive Energy Districts TP designs and demonstrates solutions at which the majority of urban planners work; city blocks or neighbourhoods. Beyond designing a cohesive area to live and work in, it adds adaptive local energy systems where energy generation and storage is shared among buildings in a smart way. It delivers innovations in the fields of ICT, governance and business models – including social ventures.
Generating and sharing energy across districts makes a lot of sense. For families and businesses, energy is a major cost. Beyond being sustainable, Positive Energy Districts create a pathway for individuals and communities to own energy assets that significantly reduce their spending, or even generate income. It is an opportunity for community wealth generation in the range of hundreds of billions of euros, with tangible impact in every neighbourhood across Europe, wealthy or not.
– Rolf Bastiaanssen, Chief Growth Officer and Head of Energy
15-minute City
The 15-minute City Transition Pathway connects measures of mobility, logistics, public space, and planning to promote liveable neighbourhoods and climate-neutral cities. At Bax, we work on and are involved in several topics related to the way people move in urban areas, including active mobility, urban logistics, inclusive and shared mobility, and accelerating the link between urban planning and health. Working with the Driving Urban Transitions Partnership and the 15-minute city Transition Pathway ensures we are positioned at the core of the state-of-the-art development of the concept, both in terms of research and innovation projects as well as the physical implementation of best practices.
There are still many challenges and questions surrounding the 15-minute city concept, so it is exciting to work with a partnership that funds experimentation in this area and to have the opportunity to be involved in its development and impact.
– Juliette Tenart, Innovation Consultant in Active Mobility
Our involvement in this collaboration once again highlights our commitment to applying societal innovations across Europe. By focusing on the Circular Urban Economies, Positive Energy Districts, and 15-minute City Transition Pathways, we are well-positioned to make substantial contributions to urban innovation and transformation throughout the next four years and beyond. We look forward to leveraging our expertise to support DUT in creating more efficient, inclusive, and sustainable urban environments. This collaboration will contribute significantly to the sustainable development of cities across Europe, ultimately laying the foundations for a more resilient urban future.
Learn more about the Driving Urban Transitions Partnership
For more information, visit the official website: https://dutpartnership.eu/
