JANUARY 2025
2025 Impact Report
2025 was another significant year of impact for Bax Innovation. Throughout the year, we diversified our services and contributions to advances in societal innovation, resulting in an increase in the number of clients, cities, and countries we work with. Our highlights below are testament to the impact generated by our inspiring team of changemakers.
Thank you to our clients, colleagues, and collaborators
for inspiring another fantastic year with Bax!
Sebastiaan van Herk (CEO)
Rolf Bastiaanssen (Director)
Message from our Directors
Our growing Bax team of 85 has increasingly become the trusted Innovation Partner for more than 1200 clients and changemakers that turn new and innovative ideas into real-world impact.
For them, we mobilised €1bn of funding in 2025, took care of project management, provided expert consulting services across a range of topics, and committed 25% of our time to R&D for groundbreaking initiatives.
We continued to enjoy funding success throughout 2025, making use of our portfolio of services to ensure the best ideas receive the financing they need to deliver true societal impact. We also continued to scale our Innovation Readiness Levels Framework and supported our various ventures making a real difference on the ground, including Healthy Cities, Pendel Mobility, and Starke Energy.
During 2025, we renovated and expanded our head office in Barcelona. We are pleased to welcome our network of innovation partners to visit us in 2026, make use of this inspiring new space, and continue working together to Make Ideas Happen.
Where we worked in 2025
Clients
(+147)
Cities
(+70)
Countries
(+5)
Highlights from 2025
Building a more resilient, circular, and water-smart Europe
Earlier this year, the Allwaters consortium was selected by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) to lead EIT Water, the EU’s new Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) for water, marine, and maritime ecosystems.
Bax was proud to have supported Aarhus University and the whole consortium in refining extensive multi-sectoral needs and knowledge into the Allwaters vision, and now a winning proposal. This also marks an important milestone for Bax: after EIT Culture & Creativity, EIT Water is the second successful EIT KIC we have developed.
Bax enjoys continued funding success in North-West Europe
2025 marked another successful year of providing support to our clients and collaborators to ensure Europe’s best ideas receive the financing they need to deliver true societal impact.
In November, we were delighted to receive confirmation that five of six Interreg North-West Europe project proposals supported by Bax were approved, bringing our overall success rate for proposal support in this funding area to 88%.
Bax strengthens Dutch presence with senior hire and expanded services
In April, we were delighted to welcome Tom Meijerink to the Bax team as we strengthened our Dutch operations.
This expansion broadens Bax Netherlands’ expertise in innovation strategy, collaborative R&D, programme and process management, and knowledge of key transition areas such as water, circular bio-based economy, and energy. With an enhanced set of services, Bax is better positioned to support Dutch clients in navigating complex challenges and unlocking opportunities for growth.
Bax continues to Drive Urban Transitions across Europe
Since the launch of our collaboration with the Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) Partnership in July 2024, we have expanded our expert support, playing a central role in shaping DUT’s updated strategic roadmap and now guiding DUT projects towards practical outputs and innovations.
The expansion of our support for DUT reaffirms our position at the forefront of challenge-driven urban innovation. We are excited and energised to continue this impactful collaboration in the coming years.
Supporting the launch of the Access Economy Alliance
In March 2025, our Access and Sharing Economy team facilitated the creation of the Access Economy Alliance, Europe’s first community of practitioners for the access economy.
The Alliance aims to become Europe’s movement for advancing the access economy in all its forms, including peer-to-peer apps, sharing stations, libraries of things, and renting services by local retailers.
Healthy Cities celebrates the launch the inagural Healthy Cities Programme
During 2025, our urban planning spinoff Healthy Cities announced the launch of the first edition of the Healthy Cities Programme, an initiative to support municipalities in exploring the relationship between the urban environment and public health, and identifying practical priorities for healthier urban development.
Following a rigorous selection process, five cities from across the globe were chosen to receive a free Urban Health Quick Scan, delivered with the support of the Healthy Cities team and powered by the innovative tool, the Healthy Cities Generator.
Impact by Topic Area
In 2025, Bax advanced circular innovation across Europe by supporting major EU innovation programmes, renewable energy projects, and industrial players in adopting circular principles. By connecting stakeholders, embedding sustainable design approaches, and fostering industry-wide dialogue, we empowered organisations to overcome barriers, secure investments, and set new standards for resource efficiency.
Our work in 2025 included:
- Engaging 100+ stakeholders through the Bax Battery Circularity Game at major events like the Battery Innovation Days, as well as hosting custom-made sessions for industrial teams and national initiatives.
- Placing water circularity at the heart of the winning EIT Water bid.
- Coordinating the value chain of circularity efforts for the development of a major offshore wind energy project.
- Bringing together Dutch and German stakeholders of the textile value chains to conceptualise a circular textile framework.
Our Circular highlights from 2025
Throughout 2025, Bax supported the Allwaters consortium in the development of the winning proposal for the upcoming EIT water. Our contributions to this winning partnership and proposal have helped to secure vital funding to tackle Europe’s most urgent water challenges, with water circularity at the core of this innovation ecosystem.
Partners / Clients:
Aarhus University, Water Valley Denmark, Wageningen University & Research, Deltares, DIH InnovaMare, SUBMARINER Network for Blue Growth EEIG, De Blauwe Cluster (Blue Cluster), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Technische Universität Wien, INNOVA IRV, Marine Cluster Bulgaria, University of Leeds, Grundfos Foundation | PDJF, Danfoss
WHAT WE DID
- Process development and management, proposal development, turning a consortium vision into a winning proposal
OUR IMPACT
- Winning EIT water with budget of +€500M over the next 15 years
- >1000 start-ups and scale-ups supported
- Avoiding €1.2 billion in ecosystem degradation losses
TEAM
Bax’s Battery Circularity Training increased awareness and upskilled +100 stakeholders in 2025 by understanding and navigating complex sustainability and business demands through immersive role-play scenarios.
Partners / Clients:
Battery Innovation Days, TraWeBa
WHAT WE DID
- We were invited to several events to host our Battery Circularity Game, guiding participants through the complexities of the battery circularity ecosystem using a roleplay format. Approaching battery circularity in this way allowed participants to gain unique insights related to the complexities of regulation, market demand, and partnerships.
OUR IMPACT
- Increased awareness and new insights on battery circularity partnerships and business models for +100 participants.
- ”[It was] a very fun and insightful session, and a great reminder of how many connections hide along the battery value chain.”
- “Loved participating in this! Really appreciated the interactive format. It was both fun and insightful.”
- “Happy to have participated. Great time working with supply lines and a wonderful way to break the ice and meet new people. Great work!”
TEAM
Work with us on Circular Innovation
Contact Bax’s Circular team to learn more about how we can support your innovation strategy.
In 2025, Digital innovation continued to be one of the key domains through which we created societal, economic, and environmental impact. We help organisations and ecosystems use data, digital tools, and collaborative platforms to solve complex challenges in sectors including healthcare, agriculture, energy, urban planning, and many more.
Our work in 2025 included:
- Continuing to facilitate the progression of the DigiH4A project, accelerating the digital health transformation of healthcare systems across Europe’s North Sea region and beyond.
- Supporting the development of the Healthy Cities Generator, the practical, evidence-based tool used to drive healthy urban planning by Healthy Cities, our urban planning spinoff.
- Contributions to INDUSAC, a European initiative that built a rapid, inclusive, and challenge-driven mechanism designed to facilitate the co-creation of real-world solutions between industry and academia.
- Involvement in the Smart Carbon Farming project, which brings together state-of-the-art technological advancements including robotics, AI & remote sensing, to measure carbon storage in agricultural soils.
Our Digital highlights from 2025
Europe’s digital health innovators face a reimbursement maze of fragmented national systems and complex regulations, causing many validated technologies to fail before they ever reach patients. To bridge this critical innovation gap, we’re pleased to support DigiH4A (Digital Health for All), a project aiming to replace isolated national pathways with a more harmonised European approach.
DigiH4A champions a connected network where evidence generated in one market is recognised in others. By aligning assessment standards and reimbursement rules across borders, we are creating a streamlined pathway for innovators to prove their value and secure market access, ensuring life-changing technologies can scale to meet patient needs.
Partners:
Innovation Skåne & the DigiH4A partnership
WHAT WE DID
As project manager of DigiH4A, Bax is bridging the gap between policy and progress by developing harmonised assessment frameworks based on best practices from across the EU. We support the creation of methodologies such as cost-benefit analysis tools, to help innovators demonstrate the socio-economic value of their solutions to payers, while simultaneously building a collaborative network of health authorities to facilitate cross-border reimbursement.
OUR IMPACT
- Development of a harmonised assessment framework to unify fragmented national reimbursement systems.
- Creation of a cost-benefit analysis tool that empowers innovators to prove the socio-economic value of their solutions.
- Building a collaborative network of health authorities across 7 countries to ensure mutual recognition of evidence.
TEAM
Work with us on Digital Innovation
Contact Bax’s Circular team to learn more about how we can support your innovation strategy.
In 2025, the Local Energy Systems focus area worked on various projects with the common goal of smartly progressing the green energy transition, which will lead to a net zero energy system, lower prices for citizens and businesses, while improving energy security and competitiveness.
Our work in 2025 included:
- Strategising the deployment of powerful EMS solutions in European business parks, to build resilient regional economies while lowering energy costs.
- Supporting European cities in creating their actionable Local Energy Action Plans (LEAPs), with which municipalities regain agency over their energy system.
- Giving project partners the opportunity to present their work on stages in front of an international audience, such as at the European Union Sustainable Energy Week.
- Guiding the European Union in their strategy for Positive Energy Districts (PEDs).
Our Energy highlights from 2025
The Local Energy Systems Team at Bax supported the coordination, workshop design, and strategic messaging of the DUT PED Conference, held in Milan in October 2025. The largest gathering of PED researchers and innovators in Europe, participants discussed the political, economic, societal, and technology PED “state of the art” and future priorities, through eight different workshops and four thematic tracks. These workshops help to refine and validate Bax’s strategic observations, outlined in the updated DUT Roadmap 2025.
Partners / Clients:
DUT Funding Programme – Driving Urban Transitions Partnership
WHAT WE DID
- Bax reviewed the results of 20+ PED projects across Europe and brought together research on the state of positive energy districts in Europe.
- We highlighted the forthcoming priorities for funding and innovation within the PED sector, specifically moving from technology demonstration to commercial and organisational maturity.
OUR IMPACT
- These new funding priorities will affect the direction of over €50m project funding, over 3-4 years, and impacting 10-20 PED projects.
- Ultimately it supports the commercial viability of Europe’s urban clean energy transition.
TEAM
Bax’s Local Energy Systems team is proud to have supported the Dutch social housing corporation De Alliantie with their successful, first-ever battery storage pilot and their strategic thinking towards the energy system of the future. The 160 kWh battery was the first battery installed for energy storage and peak shaving by a social housing corporation in the Netherlands, making De Alliantie one of the front-runners of the energy transition in their sector. The pilot demonstrated the ability of batteries to reduce peak-capacity and increase self-consumption, while also creating new opportunities for electrification and energy sharing.
Partners / Clients:
De Alliantie
WHAT WE DID
This year we successfully implemented a battery storage pilot with de Alliantie, which we have been supporting from the start.
We guided our partner through the process, from the initial business case, to the installation, maintenance and evaluation of the pilot.
With this crucial step in the energy transition being taken, we also took time to provide them with the image of what their future energy system could look like, and how they could use renewable energy systems to achieve their ambitious climate goals, while also making energy more affordable for their tenants.
OUR IMPACT
- The battery storage pilot was a first of its kind in the social housing sector of the Netherlands, creating new momentum not just for de Alliantie, but also for other peers in the sector.
- Using batteries for optimising self-consumption, peak shaving, flexibility services and potentially even energy sharing in the future opens a wide range of new opportunities for de Alliantie, who are facing restraints in current electrification efforts and new housing projects because of grid congestion, and the uncertainty of added costs as the end of salderen is nearing.
TEAM
Work with us on Energy Innovation
Contact Bax’s Energy team to learn more about how we can support your innovation strategy.
Throughout 2025, we applied our expertise across both urban health and healthcare innovation to promote healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable health systems. Through project activities including urban health strategies, active prescribing, master plans, and health impact assessments, we consistently confirmed the strong evidence that well-designed urban environments fostering active and healthy lifestyles are fundamental to good health and urban health equity. In parallel, we supported the sustainability of European healthcare systems by addressing barriers to innovation, advancing care models through tech-enabled homecare and practical workforce solutions like wearable exoskeletons and unlocking the potential of digital health. Our work in healthcare innovation included supporting European SMEs in navigating the AI Act, contributing to more harmonised reimbursement frameworks, and helping clients such as Central Denmark define and implement their healthcare innovation strategies.
Our work in 2025 included:
- Upscaling innovation, with more than 20 solutions that directly address care user needs, being piloted in real world environments.
- Unlocking digital health by developing harmonised assessment frameworks and proven methodologies to accelerate market access across Europe.
- Accelerating European SMEs fast-track to market-safe AI and robotics solutions.
- Supporting 200+ participants to evaluate their neighbourhoods, using the Healthy Cities Generator.
- Advancing healthy urban planning in l’Hospitalet (ES), Cornellà (ES), the City of Leeuwarden (NL) & municipality of Dijk en Waard (NL), by building stakeholder capacity and assessing the health impact of urban interventions.
- Exploring new global horizons for the Healthy Cities Generator, in a collaboration between Healthy Cities and UN-Habitat.
Our Health highlights from 2025
Europe’s ageing population is creating an unprecedented demographic shift, with the proportion of citizens over 65 years old – the biggest users of healthcare systems – expected to reach 29% by 2050. To address the strain on the healthcare workforce and the institutional care limitations, we are proud to support the ACE project, which aims to support the elderly population to receive high quality care, for as long as possible, from their homes.
ACE partners champion a transition to tech-enabled homecare. By integrating telemedicine and remote monitoring tools, we are moving from reactive, hospital-based models to proactive ecosystems that allow older adults to maintain dignity and independence in the comfort of their homes.
Partners / Clients:
Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) & the ACE partnership
WHAT WE DID
- As project managers for the ACE partnership, we orchestrated a digital ecosystem of hundreds of stakeholders, directly facilitating 22 strategic connections between homecare providers and technology innovators.
OUR IMPACT
- Management of a digital community of hundreds of stakeholders
- Upscaled more than twenty innovations that directly address care user needs
- Help 150+ North Sea region homecare providers adapt to these innovations
TEAM
The Healthy Cities team has carried out the health impact evaluation of Cornellà Natura, a project developed by the Cornellà de Llobregat City Council and which focuses on increasing green infrastructure and improving mobility throughout the municipality since 2016. Thanks to this evaluation, it has been possible to ascertain the impact of this type of integrated urban transformation strategy, not only on public spaces but also on the health of the population. With the results of the study, the City Council can continue with the implementation of the project, improving and focusing on those aspects that bring the greatest benefits to citizens.
Partners / Clients:
Cornellà de Llobregat City Council.
WHAT WE DID
A rigorous study of the project following the Healthy Cities methodology, by analysing the 20 urban health determinants to assess the impact on 30 health indicators with the use of the Healthy Cities Generator and a thorough data collection and spatial analysis, which led to the presentation of results in the form of a diagnosis, both at the city level and by neighborhood.
OUR IMPACT
- Extraction of accurate results on the impact of the project in aspects of the urban environment (i.e. increase of more than 12% of green coverage), health (15% decrease in depression) and economic savings (20M € saved in sanitary costs).
- Support the City Council in monitoring the project by developing indicator tables with KPIs and specific data sources. In addition to developing material for citizen communication on the progress of the project.
TEAM
Work with us on Health Innovation
Contact Bax’s Health team to learn more about how we can support your innovation strategy.
In 2025, Bax strengthened its position in the lightweighting field by supporting the expansion of the European Lightweight Clusters Alliance (ELCA) and leading the development of strategic collaborative projects and position papers. We also reinforced our activities in other advanced materials domains that are key to addressing the European Green Deal challenges, including 2D materials, renewable fuels, renewable energy, and the circularity of critical raw materials. By identifying the most pressing challenges, we acted as catalysts among stakeholders, helping to trigger the development of innovative solutions
Our work in 2025 included:
- Strengthening the positioning of lightweighting in Europe by fostering the development of use-case projects and raising awareness of its benefits and societal impact.
- Expanding the applicability of advanced materials to other relevant sectors, particularly renewable energies & renewable fuels.
- Supporting the commercialisation of graphene-based technologies through the development of ad-hoc exploitation roadmaps and sectorial stakeholder mapping for automotive, aerospace, hydrogen and water treatment industries.
Our Materials highlights from 2025
In 2025, Bax focused on strengthening the positioning of lightweighting in Europe along three key axes. Firstly, by enhancing collaboration between the ELCA network and other relevant associations, such as JEC World and the European Lightweighting Network (ELN). A series of joint events were organised, where use cases were presented to policymakers as evidence of the benefits and impact of lightweighting. Secondly, Bax developed a position paper bringing together insights from more than 15 Horizon Europe projects to highlight the challenges being addressed in the field of lightweighting. Finally, the implementation of various collaborative projects began, such as the Lightweight EU project under Interreg Europe, which aims to advance lightweighting innovation from a policy perspective.
Partners / Clients:
A2LT, Business Upper Austria, Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth (MERDY) of Slovakia, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, TESTIA, an Airbus company, Slovak Academy of Sciences
WHAT WE DID
We contributed to the launch of policy‑oriented programmes such as the Lightweight EU project under Interreg Europe, which aims to align and improve regional and national lightweighting policies, fostering cross‑regional learning and cooperation
OUR IMPACT
- Through engagement in initiatives like Lightweight EU — which aims to harmonise lightweighting strategies across European regions and reduce disparities in policy frameworks — Bax helped lay the groundwork for stronger, more coordinated lightweighting policies.
- The partnerships and joint events supported by Bax advanced cross‑sector and cross‑region dialogue, making it easier to share best practices, identify bottlenecks, and align future research and innovation activities.
TEAM
In June 2025, the Bax Advanced Materials team, through the SALIENT project, strengthened Europe-wide collaboration on lightweighting by bringing together 16 Horizon Europe projects in a cross-fertilisation workshop. The initiative addressed a key challenge in the lightweighting landscape: promising innovations often progress in parallel, with limited alignment on KPIs, impact pathways, and policy relevance. By creating a shared space for dialogue, the workshop connected advanced materials, sustainable manufacturing, digital tools, and circular economy approaches, helping position lightweighting as a systemic lever for Europe’s climate neutrality, circularity, and industrial competitiveness goals.
WHAT WE DID
We used our network to organise a Europe-wide cross-fertilisation workshop under the SALIENT project, bringing together 16 Horizon Europe projects to align on shared KPIs such as CO₂ reduction, material recovery, cost efficiency, and awareness. Leveraging Bax’s networks, the workshop addressed common technical, industrial, and policy challenges, identified five future collaboration and funding opportunities, and highlighted high-impact lightweighting technologies. The outcomes were distilled into a two-pager to raise awareness and communicate the real-world benefits of lightweighting to a broader audience.
OUR IMPACT
- The workshop transformed a set of fragmented research projects into collective momentum, accelerating pathways toward decarbonisation, circular material use, and cross-sector collaboration.
- By aligning KPIs and challenges, Bax helped improve the visibility, coherence, and systemic relevance of lightweighting innovation at European level, making results more accessible to industry and policymakers.
- The resulting two-pager reinforced the importance of lightweighting for Europe’s 2050 climate-neutrality ambitions and demonstrated the tangible societal benefits that coordinated lightweighting solutions can deliver.
TEAM
Work with us on Materials Innovation
Contact Bax’s Materials team to learn more about how we can support your innovation strategy.
In 2025, our Mobility teams worked with public authorities, industrial partners, scientists and non-profit organisations to further develop accessible, integrated, multi-modal transport systems for people and goods.
Additionally, our Mobility work in 2025 drove the transformation of public systems by supporting the planning and piloting of next-generation solutions and establishing innovative financing and governance structures. Our work focused on the seamless integration of public transport, paratransit, and shared mobility. We delivered robust frameworks that empowered public bodies to deploy efficient, future-proof services across Europe.
Our work in 2025 included:
- Putting transportation justice at the core of decarbonisation, through:
- accessible and integrated car-sharing options (STEER NWE)
- diverse CCAM solutions that consider a variety of users and means of transport (DIVERSIFY-CCAM)
- meaningful engagement of logistics stakeholders to support equal opportunities for both larger enterprises and SMEs (GLEAM NSR).
- Accelerating zero-emission urban logistics through e-commerce behavioural interventions (GreenTurn) and cutting-edge, right-sized light commercial vehicle solutions (Shift2Zero).
- Engaging European transport planners with advanced mobility planning through our proprietary Public Mobility Game.
- Developing DynamiCity within the EU Cities Mission, to advance active- and micro-mobility interventions for cancer prevention and cleaner, healthier and better-connected cities in 12 European living labs, including 6 net-zero cities.
- Designing a dedicated financing instrument for Public Transport Operators (PTOs) to facilitate the large-scale purchase and acquisition of automated vehicles (AVs) across Europe.
- Pioneering new initiatives by successfully integrating shared services and paratransit into existing public transport networks.
Our Mobility highlights from 2025
In November 2025, we led a co-creation workshop alongside the City of Zaragoza within the Horizon Europe GreenTurn project. Our team engaged stakeholders representing retailers, logistics service providers, the public authority, as well as consumers, in an ideation session to leverage Zaragoza’s Mercadeando app for the GreenTurn pilot. Mercadeando allows citizens to buy produce from local markets, while the delivery is done by a social enterprise that employs people at risk of social exclusion. The workshop gathered actionable inputs which will be implemented and tested in 2026.
Partners / Clients: Zaragoza Ayuntamiento
WHAT WE DID
- Led and facilitated the stakeholder engagement process together with the City of Zaragoza.
- Translated the input of 16 stakeholders into actionable ideas to be implemented in 2026.
OUR IMPACT
- Facilitated conversations between Zaragoza’s local stakeholders to improve the GreenTurn pilot, better adapting it to real local needs.
- Ensured that all voices and ideas were heard, to increase the use and uptake of e-commerce logistics solutions.
TEAM
WHAT WE DID
- Designed dedicated financing concepts for PTOs/PTAs to support large-scale AV fleets, supervision centres and depot / charging upgrades across Europe.
- Mapped and combined EU/EIB instruments (e.g. framework loans, ELENA-type project development assistance) into a practical “toolbox” for AV deployment in public transport.
- Developed a readiness checklist and financing playbook (investment plan, capex/opex profile, procurement & borrower path) and tested it with frontrunner PTOs and PTAs (incl. De Lijn, Leuven) through bilateral work and a closed session at Smart City Expo 2025.
OUR IMPACT
- Put financing on the AV agenda of leading PTOs, PTAs, the European Commission and the EIB; shifting the discussion from isolated pilots to bankable multi-year programmes.
- Created a clear pathway for first-mover PTOs to prepare €20m+ AV investment programmes and approach institutional financiers, laying the groundwork for future large-scale fleet procurements in upcoming EU testbeds (e.g. NL, BE, DE, FR)
TEAM
Work with us on Mobility Innovation
Contact Bax’s Mobility team to learn more about how we can support your innovation strategy.
In 2025, Bax worked with farmers, ocean stewards, land managers, innovative naturetech providers, researchers, businesses and policy-makers to drive the sustainable management of Europe’s land and seascapes. By bridging science, business and policy, and working across technology innovation, regulation, finance and stakeholder perceptions, we helped turn ideas into on-the-ground action for more resilient territories and ecosystems.
Our work in 2025 included:
- Co-developing the EU’s new Knowledge and Innovation Community for water, marine and maritime ecosystems, together with Aarhus University and a 250+ partner consortium.
- Strengthening the foundations for carbon farming as a complementary business model for farmers, by improving its practical, financial and policy readiness.
- Advancing innovative finance for Mediterranean marine ecosystem restoration through the design and testing of nature and blue carbon credit approaches.
Our Nature highlights from 2025
Summary:
During 2025, Bax worked with Aarhus University and the Allwaters consortium to develop the newest EIT KIC focused on water, marine and maritime sectors and ecosystems. Our contribution spanned co-creating the programme’s strategic vision and mission, defining its priority lines of work, governance and legal structure, and shaping a robust impact roadmap. This intensive process involved more than 24 hours of online co-creation sessions and two in-person meetings, crystalising cross-sectoral knowledge from >50 organisations.
Partners / Clients:
Aarhus University, Water Valley Denmark, Wageningen University & Research, Deltares, DIH InnovaMare, SUBMARINER Network for Blue Growth EEIG, De Blauwe Cluster (Blue Cluster), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Technische Universität Wien, INNOVA IRV, Marine Cluster Bulgaria, University of Leeds, Grundfos Foundation | PDJF, Danfoss, and many others
WHAT WE DID
- Cross-sectoral facilitation of knowledge from <50 organisations across Europe
- Definition of programme-level priorities, action programmes, governance structures, financial plans and impact logic
- Impact-oriented RDI proposal drafting
OUR IMPACT
Unlocked up to € 750 M in innovation funding to address water scarcity, droughts and floods, marine and freshwater ecosystem degradation and the need for a sustainable blue economy
TEAM
During 2025, Bax worked closely with farmer organisations and tech research centers in the Smart Carbon Farming Project. The project brings together state-of-the-art technological advancements including robotics, AI & remote sensing, to measure carbon storage in agricultural soils. The monitoring solutions are already being piloted on fields in Flanders and Ireland.
Partners / Clients:
Multitel Research Center, ILVO, ConstellR, Teagasc, ZLTO, Boerenbond, Ver de Terre Production, TGO, 3N, Oost NL, Green Restoration Ireland
WHAT WE DID
In addition to providing strategic direction to ensure key project advancements, we are enhancing the projects’ impact through communication and dissemination. We produced video interviews with experts from across Europe and established a strong European network to disseminate project results.
OUR IMPACT
- Produced >25 video interviews with a diverse range of European experts and facilitated strategic advisory meetings convening key stakeholders
- Strengthened the carbon farming network through collaborations with sister projects and the EU CAP Network.
TEAM
Work with us on Nature Innovation
Contact Bax’s Nature team to learn more about how we can support your innovation strategy.
In 2025, Bax advanced the circular and sharing economy by working with cities, national governments, NGOs and a wide range of startups. Among other initiatives, we helped launch sharing stations, trained civil servants on the access economy, and supported a national government in defining its role in shaping the sharing economy. We believe in a future where circular and access models become a convenient and mainstream way of consuming, delivering significant environmental, economic and social benefits for citizens.
Our work in 2025 included:
- Supporting the Dutch government in exploring its role in the sharing economy and connecting stakeholders
- Launching the Access Economy Alliance, bringing together EU leaders of the sharing economy
- Helping cities across Europe to design and launch sharing stations services
Our Sharing highlights from 2025
Supporting the Dutch government in structuring the sharing economy ecosystem
In 2025, our Sharing and Circular Economy team supported Rijkswaterstaat in bringing together the Dutch ecosystem working on the sharing economy, both from the public and private sector.
Partners / Clients:
Rijkswaterstaat
WHAT WE DID
- Through online workshops, mapping of stakeholders, interviews with industry leaders and European networks, the team presented a vision and plan for the creation of national network for the sharing economy.
- We concluded the project with the organization of the Sharing Sessions within the National Conference on the circular economy in Utrecht
OUR IMPACT
- Inspired 10+ municipalities to work together on the sharing economy
- Supported the government in formulating a plan for the sharing economy for the coming years
TEAM
In 2025, we established a network of organisations to shape the future of sharing and circular economy practices, with the launch of the Access Economy Alliance.
Partners / Clients:
Les Biens en Commun, Library of Things, Circular Library Network, City of Hamburg, City of Sint Niklaas, Saint-Quentin, Hogeschool Utrecht, Kringwinkel Antwerp, etc.
WHAT WE DID
Through the Interreg NS Project, Bax successfully launched the Access Economy Alliance to bring together all the European leaders working on the sharing and rental economy. Through webinars, studies, experiments and other activities, the team has brought together 30+ partners that share a common vision for the future of consumption.
OUR IMPACT
- Inspired public and private actors to launch access economy services
- Increased the visibility and relevance of the sharing economy
TEAM
Work with us on Sharing Innovation
Contact Bax’s Sharing team to learn more about how we can support your innovation strategy.
In 2025, Bax supported liveable, healthy cities that put people and planet first. By fostering inclusive approaches and embedding sustainability and wellbeing in urban transformation, we supported stakeholders in delivering urban schemes that can meet people’s needs and create healthy environments.
Throughout the year, we partnered with municipalities and research organisations across Europe to enhance urban biodiversity, climate resilience, and active mobility. Our work on urban topics spanned the full innovation lifecycle: from contributing to the strategic direction of one of Europe’s leading urban funding programmes to supporting cities with piloting innovative solutions.
By translating local learnings into scalable policy, we helped ensure our cities remain liveable, resilient, and thriving.
Our work in 2025 included:
- Deepening our strategic work with the Driving Urban Transitions Partnership by aligning its strategy with Europe’s ambitions, facilitating a large-scale workshop on impact creation, and working in close contact with funded projects to ensure they capitalise on their project results.
- Finalising the three-year Active Cities project, helping 8 municipalities across Northern Europe testing tactical urban transformations and social innovations that increase the quality of urban spaces for pedestrians and cyclists. By delivering three key policy briefs and showcasing results at the POLIS conference, we provided a replicable blueprint for human-scale and walkable cities.
- Supporting 200+ participants to evaluate their neighbourhoods, using the Healthy Cities Generator.
- Advancing healthy urban planning in l’Hospitalet (ES), Cornellà (ES), the City of Leeuwarden (NL) & municipality of Dijk en Waard (NL), by building stakeholder capacity and assessing the health impact of urban interventions.
- Exploring new global horizons for the Healthy Cities Generator, in a collaboration between Healthy Cities and UN-Habitat.
Our Urban highlights from 2025
This year, we launched the Healthy Cities Generator’s citizen engagement module: a dedicated tool designed to ensure community perspectives are fully integrated into urban planning. The module was developed as part of the HORUS project, which aims to tackle unhealthy lifestyles in urban areas with vulnerable populations, tested in the +Actiu project and successfully applied in Dijk en Waard healthy neighbourhood scan.
Partners / Clients:
Instituto de Polibienstar – Universidad de Valencia, Erasmus MC, Fundació Fisabio, Kveloce, MEDRI – University of Rijeka, Universitat Politècnica de València, Instituto Catalán de Oncología-IDIBELL, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud Blanquerna (URL), ZonMW, gemeente Dijk en Waard, Stichting MET Dijk en Waard, social housing corporation Woonwaard, GGD Hollands Noorden.
WHAT WE DID
- Launched the tool built specifically for citizen use with a mobile-friendly questionnaire available in 9 languages.
- Presented at 11 international events & conferences, featured in 7 webinars and 2 podcasts.
OUR IMPACT
- Used by 200+ community members to assess their urban environments and shape interventions that would encourage healthy lifestyles, in Rijeka, Rotterdam & Valencia.
- Co-design of 3 active prescribing pilots in l’Hospitalet del Llobregat through a sustained a Community of Practice with 30+ participants, including neighbors, city council, local entities, healthcare and urban planning professionals
- Connect social and spatial domain to systematically integrate the health lens in urban regeneration of the Stationskwartier of Heerhugowaard, including the views of inhabitants on their healthy living environment throughout the process.
- Supported citizen-informed decision-making with attractive, easy to understand visuals.
TEAM
Bax has expanded its expert support for the DUT Partnership. We have played a central role in shaping DUT’s updated strategic roadmap and are now guiding DUT projects towards practical outputs and innovations. Through this work, Bax is helping DUT—one of Europe’s key initiatives for sustainable urban transitions—refine its strategy and unlock the potential of tools designed to maximise impact.
Partners / Clients:
The Austrian Research Promotion Agency, AustriaTech, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Formas, IQS, Viable Cities
WHAT WE DID
- Brought 190 in-person and 30 online participants together in a workshop to explore how each DUT-funded project contributes to the partnership’s core vision: a climate-neutral and resilient future for all.
- Contributed in-depth state-of-the-art research on the rapidly changing European environment, aligning DUT’s Transition Pathways with Europe’s latest strategic ambitions
- Led the pilot years of two of DUT’s main instruments for impact-creation – the Knowledge Hub and the Innovation Portfolio – ensuring the most promising solutions and insightful learnings coming from DUT-funded projects are capitalised on by the wider R&D community.
OUR IMPACT
- Bridged the gap between high-level EU ambitions and the partnership’s roadmap, ensuring DUT remains at the forefront of the urban transition agenda.
- Launched the instruments necessary to turn isolated project results into accessible assets for the wider urban transition community.
TEAM
Work with us on Urban Innovation
Contact Bax’s Urban team to learn more about how we can support your innovation strategy.
