Thursday 22 September 2022

Up to £3m offered for sustainable cities and urban environments in Europe

Up to £3 million for the development of sustainable cities and urban environments across Europe has been announced by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The funding will support between eight to 10 projects, with the aim of addressing key urban challenges facing cities in the transition to a more sustainable economy.

This funding opportunity has been co-created with the Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) partnership, which is co-funded with Horizon Europe.

The DUT partnership focuses on three critical urban sectors that are laid out in its roadmap as Transition Pathways.

UK funding will only be available for the opportunity topics within the '15-minute city' (15mC) transition pathway, which fosters sustainable urban mobility transitions by improving accessibility and connectivity, starting from the neighbourhood level.

The 15mC concept is based on the idea that city dwellers should be able to cover the vast majority of their daily needs within a 15-minute radius, by walking and cycling, while connecting to further districts and travelling larger distances by other forms of sustainable transport.

It seeks to establish integrated and mixed-used neighbourhoods at large, which are key to reducing emissions in the transport and logistics sector and adapt urban environments to the challenges of climate change.

The DUT partnership must receive the joint project outline application by 21st November 2022 and the deadline for full stage proposals is 3rd May 2023.