Urbanisation is complex and cross-sectoral by nature. To promote sustainable urbanisation we need to engage policy-makers, national authorities, industry, cities, research institutions and civil society in cooperation for innovative solutions.
The EU-China Innovation Platform on Sustainable Urbanisation – URBAN-EU-CHINA – will strengthen the cooperation between EU and China on sustainable urban development. The platform will engage a wide range of stakeholders in a common effort to create sustainable cities.
“EU-China Innovation Platform offers us valuable insights into the Chinese market and we are able to get in touch with many representatives of Chinese cities and companies”, so Hans-Martin Neumann from AIT Center for Energy.
The URBAN-EU-CHINA platform is financed by Horizon 2020, the European Commission’s framework programme for research and innovation. The start date of the project was 1 January 2017. The URBAN-EU-CHINA Kick-off Meeting was successfully held in Putian, Fujian Province, China, on 19 March, back-to-back with the 2017 EU-China Forum on Sustainable Urban Development.
URBAN-EU-CHINA will:
1. Promote and develop Joint Policy Strategies, Funding and Cooperation Instruments for EU-China cooperation on sustainable urbanisation
2. Create Joint Urban Demonstration Projects, in cooperation between industry, cities, research and other organisations
3. Promote City-Industry-Science Partnerships using virtual and face-to-face meeting places
This will be accomplished through a coordinated series of actions, including: a strategic research and innovation agenda, scoping and assessment, networking events, workshops, peer-to-peer exchanges, bench-marking and monitoring, and joint demonstration projects.
Project partners:
- Austrian Institute of Technology (Austria)
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Lead partner, Norway)
- Institute of Studies for the Integration of Systems (Italy)
- Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (Germany)
- Austrian Research Promotion Agency (Austria)
- EUROCITIES (Belgium)
- ADVANCITY (France)
- China Center for Urban Development (China)
- China Academy of Urban Planning and Design (Co-lead partner, China)
- Tongji University (China)
- University of Nottingham Ningbo (China)
- European Chamber of Commerce in China (China)