The EWUU institute 4 a Circular Society (EWUU i4CS) and DigiC, ROM Utrecht Region’s innovation programme for Digitalisation in the Circular Construction Economy, have entered into a strategic partnership. By connecting scientific knowledge with digital methods and practical implementation, the partners aim to accelerate the transition towards a circular built environment, and ultimately towards a circular society.
Creating a circular built environment requires more than technological innovation alone. It depends on collaboration across the entire ecosystem, bringing together researchers, businesses, governments and societal organisations. Digital technologies can make material flows more transparent, improve collaboration across value chains and support circular business models. Their real impact, however, depends on how successfully they are embedded in broader organisational, economic and policy systems.
This shared perspective forms the foundation of the partnership between EWUU i4CS and DigiC.
Connecting Digital Approaches with Circular Systems Change
As a transdisciplinary institute, EWUU i4CS brings together researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology, Wageningen University & Research, Utrecht University and UMC Utrecht with governments, businesses and societal organisations to develop systemic solutions for the circular transition.
Complementing this scientific expertise, DigiC contributes a strong public-private innovation ecosystem in which digital solutions for the circular construction sector are developed, tested and applied in practice. Through innovation projects, matchmaking and knowledge exchange, DigiC accelerates the development, validation and scaling of digital methods that enable circular construction.
Cecile Veerman, Program Director EWUU i4CS
“Digital technologies are powerful enablers of the circular transition, but technology alone does not create systems change. Lasting transformation also requires new forms of collaboration, governance and business models. By partnering with DigiC, we connect cutting-edge digital innovation with the scientific knowledge needed to understand how circular solutions can be successfully scaled and implemented. That is exactly where i4CS wants to make a difference.”
Creating Impact Through Collaboration
Together, the partners will develop initiatives that connect research, innovation and practice. Together, i4CS and DigiC will work on projects such as:
- connecting scientific research with real-world innovation challenges;
- developing public-private research and innovation projects;
- building transdisciplinary consortia around shared circular ambitions;
- exploring and validate digital solutions in practical settings;
- exchanging knowledge and lessons learned across research, industry and government
By combining their complementary expertise and networks, EWUU i4CS and DigiC aim to ensure that promising digital approaches are not only developed, but also successfully applied and scaled to accelerate the transition towards a circular built environment.
‘’Our partnership with i4CS brings scientific knowledge and practical innovation closer together. By combining DigiC’s network of businesses, governments and knowledge institutions with i4CS’s systemic and transdisciplinary expertise, we can turn research into digital and circular solutions that work in practice and can be scaled across the construction sector”
Thijs van Bemmel, Program Manager DigiC
Want to know more about DigiC? Visit their website for more information.