Tutech acted as an advisor for the “Circular Construction In Regenerative Cities (CIRCuIT)” project.
Our Consultancy and Competence Development business unit constantly monitors calls for proposals in international research funding to identify opportunities for our network. Drawing researchers’ attention to new European and international funding programmes and advising them on submitting proposals is just one of the services Tutech provides for TUHH. External clients such as the city of Copenhagen are also keen to take advantage of the comprehensive and focussed services provided by Tutech.
Such cooperation benefits all those involved, for example if a project is seeking Horizon 2020 funding as an “Innovation Action”. Horizon 2020 is the EU framework programme for research and innovation. An “Innovation Action” aims to demonstrate that a new technology is viable in an operational environment. Funding bodies are increasingly focusing on municipalities as coordinating application partners as well as industrial cooperation. But competition for funding is intense, with the average success rate under 15%. A proposal’s success depends largely on how convincingly it can demonstrate that the project will have a measurable impact – in this case reduced waste as a result of increased reuse and recycling.
Professor Kerstin Kuchta
“In 2017 Hamburg produced around 4.5 million tonnes of waste building materials, including soil. The quantity in Harburg is estimated at about one million tonnes. Today when buildings are demolished it’s only the metal components, steel in other words, that are extracted and melted down. In individual cases elements such as windows and doors are recovered, refurbished and reused elsewhere. But that’s pretty much restricted to historic buildings.” Prof. Kuchta, Hamburger Abendblatt dated19.06.2019
“Circular Cities” is already the City of Copenhagen’s second project proposal in the circular economy field. After the FORCE project succeeded in winning EU funding, the City of Copenhagen drew a second time on Tutech’s expertise. The brief comprised support up to the point of submitting the proposal. Tutech thus provided support with all the formal stages, including advising the partners involved in the research consortium. This included strict project management to ensure the proposal was comprehensive and submitted on time as well as direct work on formulating the wording of the proposal. That helped to improve the chances of getting funded. Tutech’s commitment is acknowledged at TUHH, too:
“It’s unbelievable how much you’ve done to support our proposal,” says Prof. Kuchta.
