MIN-GUIDE is a project addressing the need for a secure and sustainable supply of minerals in Europe by developing a ‘Minerals Policy Guide’. The key objectives of the project are (1) providing guidance for EU and MS minerals policy, (2) facilitating minerals policy decision making through knowledge co-production for transferability of best practice minerals policy, and (3) fostering community and network building for the co-management of an innovation catalysing minerals policy framework. This will be achieved through a systematic profiling and policy benchmarking of relevant policy and legislation in Europe, which includes the identification of innovation friendly best practices through quantitative indicators and a qualitative analysis country-specific framework conditions, as well as through the compilation of minerals statistics and reporting systems. These insights will form the basis for developing an interactive, tailor-made online ‘Minerals Policy Guide’. Another key feature of the MIN-GUIDE project will be knowledge co-production for minerals policy decision makers through Policy Laboratories exploring these best practice examples along the whole mineral production value chain (exploration and extraction, processing, recycling and mine closure). Furthermore, MIN-GUIDE will facilitate the building of a sustainable minerals policy stakeholder network through this knowledge co-production and utilization in Policy Laboratories as well as through three major Conferences. These Conferences will explore the minerals governance framework, work on recommendations for promoting innovation along the whole minerals production value chain, and put it into the wider context of the circular economy. The MIN-GUIDE project and in particular the dissemination of the ‘Minerals Policy Guide’ to specific target audiences will have the expected impact of guiding EU MS and EU level minerals policy-making towards a more coherent, transparent and innovation-catalysing framework.

The DUT Partnership builds upon and steps up the ambition and efforts of the Joint Programming Initiative Urban Europe (JPI UE). With its partners from 28 countries, the DUT Partnership aims at developing and implementing a transformative research and innovation (R&I) programme to strengthen urban transitions towards climate-neutral, inclusive and sustainable urban areas. With national and regional R&I programme owners, funders and urban policy-related public authorities, DUT is strongly building upon and aligning with national and regional strategies and policies. In order to support cities along their specific strategies, the Partnership focuses on three critical urban sectors, energy, mobility and circular economy, and their interrelations. Three Transition Pathways (TPs) – Positive Energy Districts (PED), the 15-minute City (15minC) and Circular Urban Economies (CUE) – will be addressed with a long-term perspective. DUT will not only provide funding for transnational R&I projects in and across these areas through implementing co-funded JCs, but establish a comprehensive programme management to support capacity building and enhance the (policy) impact of these projects and their results. In this regard, programme activities will address capacity building and empowerment of all urban stakeholder groups to engage in urban R&I and co-design solutions. Urban living labs (ULLs) will be fostered as an important concept to support local experimentation and inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration. New approaches towards dissemination and mainstreaming of research results will be developed with the ambition to bring results into our cities. Strategic synthesis, as well as recommendations and references for policy making will be provided with particular focus on contributions to the Urban Agenda for the EU (UAEU), the European mission for climate-neutral and smart cities (CNSC) and the European Green Deal (EGD). Efforts will be taken to position the DUT Partnership internationally and mobilise international partners to join forces in DUT.

The DUT Partnership builds upon and steps up the ambition and efforts of the JPI Urban Europe. With its partners from 28 countries it aims at developing and implementing a transformative research and innovation (R&I) programme to strengthen urban transitions towards climate neutral, inclusive and sustainable urban areas. With national and regional R&I programme owners, funders and urban policy related public authorities, DUT is strongly building upon and aligning with national and regional strategies and policies. In order to support cities along their specific strategies, the Partnership focuses on three critical urban sectors, energy, mobility and circular economy, and their interrelationships. Three Transition Pathways – Positive Energy Districts, the 15-Minute City and Circular Urban Regenerative Economies – will be addressed with a long-term perspective. DUT will not only provide funding for transnational R&I projects in and across these areas through implementing joint calls but establish a comprehensive programme management to support capacity building and enhance the (policy) impact of these projects and their results. In this regard, programme activities will address capacity building and empowerment of all urban stakeholder groups to engage in urban research and innovation and codesign solutions. Urban living labs will be fostered as an important concept to support local experimentation and inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration. New approaches towards dissemination and mainstreaming of research results will be developed with the ambition to bring results into our cities. Strategic synthesis as well as recommendations and references for policy making will be provided with particular focus on contributions to the Urban Agenda for the EU, the European mission for climate-neutral and smart cities and the European Green Deal. Efforts will be taken to position the DUT partnership internationally and mobilise international partners to join forces in DUT.

The international high-level conference will be organised during the Finnish Presidency of the European Union Council in Helsinki in December 2019.The topic of the event is “Developing an Innovation-Friendly Legislative Culture – the Innovation Principle”. Today the pace of innovation is faster than ever. The process of preparing legislation does not necessarily match the rate of technological and digital change. The Innovation Principle seeks to ensure that regulation is designed in a way that creates the best possible ecosystem for the flourishing of innovation. The Innovation Principle thus contributes to creating a more innovation-friendly regulatory framework for the EU and, when used for national legislation, can signal the willingness of EU Member States to host and nurture innovators as well as to overcome situations of market failure. The conference aims to demonstrate that regulation can be used effectively and responsibly as a tool to pave the way for market-driven activities and innovations with the aim of providing high quality services to citizens according to objectives set for policies. The conference encourages to take a perspective that since all developments cannot be predicted, flexibility and new operating models are needed (e.g. new kind of PPPs including involvement of end users). The conference has four specific objectives: • To raise awareness and build shared understanding of the possibilities and challenges of regulation in creating markets for innovations and innovative business ecosystems in the European Union • To share experiences of forerunners and experiments in different fields both at the EU level and in the Member States • To identify key areas where regulation could be a major driver for innovation • To identify key policy questions to facilitate the use of Innovation Principle.