Mission

The 4TU.Built Environment Center is a collaboration between the building departments of the four Dutch technical universities (Delft, Eindhoven, Twente and Wageningen) from which the capacities are utilized in order to make an impact in societal challenges. This is done in via a network of organizations in close cooperation with innovative companies from the building sector.

Goals

The mission and strategy of 4TU.Built Environment are based upon three main goals, which are:

1. Addressing societal relevant themes by tailoring knowledge and expertise in Domain Acceleration Teams (DATs);
2. Stimulation of new and improvement of existing innovations in the building sector;
3. Increasing impact by collaborating and co-creating with (inter)national partners.

Strategy

The 4TU.Built Environment strategy for 2022-2025 is approved by 4TU.Federation and can be found here. Through thematic communities, coined Domain Acceleration Teams (DATs), 4TU.Built Environment aims to contribute to five societal themes:

• Energy Transition
• Circularity and Sustainability
• Digitalization
• Infrastructure and Mobility
• Climate Adaptation and Mitigation
• Health in the Built Environment

Thematic Communities

The internal communities of the 4TU.Built Environment Center, the Domain Acceleration Teams, will each develop a vision and determine a research agenda for that theme in which collaboration with the construction innovation chain will be a focus point. In this way, 4TU.Built Environment aims to contribute to both short- and long-term scientific contributions.

4TU.Built Environment will support the Domain Acceleration Teams in organizing new connections and by creating visibility in the network, for example by organizing meetings, supporting community activities and publishing developments and news.

Societal challenges

With the 4TU.Built Environment Center, the aim is to generate more impact by collaborating to solve societal challenges in the Built Environment. This will be done by enhanced visibility, obtained by initiating in new research projects as well as supporting existing innovations. For example, new and existing living labs can be a showcase for such innovation and collaboration.

Collaboration

The 4TU.Built Environment departments are known to collaborate on many societal challenges at different levels. Successful initiatives such as the Bouw & Techniek Innovatie Centrum (BTIC), now Topconsortium voor Kennis en Innovatie (TKI) Bouw & Techniek,  are supported by 4TU.Built Environment Center for instance. By means of programs such as the TKI Bouw & Techniek and the SER Core Team for the Labor Market and Education, 4TU.Built Environment contributes to the development of talent at all educational levels.