DUT Conference 2026
- Date
- 10 Jun
- Time
- 08.30 – 17.45 (CEST)
- Location
-
Brussels
We invite you to join us in Brussels on 10 June 2026 for a full-day conference to engage in dialogues on how to future-proof cities and to expand your network.
The Decade of Action implies a growing urgency to translate high-level goals in the Urban Agenda for the EU, UN Agenda 2030, European Green Deal, and Competitiveness Compass into tangible local outcomes. With a mission to fund transformative research and innovation to build capacities of urban stakeholders and empower them to drive urban transitions in Europe and beyond, the European Partnership Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) is uniquely positioned to help cities deliver on European and global sustainability commitments.
The DUT Conference 2026 will highlight DUT’s flagship activities and strategic direction towards 2033, as well as concrete results, lessons learned and scalable solutions from DUT-funded projects on urban mobility, energy and circularity.
The conference will bring together stakeholders from academia, public authorities, private sector, civil society, policymakers and European institutions and initiatives. It will showcase and discuss transdisciplinary collaboration, innovative solutions, and scaling opportunities through a bottom-up research model that supports climate neutral, resilient and inclusive urban transition in Europe and worldwide. To ensure a truly global dialogue we invite participants and projects from across the globe.
On the programme
- Panels with experts, European and local leaders discussing the soft power of cities and how to build bridges between local experiences and European urban policies.
- Break-out sessions showcasing results and solutions from the first generation of DUT-funded projects in 15-minute City, Circular Urban Economies and Positive Energy Districts
- Panel sessions and workshops giving insights from DUT flagship activities, such as the DUT City Panel and Urban Doers Community
- Open Area: a space for DUT’s strategic partners and stakeholders to showcase their work
- First reveal of call topics for DUT Call 2026
- Networking
Please note that the conference programme is preliminary and may be subject to change.
Registration
We expect 250 participants to join the event on-site and many more to join the conference online. Attendance is free of charge.
Agenda
8:30 Registration
Coffee served in the Salon and at the terrasse
9:30 Opening session: Setting the scene for urban transition in the decade of action
Room: Salles des arches
Introduction and welcome to the DUT Conference 2026
- Program, check in- and house rules by moderator: Rebekka Bogner, HYVE
- Welcome address: Orsolya Küttel, DUT CEO
Broadcasted on Zoom
9:45 Panel session with keynote: The (soft) power of cities in the current crisis
In a time of overlapping global crises, cities are becoming powerful actors shaping narratives, values, and democratic life. This session explores how culture, research, creative industries, and design intersect with sustainable urban development. Moving beyond DUT’s themes of circularity, mobility, and energy, the panel addresses housing, public space, and the role of citizens in strengthening democracy.
Purpose of the Session
- To explore how nations and cities strategically use culture, research, values, and storytelling to influence global narratives.
- To highlight the synergies between creative industries and sustainable, future-oriented urban development.
- To elevate bottom‑up, citizen-driven perspectives and reflect on how public space supports democratic life.
- To situate urban soft power within today’s broader geopolitical and socio-economic landscape.
Moderator: Zandra Thuvesson, Formas
Speakers:
Martin Gelin, journalist and award-winning author of seven books on American politics, foreign affairs and culture. He has written for The Guardian, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Foreign Policy, Slate and Dagens Nyheter.
He is the author of the forthcoming book Rules of Attraction: Why Soft Power Matters in Hard Times. (Wildfire/Hachette, 2026)
10:20 DUT Roadmap 2.0: With a mission to transition cities
The DUT Road map revision in 2025 brought more clarity in the partnership impact logic. DUT is a ‘transition lab’ for funding agencies, piloting new formats to fund and scale R&I and involve new types of stakeholders e.g. local initiatives and private sector. Learn how the Partnership’s vision and mission to fund R&I that help build cities build capacities translated into flagship instruments: e.g. Knowledge hub, Innovation portfolio, DUT City panel, Urban doers’ community.
10:45 Panel session: From promise to proof – a reality check from cities
The DUT partnership has established collaboration with NET ZERO cities and Capacities to build a stronger innovation ecosystem around cities that will enable a solid finance of urban R&I and to strengthen implementation and the knowledge base in cities, with an ultimate goal that DUT results can help mission cities achieve their goals. How does this work in practice. This session provides a reality check from key actors with experience from driving change on the ground in cities.
11:30 Lunch and Open Area
OPEN AREA in the Salon: Learn about DUT activities, projects and related initiatives in a fluid space with posters and stands.
Lunch is served in Foyer and terrasse
13:00 Panel session on R&I policy: Driving Urban Transitions beyond 2030
This high‑level session explores the future role of applied urban research and innovation against the backdrop of geopolitical volatility and ongoing negotiations around FP10. Building on the morning’s discussion on the soft power of cities, the panel examines financial and political drivers for future investments, the value of partnerships, Europe’s competitiveness and strategic autonomy, and the role of science diplomacy.
Key Questions:
- What role will applied urban R\&I play in future European frameworks (FP10 and beyond)?
- How can partnerships accelerate impact while sustaining excellence?
- What financing and competitiveness instruments will support sustainable urban development?
- How do science diplomacy and global investment patterns reshape urban futures?
14:00 Parallel break-out sessions
State of the art result and outcomes from DUT funded projects
Step into our interactive Policy World Café where we bridge the gap between research and policy impact. Through project showcases and collaborative roundtables we will identify the policy levers needed to turn research and experimentation into resilient urban action.
CUE - From Project to Policy: on Urban Food Systems, Circularity, and Nature-based Solutions
Room: Le Boudoir
Join the Circular Urban Economy session in the Boudoir to discuss policy interventions for urban food systems, circularity initiatives, and nature-based solutions.
PED - From Project to Policy: How PED Projects Catalyse Resilient and Inclusive Energy Systems
Room: Grenier
Join the Positive Energy District session in Granier to develop concrete contributions to emerging energy frameworks through structured discussions across policy, economic, social and technological dimensions.
15minC - From Project to Policy: Fostering the urban mobility transition by improving connectivity and accessibility
Room: Salles des arches
Join the 15-minute City session in the Salles des arches to discuss strengthening the mix of urban functions and services, rethinking mobility for urban outskirts and (re)imagining urban public spaces and streets.
15:35 Coffee break
Coffee is served in Foyer and terrasse
OPEN AREA continues in Salon
16:10 Spotlight sessions
Implementing and Scaling Urban Solutions: From pilot to practice to Impact
This session put the spotlight on the cities' transition journey, how solutions developed through DUT-funded projects could move towards implementation and potential scaling, and how this process is supported by EU Mission initiatives. City cases share hands-on experiences, lessons learned, challenges and success factors.
Room: Salles des arches
Co-PED - A Demonstration on How the Energy Transition Becomes Fair, Meaningful, and Grounded in Daily Life
Working through eight Urban Living Labs across Europe, DUT-funded project Co-PED, from Trans Europe Halles, transforms repurposed and heritage buildings into practical engines of renewable energy, community ownership, and local resilience. This directly advances the values of the New European Bauhaus: ‘Sustainability' through circular use of existing buildings; ‘Inclusion' by engaging people who are usually excluded from energy transition processes such as migrants, youth or cultural workers; and ‘Beauty' understood as the creation of meaningful, vibrant, and dignified spaces where cultural identity, collective imagination, and ecological responsibility come together.
Room: Boudoir
Beyond Europe: A global lens to urban transformations
Urban challenges may be experienced locally, but they are shaped by global systems from the climate crisis and migration patterns to supply chains and capital flows. For European urban research and innovation to leave impact on a global scale, it must look outward, engage internationally and learn from diverse urban contexts while inspiring others. In this session, we will exchange on how global collaboration, comparative insight and cross-continental experimentation can sharpen Europe’s urban innovation edge.
Room: Grenier
17:10 Closing session
17:45 Networking starts
Drinks and finger food
The DUT Conference 2026 marks a milestone moment - moving from building the partnership to demonstrating impact, and making the case for a strong, long-term European urban R&I agenda. Against the backdrop of discussions on the next European framework programme, the conference will also offer a timely reflection on why a strong, mission-driven urban research and innovation agenda is essential for Europe’s future.
Location
La Tricoterie, Rue Theodore Verhaegen 158, 1060 Brussels