NWO Adaptivity in Transitions (KIC)

Grant funding to support consortia of researchers, societal organisations, and companies to conduct research into enhancing the adaptivity of actors and systems in transitions of the food system, toward sustainable mobility, and of the energy system in the built environment.

The Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO – Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research) contributes to Dutch innovation policy with part of its programming. This programming is based on the mission-driven top sectors and innovation policy of the central government, which is aimed at solving major social challenges. The underlying knowledge and innovation agendas (KIAs) and the contributions of NWO and other parties are part of the Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC) 2024-2027.

The aim of the Adaptivity in Transitions call for proposals is to develop insights, action perspectives, and capacity to act, to increase the adaptability of systems and actors in transitions. Three transition contexts are linked to this central objective and proposed projects must focus on (at least) one of these transition contexts:

• Food system transition
• Transition to sustainable mobility
• Transition of the energy system in the built environment

The focus can also be on a component of a transition context and/or on an intersection of these transitions.

Consortia will address both systemic adaptivity and actor-adaptivity, with actor-adaptivity being addressed in connection with the system level. Furthermore, consortia are asked to clearly conceptualise and operationalise their approach to adaptivity, which underpins the intended project. Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration is needed to understand and connect the combination of various barriers to adaptivity (from governance, agronomic, technical, economic, behavioural aspects, etc).

Researchers will actively engage in the field to discuss barriers with stakeholders in the transitions. Collaboration between researchers with transition expertise on adaptivity and researchers with contextual domain knowledge within transitions (including from the science domains) is encouraged.

Consortia are invited to utilise various research methods in their applications. Short-term experiments within the projects are encouraged for interim, usable results that can be applied in practice. Besides insights into adaptivity in specific transition contexts, the research program as a whole also aims to yield more broadly applicable insights into adaptivity.