FUNDACIO GENERAL DE LA UNIVERSITAT JAUME I FUNDACIO DE LA COMUNITAT VALENCIANA

Their core work

This is the general foundation of Universitat Jaume I in Castellón, Spain — a university support entity that manages externally funded projects, innovation services, and knowledge transfer activities. Their H2020 work centers on designing and running open innovation programs for SMEs, applying methods like design thinking, co-creation workshops, and innovation challenges. They also contribute to urban sustainability planning and research ethics governance, connecting academic expertise with practical community and business needs.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 work (2017-2018) focused on strategic foresight methods — co-design, co-creation, roadmapping, and scenario thinking applied to urban sustainability challenges. By 2019-2020, they shifted decisively toward hands-on SME innovation support using structured methodologies: design sprints, innovation challenges, and even randomized control trials to measure policy impact. This evolution suggests a move from planning-oriented advisory work to execution-focused innovation program delivery with measurable outcomes.

Moving toward evidence-based (RCT) innovation support programs for SMEs, suggesting future work will combine challenge-based formats with rigorous impact measurement.

How they like to work

Exclusively a participant or third party — they have never coordinated an H2020 project, which is typical for university foundations that provide support services rather than leading research agendas. They operate in medium-to-large consortia (54 unique partners across 4 projects) and connect with a wide variety of organizations rather than repeating partnerships. This makes them a flexible, low-friction partner that integrates into existing consortium structures without demanding a leadership role.

Despite only 4 projects, they have worked with 54 distinct partners across 20 countries, indicating they join broad European consortia. Their network is geographically diverse with no strong regional concentration beyond their Spanish base.

What sets them apart

As a university foundation rather than a department, they bridge the gap between academic research at Universitat Jaume I and practical innovation delivery — particularly for SMEs who need structured support, not academic papers. Their combination of design thinking expertise with evidence-based evaluation (randomized control trials for innovation policy) is uncommon among Spanish university entities. For consortium builders, they offer a reliable Spanish partner with hands-on experience in running innovation challenges and co-creation workshops.

Highlights from their portfolio

• 200SMEchallenge
  Applied a rigorous RCT methodology to measure the impact of design-driven open innovation challenges on 200 SMEs — rare evidence-based approach to innovation support.
• UNALAB
  Their largest funded project (EUR 64,436), contributing co-design and innovative financing expertise to a major urban nature-based solutions initiative running until 2022.