REGIONALNA RAZVOJNA AGENCIJA - LJUBLJANSKE URBANE REGIJE ZAVOD

Their core work

RDA LUR is the regional development agency for the Ljubljana urban region in Slovenia, focused on fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable development across the capital region. They act as a bridge between research institutions, local government, and businesses — supporting initiatives from creative entrepreneurship programs to sustainable building materials research. Their H2020 involvement centers on connecting regional innovation ecosystems with European research networks, particularly in renewable materials for construction and rural-urban development linkages.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 work (2015) focused on ICT-driven entrepreneurship and creative business development through programs like CREA. By 2017, their focus shifted decisively toward sustainable construction — renewable materials, healthy building environments, and living laboratory approaches through InnoRenew CoE and the ROBUST rural-urban project. This evolution reflects a move from general innovation support toward concrete sustainability and territorial development themes.

RDA LUR is increasingly oriented toward green construction and regional sustainability, making them a relevant partner for projects connecting bio-based materials, circular economy in construction, and urban planning.

How they like to work

RDA LUR operates exclusively as a participant — they have never coordinated an H2020 project, which is consistent with their role as a regional agency rather than a research performer. With 41 unique partners across 13 countries from just 4 projects, they join large, multi-national consortia. Their value in a consortium is typically as a regional implementation and dissemination partner who can ground research outcomes in real urban-regional contexts.

Despite only 4 projects, they have built a broad network of 41 partners across 13 countries, indicating participation in large consortia with diverse European coverage. Their geographic base in Ljubljana, Slovenia positions them as a Central European node.

What sets them apart

As a regional development agency for Slovenia's capital region, RDA LUR offers something most research partners cannot: direct access to urban policy implementation and regional business ecosystems. Their involvement in InnoRenew CoE gives them a concrete link between sustainable materials research and real-world building practices. For consortium builders, they represent an effective channel for piloting, demonstrating, and disseminating project results in an urban-regional setting.

Highlights from their portfolio

• InnoRenew CoE
  Their largest engagement (EUR 325,875) — a Slovenian Centre of Excellence for renewable materials and healthy environments, running from 2017 to 2023 with living laboratory approaches.
• ROBUST
  A rural-urban linkages project (2017-2021) that connects their urban development mandate with broader European territorial cohesion research.