STICHTING HOGESCHOOL VOOR DE KUNSTEN UTRECHT

Their core work

HKU (Utrecht University of the Arts) is a Dutch higher education institution specializing in creative disciplines. In the EU research context, they contribute design thinking, co-creation methodologies, and citizen engagement expertise to innovation projects — bridging the gap between technical solutions and human-centered adoption. Their work spans creative entrepreneurship training, smart city co-design, and participatory environmental monitoring, consistently bringing arts-based and user-centric perspectives to predominantly technical consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

HKU began with creative entrepreneurship and ICT cross-fertilization through the CREA summer academy network (2015-2017), focused on business idea development in innovative sectors. From 2017 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward urban sustainability — first through smart city co-creation in IRIS (energy, mobility, business modelling), then toward environmental citizen science with wearable sensors and drones in SOCIO-BEE. The trajectory shows a clear move from nurturing creative business ideas toward applying creative methodologies to urban and environmental challenges.

HKU is moving toward participatory urban innovation, combining creative design methods with environmental monitoring and citizen engagement — expect future involvement in green transition projects requiring public participation.

How they like to work

HKU operates exclusively as a participant, never leading consortia — consistent with an arts institution contributing specialized creative and co-design expertise to technically-led projects. With 80 unique partners across just 3 projects, they work in large consortia (averaging ~27 partners per project), particularly in city-scale Innovation Actions. This makes them an accessible, low-risk partner who adds a human-centered dimension without competing for project leadership.

HKU has built a broad network of 80 unique partners across 14 countries through participation in large Innovation Action consortia. Their geographic reach spans much of the EU, though their project themes center on urban contexts in Western and Southern Europe.

What sets them apart

HKU is one of very few arts universities active in H2020 energy and environment projects, offering something most technical consortia lack: genuine expertise in creative co-design and citizen participation. For consortium builders, HKU fills the increasingly important "societal engagement" requirement in Horizon Europe calls — they understand how to make technical solutions resonate with real communities. Their arts background means they approach problems from a user and culture perspective rather than an engineering one.

Highlights from their portfolio

• IRIS
  Largest project by funding (EUR 390K to HKU), a major smart cities Innovation Action spanning 2017-2023 with themes across energy, mobility, and urban co-creation.
• SOCIO-BEE
  Most technically diverse — combines wearable sensors, drones, and citizen science for air quality monitoring, showing HKU's ability to contribute to hardware-intensive environmental projects.