Communicatiespecialist

Stichting TKI Urban Energy (commonly referred to as TKI Urban Energy) is a Dutch not-for-profit foundation that acts as the program and coordination vehicle for the Urban Energy Topconsortium for Knowledge and Innovation (TKI Urban Energy). The foundation’s stated remit is to accelerate the development, demonstration and market introduction of innovation in urban energy systems by facilitating public–private research and innovation consortia, coordinating strategic agendas, and supporting the translation of research results into demonstrators and commercial applications. As a national-level convenor within the Netherlands’ innovation ecosystem, Stichting TKI Urban Energy focuses on challenges that arise where energy supply, distribution and use intersect with urban environments and service infrastructures. Company overview Stichting TKI Urban Energy is organised to serve as a neutral secretariat and program manager for the TKI Urban Energy initiative. The foundation’s role is primarily coordination and facilitation rather than direct commercial activity: it brings together stakeholders from industry (energy utilities, technology suppliers, developers), knowledge institutes (universities, research centres), government (municipalities, provinces) and other organisations to define joint research agendas, mobilise co-funding, and enable demonstration projects. The foundation also maintains an information and communication function to disseminate results, organise events and workshops, and promote knowledge exchange across the stakeholder network. Core business activities - Program coordination and secretariat services: Stichting TKI Urban Energy organises and manages the TKI Urban Energy program activities, including steering committee work, project selection and the operational delivery of calls for proposals in partnership with relevant funding bodies and public agencies. The foundation supports the governance and administrative processes needed to run multi-stakeholder innovation programs. - Matchmaking and consortium building: a core activity is to bring together companies, municipalities, grid operators, research institutes and funding partners to form consortia capable of addressing complex urban energy challenges. This includes scouting potential partners, facilitating partner meetings and contributing to the preparation of joint project proposals. - Project facilitation and monitoring: the foundation helps set up demonstration and research projects, supports project management practices, monitors project progress and contributes to dissemination and exploitation planning to increase the chance that innovations reach market uptake. - Knowledge development and dissemination: TKI Urban Energy produces strategic research and innovation agendas, reports, white papers and case studies that summarise lessons learned from projects. The foundation organises thematic workshops, seminars and conferences to share results with practitioners and policymakers, and maintains channels for publishing project outcomes and best practices. - Policy and strategic alignment: by working with public authorities and other Topsector organisations, the foundation helps align research and demonstration priorities with national and regional policy frameworks, such as urban climate adaptation, decarbonisation of heating and cooling, smart-grid integration, and energy system flexibility measures. Main products and services Stichting TKI Urban Energy does not sell physical products in a traditional sense; its primary offerings are programmatic services and knowledge outputs that enable innovation in urban energy systems. The main services and outputs include: - Managed innovation programs and funded calls: design and administration of joint funding calls and thematic programs that channel public and private investment into collaborative projects focused on urban energy challenges. - Project facilitation services: support for consortium formation, proposal preparation, project set-up and project monitoring to improve project quality and impacts. - Strategic roadmaps and research agendas: documents that identify priority themes, technology pathways and research needs for urban energy topics (for example: district heating and cooling, smart grids and demand response, energy storage and sector coupling, integration of renewables in dense urban areas, and energy efficiency of the built environment). - Demonstration case studies and pilot projects: facilitation and dissemination of demonstrator projects that test technologies and business models in real urban contexts; these case studies are used to derive transferable insights for deployment and scaling. - Events, workshops and networking platforms: organization of stakeholder meetings, thematic workshops, industry conferences and webinars to promote knowledge sharing and accelerate cross-sector collaboration. - Publications and knowledge products: technical reports, policy briefs, project reports and guidance documents that synthesise empirical findings and provide recommendations for practitioners and policymakers. Stakeholder engagement and target sectors Stichting TKI Urban Energy engages a wide range of stakeholders across the urban energy value chain. These typically include (but are not limited to) municipal authorities, regional governments, energy network operators, utilities, technology providers (heating, cooling, storage, controls), construction and real-estate stakeholders, research institutions and universities of applied sciences, and funding agencies. The foundation’s activities target urban energy sectors such as district heating and cooling, building energy systems, smart electricity networks and local flexibility markets, integrated renewable energy solutions in cities, energy storage, digitalisation of energy services, and system-level approaches that enable sector coupling. Impact orientation The foundation’s purpose is oriented toward reducing barriers to innovation, accelerating demonstration and market introduction of sustainable urban energy solutions, and strengthening the collaborative research infrastructure needed to scale up technologies and business models across Dutch cities and urban regions. By combining program management, matchmaking, and knowledge dissemination, Stichting TKI Urban Energy aims to speed the transition toward more efficient, decarbonised and resilient urban energy systems.