The funding call for the Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) Partnership programme for 2025 is opening. DUT is a European partnership programme funded through Horizon Europe. The aim of the partnership programme is to contribute to the transition of cities to a sustainable future through research and innovation. Business Finland participates in the partnership as a self-financed party.
The DUT partnership programme focuses on improving urban mobility, energy efficiency and the circular economy through sustainable solutions. It also aims to strengthen the capacity of local authorities and citizens to implement sustainable urban solutions and improve the quality of life in cities.
The programme carries out international funding calls every year. The fourth call is scheduled to open 1 September 2025. Read more Driving Urban Transitions to a sustainable future - DUT Partnership
For which purposes can the funding be applied?
International research and development projects are funded through the call. Check out the call text and themes for the international funding call on the DUT website: DUT Call 2025 - DUT Partnership
Finnish parties can apply for funding from Innovation Funding Agency Business Finland to participate in a joint project. Business Finland can finance projects under all call themes. In addition to the criteria and conditions of the international call, the applicants and projects to be funded must meet the criteria and conditions of Business Finland funding.
The projects to be funded must create possibilities for strengthening the competitiveness of companies, transformation and significant new export business. The projects must create obvious added value from cooperation.
Finnish parties to a consortium
Finnish companies and research organisations can apply for funding as part of an international consortium. Finnish companies can participate in consortia either alone or together with other Finnish partners.
If one or more Finnish research organisations participate in a consortium, the consortium must also include at least three companies, of which at least two must be Finnish export-oriented companies. It is recommended that at least one of the Finnish companies participates as a party applying for funding.
All parties that meet the criteria of the international call can participate in the consortia on a self-financed basis (e.g. research organisations, companies, cities, municipalities, local and regional government, NGOs, representatives of creative industries). The entire consortium must meet the international call criteria.
Business Finland funding
Business Finland is prepared to fund the participation of Finnish parties in joint projects with EUR 3 million in the 2025 call. Business Finland is indicatively prepared to grant funding from EUR 200,000 to EUR 500,000 per project entity. Business Finland adheres to the joint evaluation result of the call when selecting projects to be funded.
The funding will be awarded as a grant. The level of funding for companies is assessed and defined during the processing of applications on the basis of the project’s share of industrial research costs. The implementation period of the projects can be up to 36 months.
The following Business Finland funding services are used for the funding:
Research and development funding for individual participating companies
Co-Innovation funding with the participation of two or more companies and for consortiums of research organisations and companies
The call follows two-stage process
Stage 1: The first stage for pre-proposals opens on 1 September 2025. Pre-proposals must be submitted to the DUT application portal by 17 November 2025, 13:00 CET. Please contact the contact persons at Business Finland well in advance of submitting your pre-proposal.
Stage 2: Only parties invited on the basis of a pre-proposal can participate in the second stage and submit actual funding applications. The second stage will open on 20 February 2026. The invited parties must submit applications both to the DUT portal and Business Finland’s online service by 23 April 2026, 13:00 CEST. Failure to meet the deadline will result in the rejection of the application.
Information events
An international Info Day for the call will be held on 9 September 2025 from 10 to 13 (CET) DUT Call 2025 – Info Day - DUT Partnership
A national information event will be held on 17 September 2025 from 14 to 15
More information on other events will be available on the DUT webpages
