DUT 2026 Partner Search: Connected Neighbourhood Economies

Placenet is building a European consortium for the DUT Call 2026, 15-minute City Topic #3: “Nurture neighbourhood economies – activate innovation in local everyday offers”.

Our project concept explores how a contextual digital layer for the neighbourhood can strengthen local economies by connecting residents with nearby commerce, services, public facilities, community initiatives, workplaces, activities and underused local resources.

Placenet contributes its Internet of Places (IoP) technology, which connects people, services and physical environments according to location, identity, role and real-time context.

As part of the project, we aim to develop new Neighbourhood Intelligence capabilities using AI and urban data to:

• identify gaps between local demand and supply;

• improve discovery and accessibility of nearby services;

• connect complementary public, private and community actors;

• identify underused spaces and local resources;

• support evidence-based neighbourhood interventions;

• strengthen local social resilience and community wealth;

• contribute to reducing unnecessary everyday trips.

The ambition is to validate the approach through real-world Living Labs in different European neighbourhoods, generating evidence on its economic, social and mobility impact and developing models that can be replicated in other cities.

We are currently looking for:

• Cities and municipalities interested in participating as Living Labs and testing the approach in real neighbourhoods.

• Universities and research organisations with expertise in neighbourhood economies, 15-minute cities, urban planning, mobility, community wealth building, social innovation or impact assessment.

• Local commerce, business and community organisations able to involve neighbourhood stakeholders and co-create local interventions.

• Complementary technology and data partners where relevant.

We are particularly interested in partners from countries participating in DUT Call 2026 whose national funding agencies support 15mC Topic #3 and Innovation-Oriented Approaches (IOA).

If your organisation is interested in strengthening neighbourhood economies through new digital, governance and collaboration models, we would be pleased to explore a joint proposal.