Impact research

Impact research is designed to harness the impact potential of funding initiatives and increase the impact they make.
As a first step, the expected effects were identified in projects by means of questionnaires and documentary analysis. This revealed that the projects are mostly dealing with a number of impacts. As a general rule social, technical and environmental impacts are linked to promote and research the sustainable transformation of towns and cities.

Many projects want the actors involved to learn from what is being done and network, as well as identify and make changes in municipal governance in favour of sustainable urban development. This is often linked to specific changes in the physical environment. Examples include innovative approaches for sustainable and integrated infrastructure development or a change in construction and housing. Some projects also address social innovations as an important impact dimension. For example, they aim to raise awareness of the issue among the population at large, increase the ability of social actors to access urban transformation processes and improve local decision-making. Changes in everyday behaviour also play a role here, for example by addressing sustainable mobility patterns or climate-adapted behaviour. 

The impact research within SynVer*Z will build on these initial results. The conditions in which an impact can be made are reflected in the projects – including through synthesis and networking – and are intended to reinforce the impact of the funding priorities.