Subsidy living labs related to the climate plan

Would you like to set up a living lab together with researchers, students and staff that contributes to the implementation of the climate plan of UGent? Then you can make a claim on the 'provision for living labs related to the climate plan'.

Income provision living labs

As part of the sustainable travel policy, a CO2 contribution of 50 EUR/ton of CO2 is collected. This is done directly through the framework contract with Unigloble. For flights booked outside the framework contract, the CO2 contribution will be additionally collected by UGent.

This contribution serves for:

  • direct CO2 compensation via certified (or well-monitored) afforestation projects or nature restoration projects (of Ghent University), via BOS+ (CO2 compensation tool 'Treecological') or via CO2-Logic (CO2 compensation tool 'greentripper')
  • Subsidizing international train or bus tickets (via CWO faculty travel budgets), e.g. EUR 30 for ticket prices between EUR 100 and EUR 200, EUR 100 subsidy for ticket prices above EUR 200
  • the provision for 'living labs', which are set up at Ghent University as part of the climate plan together with academics, students and policy staff

Grant application

Research groups or policy staff who wish to claim the subsidy can submit their proposal to the Sustainability Policy Committee (duurzaam@ugent.be) with the following information:

  • Short description of project, with a scientific framework of the overall problem definition
  • Interaction with climate plan: To what extent does the living lab support and strengthen one or more aspects of the climate plan?
  • Link with living labs: To what extent is the project a collaboration between researchers, students and policy staff and does it add value for the various actors?
  • Total budget of the project, indicating the other funding channels and the required subsidy from the provision living labs.

The sustainability committee evaluates the project applications and allocates the funds in case of a positive evaluation.

The sustainability committee can opt to allocate the entire requested budget or only a portion of it if the added value for the UGent climate plan is disproportionate, or other funding channels can be tapped.

Once there are more applications and the provision becomes insufficient, a switch can be made to a system where the projects compete with each other. An annual evaluation of the submitted projects can then be done by the sustainability committee, whereby the project subsidy is distributed among the best projects.

Submission and allocation

There are 2 submission dates each year:

  • 15/4/2024 

The Sustainability Committee evaluates the project applications and allocates funds in case of a positive evaluation.

The Sustainability Committee allocates a project budget. The committee can opt to allocate the entire requested budget or only a part of it if the added value for the climate plan of Ghent University is disproportionate, or if other funding channels can be used.

The project budget should only cover direct and demonstrable costs that contribute to the realisation of the project. Overhead costs (PC, reception, travel expenses, ...) are not eligible.

Approved project proposals

  • What can we learn from sustainable soup kitchens, with the Laboratory for Food Technology, Food Safety and Health (BW) and the Sustainable Food Transition Group
  • Development of a type specification to promote and implement sustainable and circular use of materials in buildings, with the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning (EA) and the transition group on circular constructionPreparation of biodiversity maps for 6 campuses, with ForNaLab from fac. BW, DGFB and biodiversity working group 
  • Feasibility study for cold-heat storage on campus Ardoyen, with the Department of Geology (WE) and the transition working group on energy
  • Detailed water monitoring on a UGent lab building with a view to leak detection and water reuse and, if possible, drawing up tap profiles for specific water treatment and lab equipment, with Department of Building Physics of fac. EA, DGFB, BOSAQ, environment department and circular water management working group 
  • Health risks in reuse of wastewater for toilet flushing, with Department of Green Chemistry and Technology of fac. BW, DGFB, Environment department and circular water management working group 
  • Intelligent control of hybrid grey water systems to optimise water recovery, with Department of Building Physics of fac. EA, DGFB, DICT, Environment department and circular water management working group

  • Preparation of biodiversity maps for 6 campuses, with ForNaLab of fac. BW, DGFB and biodiversity working group