The building and construction sector in the Danube region uses up a lot of resources, produces more than a third of total waste, and releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at a large scale. Throughout the Danube region, the dispersed and risk-averse construction industry adopts digital innovation rather slowly. Adoption of digital technologies can enable and facilitate a shift to circular construction, where building materials can be reused. Circular economy can benefit greatly from the use of emerging digital technologies, like artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT) and blockchain, among others. The diverse Danube area faces numerous challenges associated to the circular economy transition and it is believed that these digital technologies, when paired with innovative business models, can offer answers to these numerous issues.
Circular DigiBuild project aims to apply new approaches to the building industry and facilitate inter-sectoral solutions at the intersection of the circular economy and digital technologies. The project will foster interregional RDI (research, development and innovation) cooperation with the aim to create a functional innovation ecosystem in the Danube region with a new Cluster for enhancing regional capacities for innovation. It will also identify the barrier to digitalisation-led circular economy transition and strive to improve existing policies. Across the Danube region, project partners will implement three pilots in order to demonstrate how disruptive ideas for interventions in the circular economy can leverage the “clean construction” practices in the Danube area. Circular DigiBuild project aspires to deploy a new Danube region strategy to improve circularity in the construction and building industry.
