Recent geopolitical shifts are reshaping the innovation and sustainability agendas of the European Union and its member states. Growing risks in the supply of critical raw materials and digital services have exposed new vulnerabilities for European economies and knowledge systems. At the same time, these challenges create opportunities to accelerate innovation in areas such as the circular economy, the energy transition, cleaner data centres, and the development of substitutes for scarce materials or materials imported from unreliable suppliers.

This project aims to develop an integrated data infrastructure that connects existing expertise and datasets within the Faculty of Geosciences. It brings together data on raw material stocks, mining techniques, and extraction costs; material flows and emissions in cross-border production chains; and the knowledge positions of countries and regions based on patent and publication data.

By linking these data sources, the project will enable the Faculty to address new research and policy questions on critical dependencies, innovation, sustainability, and strategic autonomy. These include identifying the most important dependencies for the Dutch and European economy and knowledge system, assessing whether countries and regions are adapting their production and innovation strategies, examining where circular innovations can reduce strategic dependencies, and identifying which knowledge and technology domains should be strengthened in the Netherlands and Europe.

The project will contribute to a better understanding of how geopolitical change affects science, technology, and innovation, and how Europe can respond by developing more sustainable, competitive, and resilient innovation pathways.

• prof. dr. Ron Boschma
• dr. O.Y. (Oscar) Romero Goyeneche