Follow Innovate UK on the latest Global Expert Mission in Sustainable Mobility to the Netherlands

The Netherlands has long been considered a friendly nation with similar world views to the UK and a strong trading partner. The civil aviation sector in the Netherlands has a smaller footprint than the UK however has global company coverage, with GKN Aerospace (previously Fokker) and a vibrant supply chain with companies such as SKF (bearings).

The Netherlands has pushed the sustainability agenda and has been active in the sustainable aviation fuels arena and there is an opportunity to develop green corridors in maritime and aviation due to the close geographical proximity to the UK. Dutch organisations continue to be open to collaboration with the UK despite the impacts of Brexit and uncertainty about association to Horizon Europe.

In this context, Innovate UK will deliver an in-person Global Expert Mission (GEM) in March 2023, where a group of UK experts will meet private and public sector organisations in the Netherlands to better understand the innovation landscape and help benchmark against UK capability. The GEM will focus on the aviation and maritime sectors and cover a variety of thematic areas. This activity will support the UK government’s drive for zero-emission transport and systems as part of the Net Zero commitment for 2050.

The team are looking forward to expanding international collaborations and will report back next month. Follow us on Twitter: @KTN_Global and #SustainableMobilityGEM.

About Global Expert Missions

The Global Expert Missions (GEM) programme is funded by Innovate UK to support the Industrial Strategy’s ambition for the UK to be the international partner of choice for science and innovation. Led by Innovate UK KTN, GEMs play an important role in building strategic partnerships, providing deep insight into the opportunities for UK innovation and shaping future bilateral collaboration programmes.