Projects

This Centre of Excellence (CoE) focuses on fostering innovation in resource efficiency, promoting circular economy practices, utilizing local resources, ensuring safe material circulation, and educating researchers to reduce environmental impacts. It centers around four key areas: Strategic Mineral Resources (SMR), Carbon-Based Resources (CBR), Circular Technologies Upscaling (CTU), and Circular Business Eco-System and Modeling (CBEM). The SMR group maps critical materials in waste streams, including renewables, for extraction and reuse while minimizing hazardous waste. The CBR group develops eco-friendly pathways for essential chemicals and plastics, also assessing their environmental impact. The CTU group pioneers waste reduction and recycling methods for aqueous, and solid waste, incl. water purification. The CBEM group analyzes sustainable business ecosystems and value chains. This CoE's interdisciplinary approach will benefit both Estonia and Europe by advancing circular economy.

The project aims to enhance private sector and community involvement in transitioning to a carbon-neutral energy system in Ida-Viru through small-scale energy solutions. Objectives are achieved by (a) economically feasible implementation with AI and digital tools, (b) simplified deployment of renewable energy technologies and (c) targeted collaboration with local businesses. Project outcomes include (a) modern laboratory conditions at Virumaa College; (b) three defended doctoral theses; (c) disseminated research through 5 high-level research publications and 1 patent application; (d) strengthened regional business cooperation through R&D contracts amounting to €100k; (e) customised service offerings that cover needs of regional companies. Project outcomes impact the region with increased research competence, quality, and visibility in small and community energy while enhancing research accessibility for the region's stakeholders.

The study contributes in the framework of the measure „Enhancing the Knowledge Intensity of Entrepreneurship in Ida-Viru: Developing Research Capacity in Ida-Viru County to Establish a RDI Network” during 2024-2028 to the development of a theoretically grounded framework for transition processes as well as methodology and models for empirical monitoring of relevant aspects of transition. The study consists of three themes: just transition governance, Ida-Viru innovation system, and changing business models of Ida-Viru companies. The aforementioned three thematic work packages contribute together with the remaining four (monitoring and prognosis of Ida-Viru employment, development of Ida-Viru technology intensive innovation niches, vulnerability of local population and innovation potential, health impacts of transition and development of health services) to the development of the transition processes framework and are implemented in cooperation with UT research teams.

Many BSR cities struggle with transition to sustainable mobility and fight the climate crisis and increase resilience of the mobility system. The European Commission (EC) recommends European towns and cities of all sizes to embrace the concept of SUMPs as a strategic and integrated approach to tackle urban mobility challenges. For the first time the revised TEN-T regulation (Regulation (EU) 2024/1679), reinforcing the importance of urban nodes, brings the legal obligation for cities and their surroundings defined as urban nodes to adopt a SUMP by 2027.

Against the backdrop of educational landscapes that are rapidly changing due to shifting societal needs, integration of principles of sustainability into the curricula becomes more urgent. This is particularly true in the case of ESG education, wherein traditional pedagogy is critiqued by calls for dynamic and responsive curricula which address real-world challenges. Using generative AI as a game-changing tool in this setting its ability to take adaptability and relevance in the development ESG-focused curricula will be implemented in this project.

TREASoURcE will innovatively circulate currently incinerated, exported, landfilled or dumped plastic and biobased side and waste streams by deploying systemic circular economy (CE) solutions.

Active mobility is an accessible, healthy and green mode of transport. In the BSR dark winters, with snow and rain, active mobility usage drops. To increase Year-Round Active Mobility (YRAM), suitable infrastructure and equipment must be in place, and citizens need to see it as an attractive and safe option. Public Authorities responsible for urban design, mobility planning and road maintenance do not currently give special consideration for YRAM. Out of tradition, mobility and road planning is still largely focused on cars, and cycling and walking planning typically targets daylight and warmer weather conditions. By learning about the benefits and opportunities through accessing new tools and evidence-based recommendations on YRAM, planners can implement the right interventions to increase AM use all year round, contributing to low carbon mobility systems. BATS supports local and regional authorities to design and implement policies, infrastructures and campaigns that effectively promote Year-Round Active Mobility (walking and cycling in adverse light and weather conditions). Our two solutions will be co-developed and tested in 7 BSR countries and transferred to neighbouring cities and regions. Solution 1: a YRAM Technical Toolkit, helps planners to Diagnose YRAM issues, develop Intervention Strategies and Monitor progress. Solution 2: a Citizen Activation Guide for YRAM helps planners understand and prioritise user groups and deploys effective campaigns to promote AM use.

Based on the European Union's Green Deal, the Estonian Green Reform Action Plan and the Waste Act, the strategic direction of industries is to make their business models more circular and to find ways for efficient waste usage. The concept of industrial symbiosis (IS), or the sharing of resources between industries, is becoming a goal for industry. The EIS is also piloting the implementation of symbiosis, and a new funding measure to support the practice of IS will soon be released by the Department of Climate Change. The scientific literature has highlighted the enablers and barriers associated with the creation of symbiosis networks. Based on this, several problems arise in the Estonian context that need attention in order to support IS, such as the successful functioning of symbiotic waste valorisation - the inadequacy of the database of waste generated in industries and limited possibilities of use, lack of cooperation between different parties. The aim is to find out the possibilities and value chains of waste valorisation and symbiotic networks that would support the valorisation of waste, using the Estonian wood and furniture industry (WFI) as an example. The target groups involved are the WFI, industries that valorise wood waste, representatives of research institutions and the public sector. The mixed method study uses PESTLE analysis and Delphi method to model functional and potential symbiotic wood waste value chains. Enablers and barriers will be identified, suggestions and recommendations will be made to all stakeholders. The two-year research project will be carried out by TalTech's experienced sustainable value chain management research team in collaboration with TalTech's wood technology experts. The study, as a pilot project, which provides an opportunity for other industrial sectors to apply the models in an adapted form. The results contribute to policy making and to the achievement of climate goals of various actors.

Evolutionary economics maintains that in order to increase living standards, nations should increase the knowledge intensity of products. Research on economic complexity operationalises this by focusing on the ubiquity and relatedness of products, and the analysis of potential pathways for entering more complex product groups. This project advances the state-of-the art by integrating the market demand side of the international trade and considering risks involved in a country’s participation in global value chains. Another major novelty is the inclusion of data not generally utilised for such research and the use of explainable machine learning, acknowledged as a crucial feature for the practical deployment of AI models. On the basis of the research, a framework is built on business intelligence and public services, and on policy support. The above leads to actionable research results on upgrading the competitive advantages and securing the strategic autonomy of the European economies.