Citizens & Innovators

The EIT is not just an EU body, but an open and inclusive community of innovators from business, research, education, cities regions and more. We guide and support eight Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), which are independent organisations that structure their work around major societal challenges such as climate change, digital transformation, sustainable food production and health. These KICs work with thousands of partners across Europe including businesses, research centres, entrepreneurs and students. We take pride in the fact that our activities are open and accessible to citizens & innovators from all walks of life in Europe and beyond.

EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities

Our close relations with our KICs are managed through formal and informal channels. On a formal level, the contours of EIT-KIC cooperation are set out in individual Framework Agreements (long-term and short-term). More informally, the EIT engages with its KICs through task forces, coordination and working groups, and panels.

Through our KICs, we bring together innovators of different sectors, countries and disciplines. Physically, this is done through the EIT Innovation Hubs, where people and teams from across the knowledge triangle meet to co-create and collaborate for projects and other initiatives. Innovation Hubs build on the existing labs, offices or campuses of some of the KIC’s core partners, which serve as clusters for a particular region, discipline or task. In this way the so-desired connectivity between innovators, entrepreneurs, students and other innovation actors of regional, national or interregional ecosystems is ensured.

For more information about our KICs, click HERE.

EIT Alumni Community

Graduates of our education and business creation programmes are all part of the EIT Alumni Community. This Community brings together entrepreneurs and innovation enthusiasts across borders who share a vision for bettering their own societies. Five of our KICs (EIT Climate-KIC, EIT InnoEnergy, EIT Health, EIT Digital, EIT RawMaterials) have their own Alumni Communities for their sectors. Representatives of these five groups make up the EIT Alumni Board, which leads the EIT Alumni Community as a whole.

Learn more about our EIT Alumni Community

Europe Day

Each year in May, the EIT proudly participates in Europe Day to celebrate the achievements of integration & unity in Europe. We regularly set up a space in Budapest, home of the EIT Headquarters, to showcase the EIT Community’s innovations and raise public awareness of our work. Our KICs also ensure their presence at this symbolic event.