Five years of SDR Flanders: collaboration that transcends borders and sectors

Smart Delta Resources Flanders has developed into an independent collaborative platform where industrial partners, public authorities, network operators, knowledge institutions and the port work together to accelerate the energy and raw materials transition. SDR Flanders brings partners together around shared transition challenges and creates the groundwork for insights, trust and collaboration to flourish. The implementation of projects always remains the responsibility of the companies involved.

For five years now, SDR Flanders, together with its partner organisation SDR Nederland, has formed a single cross-border SDR network focused on the challenges and opportunities in the North Sea Port region. Both organisations operate within their own policy contexts, but actively seek to collaborate where relevant in the areas of knowledge development, projects and infrastructure.

As a members’ platform, we connect partners, share knowledge and organise joint explorations of complex industrial transitions, whilst respecting trust and diverse interests. SDR Flanders fulfils this role from a neutral and independent position.

One of Europe’s most concentrated industrial clusters

The Ghent – Terneuzen – Vlissingen region is a port cluster with an exceptionally wide range of industrial activities: steel, (petro)chemicals, automotive, manufacturing, energy, logistics, storage, food, agri-industry, fertilisers, paper, the circular economy, bio-based production and ...  In addition, public authorities and knowledge institutions are also active in the region. Together with SDR Netherlands, the SDR network in the region connects a total of 47 partners from a wide range of sectors.

This diversity and the concentration of activities within a limited radius make the region both strong and complex. Transition challenges are closely intertwined here: what presents itself as a bottleneck for one company often has consequences – or opportunities – for other businesses in the area.

Furthermore, this cluster is cross-border in nature. Collaboration across sectoral and national boundaries is therefore not merely an additional objective here, but a structural prerequisite for making progress in the industrial transition.

Collaborating by theme, within an increasingly integrated systems approach

A core principle of SDR Flanders is that collaboration is not based on sectors, but on shared transition themes. These themes continue to provide direction, but are increasingly being approached in an interconnected manner. The region is evolving from a thematic approach towards a broader ecosystem approach, in which solutions address multiple themes simultaneously.

Partners collaborate on, among other things:

•    CCUS (CO₂ reduction, capture, utilisation and transport) 
•    Industrial heat exchange (connecting consumers and suppliers)
•    Electrification (impact on the energy system, enabling conditions and technical impact) 
•    Water (availability, quality and system) 
•    Circularity and bioeconomy (residual flows, materials, bio-based applications) 
•    Net-Zero Fuels (development and use of climate-neutral molecules) 

This integrated approach gives companies a clearer understanding of interdependencies and potential opportunities for collaboration. Given the scale and diversity of the cluster, the insights and solutions often have a broader impact across the entire SDR region.

From analysis to studies and projects

Collaboration within SDR Flanders takes the form of exploratory studies, research and practical projects that support partners in making decisions, coordinating efforts and taking the next steps. A selection of projects and studies:

•    SDR vision document (in collaboration with SDR Netherlands) as a substantive basis for joint policy and project decisions
•    Map‑it CCU: investigates where and how carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) offers opportunities in Flemish industry, with the aim of exploring concrete and practical applications for businesses.
•    Industrial heat exchange: ongoing analyses of heat potential and opportunities for collaboration between companies to reuse residual heat for high-temperature applications
•    Circular-C (in collaboration with SDR Netherlands): investigates how, within the SDR region, waste streams such as plastic and household waste can be utilised as circular carbon sources thanks to synergies with existing activities. The Rebel study was also carried out as part of this project, mapping the system impact and preconditions and analysing the organic waste streams for the region.
•    Techno-economic analysis of renewable protein production: opportunities for integrating the bioeconomy into a ‘traditional’ industrial cluster in the production of proteins from waste streams such as CO₂.

Knowledge as a catalyst: the North-C Innovation Hub

The North C-Innovation Hub (NCIH) forms the innovation and knowledge component within the wider SDR ecosystem. The hub builds on previous collaboration on CO₂ capture and utilisation (North CCU Hub) and now works more broadly across the various transition pathways (electrification, CCUS, heat, water and circularity).

The hub facilitates a continuous exchange between research and practice: scientific insights find their way into industrial applications more quickly, whilst specific industrial needs guide new research. In this way, the NCIH strengthens the substantive basis of projects and programmes within SDR Flanders.

Among other things, SDR Flanders is involved in various specific innovation projects (including those under Moonshot/Horizon Europe), acting as an advisor, the voice of industry and a potential test site.

Cross-border cooperation is not a choice, but a necessity

Many of the solutions being explored in the North Sea Port region are, by definition, cross-border in nature. For instance, circular waste streams or CO₂ infrastructure follow technical and economic principles that do not stop at administrative borders.

That is why SDR Flanders collaborates with SDR Netherlands wherever possible. Both organisations operate independently in line with their respective national policy contexts, but actively seek to establish links in projects, infrastructure or knowledge exchange. 

Gescheiden waar het moet, gezamenlijk waar het kan.

Change in management and the next phase

After five years, SDR Flanders has undergone a change in leadership. With Frederik Van de Velde as chair and Bob Van Schoor as director, a new phase is beginning, in which the focus is even more firmly on implementation: translating studies and exploratory work into concrete projects and infrastructure.

The values upon which SDR Flanders is built; neutrality, trust and fact-based collaboration, remain guiding principles. In a joint interview with the former chair and director, they explain the insights and key considerations they are deliberately passing on to their successors.