Intermediation can enable concerted actions in an innovation system with an explicit transformative agenda as well as transformative innovation policy approaches
R&I intermediaries are particularly important in transformative change processes. This research investigates two research and innovation (R&I) intermediaries in the areas of climate change mitigation and urban transition: the European Institute of Technology (EIT) Climate-KIC and the Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) Urban Europe. EIT Climate KIC has a strong focus on supporting entrepreneurial activities, education and capacity development as well as building networks around thematic areas. JPI Urban Europe aims to offer room for experimentation in policy and practice to build capacity for urban transition. As such, they are both transnational R&I intermediaries in Europe with a focus on the funding of R&I activities and selected complementary measures for scaling and impact. By drawing on Transformative Innovation Policy literature as well as literature on intermediaries, this paper analyses and compares their strategic objectives, the networks that they develop as well as a selection of their strategic activities to better understand their role and contribution to transformative change processes.