Clean – National Cluster Grant

Clean is Denmark’s national cluster organisation for water and environmental technology. With the national cluster grant for the period 2025–2028, Clean strengthens innovation, collaboration, and international impact within an ecosystem where companies, research and knowledge institutions, and public actors jointly develop solutions to some of society’s most pressing climate, water, and environmental challenges.

A cluster grant is a multi-year, strategic investment in building and developing a business and innovation ecosystem. For Clean, the grant provides a clear mandate to accelerate the development of new technologies, business models and collaborations – with a particular focus on small and medium-sized companies – and to translate knowledge and needs into concrete projects with real-world impact.

Purpose and ambition

Clean’s ambition for 2025–2028 is to strengthen innovation, competitiveness and growth in the Danish water and environmental sector. This is achieved by bringing together companies, research and knowledge institutions, and public actors in targeted innovation processes, where technological opportunities are matched with real market and societal needs.

The cluster effort aims to make it easier – especially for small and medium-sized companies – to access new knowledge, test facilities, collaboration partners, and financing. At the same time, Clean contributes to solutions that address key challenges related to climate, water, environment, and nature, both nationally and internationally.

Clean’s role and activities

Clean acts as a neutral facilitator and matchmaker within the ecosystem. The cluster creates frameworks for collaboration across industries, disciplines, and sectors, serving as a catalyst for innovation that enables new ideas to be developed, tested, and scaled.

A core element of the effort is building bridges between companies, knowledge, and capital. Clean initiates and facilitates collective innovation activities where multiple actors collaborate on shared challenges, supporting the establishment of concrete collaboration and development projects. The focus is on mobilising private co-financing and ensuring that projects have a clear market perspective.

Internationalisation is an integral part of the cluster’s work. Clean supports companies in navigating global markets, identifying international partnerships, and translating Danish strengths into export opportunities and international scaling.

Thematic focus areas

The cluster grant builds on Clean’s strong professional foundation, with water as the core area. At the same time, targeted efforts address related and cross-cutting themes where the need for new solutions is significant and where Danish actors have particular strengths.

These include climate adaptation and the management of extreme weather events, protection and restoration of biodiversity, management of PFAS and other environmental contaminants, and the development of CCUS solutions. In addition, waste, resources and the circular economy, soil, water and nature, as well as the interaction between water and Power-to-X, are key focus areas during the period.

International dimension

Clean actively engages in international platform projects, including collaborations in Latin America, where Danish solutions are tailored to meet local needs and markets. The cluster works closely with actors such as Innovation Centre Denmark, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI), and the Danish Export Association to ensure coherence between innovation, business development, and export efforts.

At the same time, Clean serves as the secretariat for the International Cleantech Network, helping to connect Danish companies and knowledge environments with a global network of cleantech actors.

Target groups and impact

Clean’s cluster activities are aimed at a broad range of stakeholders:

• SMEs and startups with new solutions

• Larger companies and utilities with needs for innovation and partnerships

• Municipalities and regions facing concrete challenges

• Universities and GTS institutes with specialised knowledge, investors, and international partners

The objective is to create measurable value in the form of more and stronger innovation projects, increased private and international funding, and companies with a stronger market position. Ultimately, the cluster effort is expected to lead to concrete solutions with societal impact – benefiting the climate, the environment, and sustainable economic development.

Read also: Clean continues as Denmark’s national cluster for water and environmental technology.