The Competitive and Sustainable Growth (GROWTH) Programme ran from 1998 to 2002 under the Fifth Framework Programme(FP5). Funding for industrial research is now covered by the thematic priorities of the Sixth Framework Programme(FP6) from 2002 to 2006, designed to support the creation of a European Research Area:

• Research funded under FP5 key action 3: Land transport and marine technologies is currently part of FP6 thematic priority 6: Sustainable development, global change and ecosystems – see the FP6 Surface transport website.

The following text was first published in March 2000.

  Main objectives

Improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions - cutting CO2 emissions and developing and validating zero-emission vehicles.
Improved performance - increasing safety, reliability, maintainability, availability, operability, energy efficiency and adaptability.
Improved system competitiveness -
reducing both time to market and development costs.

  Key research priorities

Development of critical technologies
For land transport, the emphasis is on developing more efficient, intelligent, clean and safe vehicles.
For marine technologies, priority is placed on more efficient, safe and environmentally-friendly ships and innovative marine technologies particularly for unmanned operations.

Technology integration and validation
Research will focus on integrating and validating six technology platforms:

1. New land transport vehicle concepts; enhanced systems efficiency,
2. Advanced concepts for ships and vessels; competitive shipbuilding,
3. Enhanced design and manufacturing for road vehicles,
4. Sustainable and modular trains,
5. Safe, efficient and environmentally friendly vessels and platforms,
6. Efficient interoperability and transhipment

Growth Project Search
(CORDIS database)