Entries open for Sustainable Cities Challenge Venice

Deadline Date: September 30, 2024

Donor Name: Toyota Mobility Foundation

Grant Size: More than $1 million

https://sustainablecitieschallenge.org/venice

The Toyota Mobility Foundation is seeking applications for the Sustainable Cities Challenge for innovators to create solutions that increase the use of existing low and zero-carbon transport modes in the city of Venice.

Priorities

• Solutions must address at least one of the following:
  • Increasing active mobility 
  • Increasing public transport use 
  • Increasing usage of shared mobility   
  • Any proposed solution must take into account the motivational aspect of behaviour change.

Funding Information

• They are supporting innovators to develop solutions by providing:
  • Up to ten $50,000 implementation grants in the semi-finalist stage
  • Up to five $130,000 implementation grants in the finalist stage
  • $1.5 million final implementation funding, to be shared among up to 3 winners 
  • The opportunity to engage directly with city officers
  • Access to various stakeholders such as local mobility providers
  • Access to a network of like-minded innovators
  • Access to capacity building support in behaviour change, mobility and related topics
  • All funding must be used to tailor, test and demonstrate solutions in the City of Venice, with final funding used for the implementation of solutions in the city.

Eligibility Criteria

• Entries that do not meet the following criteria are not eligible for the Challenge.
  • The solution must be tailored specifically for and implemented within the City of Venice
  • Entrants can be single organizations or consortia. 
  • Teams that enter as a consortium must nominate one organization as the lead entrant. The lead entrant will enter into contracts and receive funding from the Toyota Mobility Foundation. 
  • Entrants must be established as a legally incorporated organization to enter. 
  • The challenge is open to innovators worldwide but entries must be in English. 
  • Successful entrants must be willing and able to travel to Venice as there will be expectations for on-the-ground presence during the next stage of the Challenge. 

Judging Criteria

• The following judging criteria will be used to evaluate the suitability of an entry for the Challenge and its potential for impact.
  • Innovation
    • The solution offers an innovative approach to improving Venice residents’ motivation to choose and adopt low to zero-carbon modes of transportation for part or all of their everyday travel within the city. The solution can be brand-new or adapted from other contexts to suit the local context.
  • Impact
    • The solution significantly and tangibly increases the adoption and use of low to zero carbon transportation modes by Venice residents in their everyday journeys around the city.
  • Usability
    • The solution continuously engages with its target users. Based on the insights and understanding gained, the solution addresses the needs, preferences, and behaviors of its target user groups. 
  • Viability
    • The solution is viable and sustainable beyond the lifespan of the Challenge. The solution has the potential to scale or to be replicated in other contexts.
  • Team Capacity
    • The innovator team has the capacity and wider resources to develop and demonstrate their solution within the Challenge timeframe. 

For more information, visit Toyota Mobility Foundation.