EIT Climate-KIC launches Call for Proposals to support post-COVID-19 green recovery

EIT Climate-KIC’s ‘Extraordinary Post COVID-19 Regeneration Call 2020’ will select projects and programmes with the potential to restructure and regenerate our economies in the wake of the pandemic and in anticipation of future climate, ecological and health crises. Proposed activities must deliver clear outputs by the end of 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic is borderless. Despite collective efforts to constrain the spread of the virus, it has affected societies, economies, and millions of people around the globe. Beyond the dramatic healthcare crisis caused by the virus, many countries are facing a shock to their economy. This unprecedented challenge comes with significant socioeconomic consequences and many experts, including the IMF, are anticipating a shock to economies tougher than any crisis since the 1930s Great Depression. 

“The impacts of the pandemic on the economy, businesses and workers calls for a strong coordinated economic response. Now is our chance to correct course. EIT Climate-KIC is therefore supporting the call for a European Green Recovery, which asks for a reboot of the economy,” says Kirsten Dunlop, CEO of EIT Climate-KIC.

This crisis demonstrates the importance of investing in systemic resilience through systemic change. As part of our own response to the pandemic, today we launch our Extraordinary Post COVID-19 Regeneration Call 2020. The aim of this call is to support programmes and projects that have the potential to address the impacts of the current crisis and/or to build resilience to future crises.

We’re looking for innovation activities in the following priority areas: 

• Circular economy across policy, finance, education, entrepreneurship and innovation to change whole systems from linear to circular
• Transformation of the built environment in cities requires innovation to explore the interactions between energy, water, clean mobility and distributed energy technologies as well as the appropriate supportive financing models and policy changes that also actively support communities and citizen engagement
• Financial systems to deploy public and private capital in support of climate resilient, safe and sustainable communities

Given the devastating impact of the pandemic on jobs, we’ll prioritise projects that have a high potential impact on job creation, prosperity, economic regeneration and wellbeing. 

To align with our systemic approach, innovation activities are sought that have a clear focus on the challenges created by the pandemic, coupled with clear objectives to support a just and people-centred transition towards a net-zero-carbon, circular economy. We’re encouraging approaches focusing on advanced resilience and adaptation impacts, and we’ll reward projects working on the regeneration of economies through new job creation and co-benefits that support a just transformation and the advancement of digitalisation. 

THE TIMELINE:

Due to the urgent nature of the challenge, we’re operating on a compressed timeframe, using a two-stage approach:

Stage 1: Deadlines for submission of Expression of Interest, 22 May 2020 (17:00 CET)  

Stage 2: Deadlines for submission of Full Proposal, 12 June 2020 (17:00 CET) 

As selected projects must deploy funding and deliver clear outputs by the end of 2020, we’ll prioritise programmes and projects that have the maturity level to grow and scale fast, create jobs, and that build on and complement our existing portfolio of work.  

HOW TO SUBMIT:

Step 1: Please read the Call Description and Guidelines document carefully and start to shape your Expressions of Interest as soon as possible to meet the quick turnaround. 

Step 2: Submit Expressions of Interest or Full Proposals through our electronic platform Plaza. 

Note that in order to submit a proposal, you must be registered on Plaza. If you don’t have access yet, please register well in advance of the deadline. Any registrations received less than five working days prior to the deadline may not be processed in time.

CALL DOCUMENT:

All the details you need are available in the Call Description and Guidelines document on our website.   

If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact the Community Desk at communitydesk@Climate-KIC.org.

By combining efforts to transition to a carbon-neutral circular economy with the acceleration of the energy transition, advancing social and environmental infrastructure, and advancing sustainable finance, we have an opportunity to rapidly deliver jobs and secure livelihoods, improve the way-of-life of citizens worldwide, and contribute to building more resilient societies. 

The impacts of the pandemic on European economies and workers call for a strong coordinated economic response. Committed to support students, entrepreneurs and innovators developing innovative solutions to societal challenges, the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) has released a Crisis Response Initiative. The stimulus package of finance contributes to the European Union’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and aims to address the short-term challenges resulting from the pandemic, as well as the expected longer-term economic and social challenges to follow. 

EIT Climate-KIC launches two complementary calls to support our community during these challenging times. The first call will support innovative programmes and projects which propose innovative solutions to address the impacts of COVID-19 and contribute to regenerate our economies. The second call will support selected green start-ups and small businesses affected by the crisis. With these calls, we aim to simultaneously address the urgent needs for regeneration and for transitioning our economies towards reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050: A goal that’s at the heart of the European Green Deal. 

Investing in the future we want

We have been dazzled to see how organisations in our community have directly engaged in the crisis response. Some have produced a ventilator designed to help COVID-19 patients with severe breathing difficulties. Others have donated bottles to hospitals with coronavirus patients, set up a silver ion disinfection plant that doesn’t carry toxic substances, or decided to track developments of COVID-19-related government interventions and raise awareness on how lobbyists are using the this crisis to advocate in a manner counter to the Paris Agreement. 

A focus on long-term systemic change

At EIT Climate-KIC, we believe investments made today will shape our future and our ability to react to the next global crises. While massive and urgent investments are needed to revive economies today, longer-term investments must go beyond a recovery of what existed before the pandemic. In fact, longer-term stimulus investments have the potential to trigger a more resilient, more protective, and more inclusive European economic model operating according to green principles.

To align with our long-term systemic approach, innovation activities responding to EIT Climate-KIC ‘Extraordinary Post COVID-19 Regeneration Call 2020’ are sought that have a clear focus on the challenges created by the pandemic, coupled with clear objectives to support a just and people-centred transition towards a 2050 zero-carbon circular economy. We’re encouraging approaches that focus on advanced resilience and adaptation impacts, and we’ll reward projects working on the regeneration of regional economies through new job creation, including new forms of jobs that support modernisation and a just transformation. 

Activities, projects and programs submitted in response to this call should be in line with EIT Climate-KIC’s life-long mission to build a prosperous, inclusive, climate-resilient society founded on a net-zero-carbon, circular economy. And, with our most recent ’Transformation, In Time’ strategy, by contributing to system transformations that advances these ends.

This call for proposals is open from May 11 to May 22 and covers funding applications for the year 2020 only. Read more here.

Contact communitydesk@Climate-KIC.org for more information on the call.

EIT Climate-KIC’s COVID-19 Response: We believe the world needs a simultaneous, multi-dimensional response to COVID-19, to address both the devastating immediate impacts on people, health systems and economy, and longer-term considerations. This includes the need to act now to ensure that economic recovery is aligned with climate and Sustainable Development Goals commitments as we consider ways to protect, reboot and regenerate economies. EIT Climate-KIC’s COVID-19-related communications will respond to all of these needs.

Please visit our COVID-19 Response Hub for more information.