Call #13
Open until August 31, 2023
Announced funds approximately 15 million SEK.
Contribute to achieving climate-neutral and sustainable cities already by 2030. You can now apply for funding for feasibility study projects that strengthen and accelerate the climate transition in cities, while contributing to a good life for all within the limits of the planet.
At least one municipality must support each application. If you are a consortium, the coordinating party must be a municipality, region, county administrative board or association of municipalities. Political support in the municipality that is the main applicant is a must and a criterion in the assessment.
Project partners can be legal entities, such as companies, universities, colleges, public actors, non-profit organizations and trade associations. Only actors with operations in Sweden can be project partners.
Projects within this call are expected to include between approximately SEK 1 million and SEK 1.5 million in funding from the Swedish Energy Agency, plus 50% co-financing. In this call, a total of approximately SEK 15 million is available for the projects that are granted funding.
We must act together quickly and forcefully to meet the climate challenge. This initiative will help to investigate, through pre-study , which initiatives can provide increased power in climate and sustainability work in cities with high ambitions in their climate change work, and create a better ability for many more cities to speed up the transition for greater effect in a shorter time frame.
Right now, there is a strong mobilization in Sweden and in Europe to transition to climate-neutral and sustainable cities by 2030. This is part of the mission-driven work that Viable Cities has initiated and driven for several years.
The pre-study funded under this initiative will explore how we can further increase the ambition of the climate transition work with a view to strengthening the collective capacity for transition.
The call is intended for one-year projects in one of the following thematic areas:
Citizen engagement/participation. New methods of citizen engagement/participation that can help accelerate the climate transition.
Climate Investments. New ways of working with climate investments linked to accelerating the transition.
Regional mobilization. New ways to mobilize more broadly regionally for a faster climate transition with groups that include both municipalities and other actors.
13 June 2023
Call opens
31 August 2023
Closing date for applications
October 2023
Provisional time for decision
1 November 2023
Project start date
30 October 2024
End date of the project
More detailed information on the thematic areas can be found in the full call text.
Applications are made via the Swedish Energy Agency's e-service "Funding of research and innovation" via "My pages". The deadline for the application is August 31, 2023, and you can get support in your application until 16.00 (CET) the same day.
On June 9 at 15:00-16:00, an information meeting was arranged about the call and what applies to actors. Presentations were given by Viable Cities and the Swedish Energy Agency. You can watch the recording of the information meeting afterwards and download the presentation from the meeting in PDF format.
Here are the most frequently asked questions about the call.
Applicants are free to apply whether or not they are part of the initiative, but since there is a requirement to have political administration, the municipalities that are part of the Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative are deemed to already meet this requirement. It is therefore not a requirement to be part of Climate Neutral Cities 2030, but an advantage when applying for the call.
Projects within this call are expected to include between approximately SEK 1 million and SEK 1.5 million in funding from the Swedish Energy Agency, as well as 50 percent co-financing. In this call, a total of approximately SEK 15 million is available for the projects that are granted funding. As projects can be granted between SEK 1 million and 1.5 million, this means a total budget for funded projects of SEK 30 million.
It can be in time or in resources such as money. It is up to the project participants to decide how they want to co-finance, it is not a requirement.
It is not an idea, but it will be part of the overall assessment. It is more important that the applications that are granted correspond to the ambitions that exist around the country.
This depends on the content of the application. The consortium can structure the feasibility study as it sees fit, but the ambition is for the results to make a long-term contribution to climate change when the feasibility study is completed.
No, it is possible for an individual municipality to apply for funding in the call, but we see clear advantages in involving several actors. The consortium is therefore free to involve other actors in the constellation they consider best.
There is no continued funding secured at present, but this is part of a long-term effort.
In that case, it would be set up between two municipalities, the region, the Swedish Transport Administration and professional property developers with the aim of creating locational conditions for the green transition of industry in a region. It could be something that could fit into the regional track of the call.
Associations of municipalities.
If there is funding from other government funding bodies, there will be an overlap, and it will not be possible to fund through the call. On the other hand, if it is EU funding, it may be possible, but only for public actors.
This depends on how it is done, but should be avoided. Rather, invite those actors to become part of the consortium applying for the call and it can be avoided altogether.
Each project is assessed on its own merits, and if it involves multiple tracks, this can be a strength, as long as the application is of good quality.
We provide support until 16:00 on the day the call closes.
Frida Villemoes, Swedish Energy Agency, frida.villemoes@energimyndigheten.se, 016-542 06 90
Emina Pasic, Swedish Energy Agency, emina.pasic@energimyndigheten.se, 016-544 21 89
Frida Knutsson, Viable Cities, frida.knutsson@viablecities.se, 073-040 07 17
Viable Cities Call #13: Preliminary studies for faster climate transition is a part of the mission of climate-neutral cities 2030. To accelerate the climate transition, we need to work together in new ways across society between actors in the public sector, business, universities and research institutes and civil society. We also need, based on the mission of climate-neutral and sustainable cities 2030, to create a clear and long-term common direction in efforts from local, regional, national and international levels.
