CHALLENGE: CITIES FOR ALL
What challenges does your city face in reducing inequalities? If you are interested in developing a proposal that includes innovative approaches, we invite you to participate in this call for proposals.
For inspiration, learn about the experience of urban laboratories in the "Inteligencia Urbana" podcast series. Find more information in the following blog (in Spanish).
By: Inter-American Development Bank
Open until February 20, 2022
DISCOVER THE THREE WINNING TEAMS:
- Experimenting with circular economy for the social production of habitat - Urban Laboratory of the Municipality of Mendoza, Argentina.
- San Salvador in development...of heat? - Innovation Unit of the Planning Office of the Council of Mayors of the Metropolitan Area of San Salvador (COAMSS/OPAMSS), City Adapt, University of El Salvador and Don Bosco University, El Salvador.
- I decide and build my habitat - Municipality of Apizaco, Government of the State of Tlaxcala, Instituto del Fondo Nacional de la Vivienda para los Trabajadores (INFONAVIT), Secretaría de Desarrollo Agrario, Territorial y Urbano (SEDATU), and Observatorio de Ciudades del Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico.
MEET THE SEMIFINALISTS OF THE CITIES FOR ALL CHALLENGE WHO WILL RECEIVE A MENTORSHIP FROM THE IDB:
- Co-creation of community self-construction project strategies for the generation of adaptable modules in critical environmental units: the circular economy as a learning tool - Urban Laboratory of the Municipality of Mendoza, Argentina.
- Housing emergency: Governance, articulation and participation for local planning of social housing - Municipality of Renca and Fundación Techo, Chile.
- Social innovation and urban revitalization of the canals of Gran Bom Jardim - Innovation Laboratory of Fortaleza (Labifor) and the Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (Citinova) of the Municipality of Fortaleza, Brazil.
- Social rental housing in buildings with potential for reuse: Pilot Project Plan Parcial Centro San Bernardo - Empresa de Renovación Urbana y Desarrollo Urbano de Bogotá, Colombia.
- Promoting heat island reduction and air decontamination in the San Salvador Metropolitan Area - Innovation Unit of the Planning Office of the Council of Mayors of the Metropolitan Area of San Salvador (COAMSS/OPAMSS), City Adapt, University of El Salvador and Don Bosco University, El Salvador.
- I decide and build my habitat - Municipality of Apizaco, Government of the State of Tlaxcala, Instituto del Fondo Nacional de la Vivienda para los Trabajadores (INFONAVIT), Secretaría de Desarrollo Agrario, Territorial y Urbano (SEDATU), and Observatorio de Ciudades del Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico.
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), through its Cities Lab, seeks to identify urban challenges associated with systemic vulnerabilities that accentuate inequality in Latin American and Caribbean cities.
By systemic vulnerabilities we refer to: deficient access to financing and quality housing solutions; inadequate access to basic services; the socio-spatial disconnection of informal neighborhoods from formal ones; limited or no access to information and communication technologies; vulnerability and resilience to climate change and natural disasters; and limited opportunities for formal employment.
We seek to identify challenges that can be solved with experimental approaches (prototype schemes, pilots, iterative models of solutions, etc.), in order to design innovative, replicable and scalable solutions.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE?
The applicant entity must complete the online application, taking into account the following points:
- Complete the application form and submit it through the online platform within the specified deadline. The deadline is February 20, 2022 (11:59 p.m. EST).
- In the application form, applicant entities must attach the supporting documentation detailed in the requirements section: letter of endorsement from a city government authority (use Form A), and the applicant entity's innovation-related experience form (use Form B).
WHAT DO YOU GET IF YOUR PROPOSAL IS SELECTED?
Six semi-finalist teams will participate in a mentoring process to improve the definition of the challenge, which will be presented at a pitch day. From these, three teams will be selected to receive technical assistance from the IDB (up to USD$35,000) to work on an iterative experimentation process consisting of the co-design, implementation and evaluation of a prototype or pilot project that will contribute to solving the challenge.
NOTE: The amount of up to USD$ 35,000 will not be delivered as financial resources in cash or in goods, but will finance services for the design and implementation of the project.
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
Cities from the 26 IDB borrowing member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, specifically entities that promote urban innovation, as part of or in partnership with city governments, may participate. For example:
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An urban innovation lab or an innovation office / unit that is part of a city government.
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A national, regional or local innovation agency or laboratory that is associated with one or more city governments.
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A university or civil society group, working on innovation in cities, that is associated with one or more city governments.
TIMELINE
* Dates are approximated and subject to revision.
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Launching of competition
December 1, 2021 -
Deadline for receipt of proposals
February 20, 2022 (11:59 p.m. EST) -
Semifinalists will be contacted
April 2022 -
Challenge definition mentoring process
April 2022 - May 2022 -
Challenge presentation pitch
May 2022 -
Announcement of 3 winning teams
May 2022 -
Development of the experimentation process
May 2022 onwards
Applicant entities must meet the following requirements:
- The city in which the challenge is identified is in one of the IDB's 26 borrowing member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
- The local government of the city in which the challenge is identified has a remaining administration period of at least one and a half years (18 months).
- The identified challenge is limited to one city or a consortium of cities.
- The identified challenge is associated with one or more of the systemic vulnerabilities that accentuate inequity in cities.
- The applicant entity is identified in one of the following categories:
• An urban innovation lab or an innovation office/unit that is part of a city government.
• A national, regional or local innovation agency or laboratory that is associated with one or more city governments.
• A university or civil society group, working on innovation in cities, that is associated with one or more city governments. - The applicant entity must present a working team of between 5 and 10 people. The team should include at least 3 officials from the partner city government.
- The applicant entity, if selected as the winning team, must commit to an experimentation process that will last approximately 6 months and will begin immediately after the announcement of the winning teams. All team members must commit approximately 4 hours per week for the duration of the experimentation process.
- Proposals must be submitted in one of the following languages: Spanish, English, Portuguese or French.
- Submit the following documents:
• Letter of endorsement from a partner city government authority. For example, mayor or the highest authority of a department/secretariat/ministry that is part of the working team for this call. Please use the attached Form A.
• Information on the applicant's experience related to innovation. Use Form B attached.
NOTE: An applicant entity may apply with several challenges, but each challenge must be submitted in a separate application. Only one challenge per entity will be selected.
Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Feasibility that the challenge can be solved through innovation.
- Impact of the challenge.
- The challenge responds to the needs of the beneficiaries.
- Relevance of the applicant entity's experience and background in the design and implementation of innovative solutions.
- Strategic alliances of the applicant entity with other stakeholders.
- Feasibility that the challenge can be solved through experimentation processes.
Find more information on each criterion in the Guidelines.
The call for proposals consists of 4 phases: (i) Application and evaluation, (ii) Mentoring process to 6 semi-finalist teams to improve the definition of the challenge, (iii) "Pitch" presentation of the challenge of the 6 semi-finalist teams, and (iv) Co-design and implementation of pilot project of the three winning teams. Each phase is explained below:
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Phase 1: Application and evaluation
Prior to the application deadline, the IDB will organize two virtual information sessions for entities interested in applying. TThese virtual sessions will be held on December 15, 2021 at 11:00 am EST, and January 19, 2022 at 10:00 am EST. You can register for these sessions through the following links:
• Information Session 1 - December 15, 2021
• Information Session 2 - January 19, 2022All entities interested in participating in this open call must complete the online application and submit the requested documents.
A team of IDB experts will review, analyze and evaluate the proposals received in accordance with the established requirements and evaluation criteria. The team of experts will select 6 semi-finalist teams that will move on to the next phase.
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Phase 2: Mentoring process to improve challenge definition
The 6 semi-finalist teams will participate in a mentoring process to improve the challenge definition and narrow it down. In addition, the teams will be prepared for the pitch day.
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Phase 3: Pitch presentation of the Challenge
The 6 semi-finalist teams will make a pitch to present the identified challenges in a virtual session. The IDB team of experts will choose three winning teams.
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Phase 4: Co-Design and implementation of pilot project
The three winning teams will receive technical assistance from the IDB Cities Lab (up to USD$35,000) to co-design and implement an experimentation process that will contribute to solving the identified challenge. Winning teams must commit to work proactively with the IDB team and support teams that are hired. It is estimated that approximately 4 hours of work per week will be dedicated for the duration of the experimentation process (approximately 6 months). They should also contribute with human resources, equipment, among other resources necessary for the design and implementation of the pilot project.