16.3.2020 - 04.5.2020
Climate solutions for municipalities!Climate solutions for municipalities!
We are looking for experiments that provide new climate solutions aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of the goods or services provided or purchased by the municipality. We are looking for experiments based on themes: sustainable mobility, food services and other innovative solutions that reduce the carbon footprint of the municipality.
A total of EUR 100,000 has been reserved for the implementation and further development of the experiments. The Ministry of the Environment will fund each selected experiment project with the maximum amount of EUR 10,000. A total of EUR 30,000 has been reserved for further development of the experiments with the most potential after the completion of the experiments.
Participation in the call for experiment applications is an opportunity to develop your idea, to receive peer support, coaching by experts and support for communication, to find new partners, and to make the solutions discovered through the experiments even more effective.
Anyone can send an application, but the precondition for funding is that the experiment must be implemented in cooperation with a municipal organisation. The experiment must be completed by the end of December 2020.
CHALLENGES BASED ON THEMES
Municipalities are responsible for zoning, land use, transport planning, ownership steering of energy companies, heating choices of buildings and procurement of services and materials. In addition to the climate actions carried out by the municipality itself, the municipal organisation can enable and promote the climate actions of the residents, businesses, agricultural entrepreneurs and other actors.
Several experiment proposals are needed to reduce the carbon footprint of the services produced and outsourced by municipalities. Have you got an experiment idea that will help to solve these challenges?
- Attractiveness of sustainable mobility
How could the use of sustainable means of transport be made smoother and more attractive in the municipality or in the region? How could the need for transport that increases the carbon footprint be reduced? What kind of roles could municipalities have in experiments concerning everyday mobility? The theme looks for solutions to reducing the emissions of everyday mobility, in other words, the emissions from commuting and from journeys to school, day-care centres or hobbies.
- Low-emission food services
How could the consumption of vegetarian food be increased in the food services organised or outsourced by the municipality? How could waste be reduced in the food services organised by municipalities? The theme looks for solutions aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of the food services organised or outsourced by the municipality by changing the offering and reducing consumption.
- “Wild card” – New climate solutions in municipalities
The greenhouse gas emissions of municipalities come from many small sources such as the emissions from transport, heating of buildings, consumption of electricity, agriculture, industry, machinery and waste management. The theme looks for climate solutions to that municipalities could use in the services they provide or outsource to encourage the adoption of operating models that reduce the carbon footprint – or to create whole new ones!
A SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT:
- solves challenges related to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of municipalities
- creates genuine motivation for reducing the carbon footprint of one’s own activities in the target group of the experiment
- tests a new activity (a novel activity or one that is new in the region)
- monitors the impacts of the experiment on the target group so that lessons can be learned from the results of the experiment
An experiment refers to a new activity, the results of which we cannot be totally sure of. For example, a report or preparation of communications material alone is not an experiment. Please note that we do not fund carbon sink projects or compensation projects through this call.
EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS
The experiment proposals will be evaluated by a panel consisting of experts of the culture of experimentation and climate measures. The following criteria will be used to evaluate the experiments.
A Novelty value and innovativeness (0-5 points)
- How new and special is the idea used in the experiment?
- Does your experiment apply a solution in a totally new way or is it new in the region (e.g. new in the locality where it is implemented)?
- Does the experiment reach target groups that are traditionally not interested in climate measures?
B Effectiveness (0-5 points)
- How does the experiment contribute to reducing of greenhouse gas emissions in the themes in question (Services produced or outsourced by municipalities: 1. transport, 2. food services and 3. new climate solutions of municipalities)? The impact can be examined in the short or the long term – the main thing is that the impact is discussed in the application.
- How does the experiment integrate good climate practices into the continuous and permanent activities in the municipality?
- How easily can the idea of the experiment be replicated or scaled after the experiment?
C Supervision and communication (0-5)
- How well are the impacts of the experiment on the target group monitored so that lessons can be learned from the results of the experiment?
- How will the results of the experiment be communicated to its most important target audiences and to a wider audience?
D Feasibility (0-5 points)
- What kind of resources (e.g. working hours, competence, other funding) are available to the experiment?
- Have the proposed experiment and its costs been explained clearly and realistically?
- Have the parties that are essential for the results already committed themselves to the implementation of the experiment?
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
To submit an experiment, begin by registering at the top of this page. After registering, you can start to record the experiment. You can edit the proposal until the call for experiment applications closes at 24.00 on 30 April.
The creation of the experiment progresses by answering the questions. It’s easy, isn’t it! When you have answered all of the questions and added the themes of the experiment, your proposal is complete and you can publish it. You do not need to move on to the next stage. Instead, your proposal can remain the first idea stage.
More instructions for submitting an experiment are available here. When you formulate the idea, you should familiarise yourself with the tools (mainly in Finnish) for implementing an experiment!
GRANT DECISION AND PUBLICITY OF INFORMATION
The results of the experiment and the lessons learnt will be reported openly on the Kokeilun paikka website. You should therefore not build your experiment around business secrets.
The financial support for the experiment will be awarded as a grant. The grant will be awarded as a special discretionary government transfer referred to in section 5 of the Act on Discretionary Government Transfers (688/2001) to a project with a defined content and purpose. The transfer can be paid only as de minimis aid*.
The awarding of the grant must be considered necessary. The Ministry of the Environment will consider the necessity of the grant by paying attention to the amount of other public funding received by the project and by taking into account the quality and extent of the project. The discretionary government transfer must not together with other public aids cover the full amount of the total costs resulting from the project. The applicant’s own share of the funding can be implemented as work, but the project implementer must in that case be able to clearly demonstrate that the working hours have been spent on the experiment in the application (e.g. through recording the hours).
The applicant must be a natural or legal person and the experiment must be implemented in collaboration with a municipal organisation. Each participant can send only one application.
When the application period has ended, the Ministry of the Environment will issue a positive or a negative written grant decision to the applicants. The funding for the projects that have been awarded the grant will be paid at the beginning of the project, when:
- the applicant has submitted to the Ministry of the Environment the commitment to comply with the terms and restrictions of the grant decision and special discretionary government transfers, and
- an email confirming the participation is received from the municipal organisation.
Eligible costs include the costs listed in the grant application that are in line with the terms and restrictions for special transfers. The progress of the selected experiments will be regularly reported on the Kokeilun paikka website and on the shared discussion platform of the experimenters. The grant recipient must on request be able to present the documents proving the costs that have been incurred. The Ministry of the Environment may claw back the grant or a part of it if it is revealed that the project does not meet the requirements set for it.
ENQUIRIES AND ASSISTANCE
If you are not sure about something, we will help you through email or in the Facebook group Kokeileva Suomi. By sharing your questions you will also help others!
Elina Ovaskainen
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*) This means that the total amount of de minimis aid received from different sources by the grant recipient must not exceed EUR 200,000 within three consecutive fiscal years (Commission Regulation 1407/2013).
