NordForsk; the Academy of Finland; Formas, the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development; Forte, the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare; the Swedish Energy Agency and the Research Council of Norway are issuing a call for proposals under the Nordic Research Initiative on Sustainable Urban Development and Smart Cities. The call has a budget of NOK 50 million and the deadline for the call for proposals is 4 June 2019.
The aim of the Nordic Initiative on Sustainable Urban Development and Smart Cities is to promote cooperation between the knowledge communities in the Nordic countries, in order to enhance opportunities and address challenges relating to sustainable urban development and smart cities. The main objectives of the initiative are to enhance Nordic research collaboration and to fund excellent research with impact within and beyond academia.
The initiative is now issuing a one-phase call for proposals for research projects. The overarching aim of the call is to address challenges of urban and regional life in cities of all sizes through thorough analysis and use of essential knowledge for successful implementation.
The new call has two overarching perspectives:
- Integration of different dimensions of urban sustainability in the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals
- Co-production – a way to extend research activities to bridge gaps between knowledge, understanding, and action.
The call focuses on the following targeted themes:
- Challenges to basic human needs (e.g. water, food, renewable energy, waste management, and fossil-free transport systems) and scaling of these solutions
- Inclusiveness and equal opportunities as preconditions for human well-being and sense of identity
- Heritage, decision structures and planning processes
- Physical-, mental-, and economic barriers; segregation and urban structures
- Global change (including climate change) and local urban life
- The balance of powers and shared understanding in urban planning
This call is an activity under the Nordic Initiative on Sustainable Urban Development and Smart Cities, and it has a budget of NOK 50 million. The maximum funding that may be sought per project is NOK 12.5 million. Four research projects are expected to be funded. Funding will be granted for up to four years.
Deadline for the call for proposals: 4 June 2019.
