Call for Sub-Grants for Business Ideas for Sustainable Urban Development of Mediterranean Cities

Deadline: 22-Dec-22

If you are an entrepreneur, a start upper, an individual, or a team wishing to start a business, and you have an idea or project that can meet the challenges of sustainable urban development in cities, the U-SOLVE project invites you to.

U-SOLVE is a strategic ENI CBC MED funded project. It aims to transform the start-up process into an entrepreneurial sustainable development strategy and journey, by bridging active policy for entrepreneurship with the adoption of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)1 . Due to the growing relevance of the urban settlements in contemporary societies, U-SOLVE specifically addresses the possible role of open innovation in the transformation of Mediterranean cities: the most pressing SDGs related challenges are therefore identified through a participatory process and are tackled by activating local entrepreneurial agents and their coalitions.

Themes

• The opportunity is still open to anyone who can engage the creative and cultural sectors in the creation and implementation of business projects that generate crucial impact in one of the following themes:
  • Urban and transport planning
  • Sustainable energy
  • Waste management
  • Blue infrastructure
  • Urban food system
  • Urban health equity
  • Green infrastructure
  • Water resources and management
  • Sustainable tourism.

Objectives

• This call for sub-grants will cover the following main objectives of U-SOLVE project:
  • Increase entrepreneurial culture and acumen among youths and women.
  • Support innovative businesses, that are offshoots of the creative and cultural sectors, supporting SDGs in target urban areas.
  • Promote the establishment of sustainable innovation ecosystems in the cities served by the USOLVE pilot Innovation Hubs.

Funding Information

• Any sub-grant to be awarded under the second phase of this call (STEP 2) must not exceed the maximum amount of EUR 10.000 (up to 100% of funding from the total budget justified) for each beneficiary, who will also benefit from additional capacity building services, such as training, mentoring, and networking offered by the U-SOLVE project.
• Each sub-grant will be paid out in 3 tranches:
  • At the onboarding of the sub-grantee: 30% is paid out after signing of the grant agreement.
  • After the mid-evaluation: 40% is paid out after successful attainment of mid-goals, required reports and project documentation (according to grant agreement).
  • After project finalization: 30% is paid out after successful finishing of the project, required reports and project documentation, cost justification.
• Duration: The initial planned duration of an action may not exceed six (6) months.

Eligibility Criteria

• Be a legal entity, established as a business under national law with a registration number or equivalent, at prior to the application,
• Established in the following eligible ENI-CBC territories: Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Jordan and Palestine
• Be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action, not acting as an intermediary [and]
• Meet the following additional requirements:
  • comply with the European Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC2 and the SME user guide. As a summary, the criteria which define an SME are:
    • Independent (not linked or owned by another enterprise), in accordance to Recommendation 2003/361/EC;
    • Headcount in Annual Work Unit (AWU) less than 250;
    • Annual turnover less or equal to €50 million OR annual balance sheet total less or equal to €43 million.
  • start-ups that do not have yet annual turnover or balance sheets are also considered eligible, given that they fulfil the other eligibility criteria at submission time.
  • applicants may not be recipients of State Aid through other grants or financing from national governments or the European Union in excess of 200.000 euro over a period of three years.
  • not be in any insolvency situation and shall be compliant with local labor codes and social security rules.
• At least one member of the management board or one major shareholders (at least 25% of the shares) should belong to the age group 24-35 years old and holds at least a high-school diploma or equivalent, or at least one member of the management board or the major shareholders (at least 25% of the shares) should be female.

Ineligible Costs

• The following costs are not eligible:
  • Debts and debt service charges (interest);
  • Provisions for losses or potential future liabilities;
  • Costs declared by the applicants and financed by another action or work programme receiving a European Union grant;
  • Purchases of land or buildings;
  • Currency exchange losses;
  • duties, taxes and charges, including VAT, except when non-recoverable under the relevant national tax legislation unless otherwise provided in appropriate provisions negotiated with partner countries, as per the provisions of the related Financing Agreement;2
  • Loans to third parties;
  • Fines, penalties and expenses of litigation;
  • Contributions in kind.

For more information, visit U-SOLVE.