The Sustainable Cities Challenge - Detroit is calling for innovators to enter with solutions that will meet the below Challenge Statement:

Demonstrate solutions that reduce fossil fuel use and cut costs of freight operations ​in Eastern​ Market.

Solutions should address one or more of the following:

1. Reduce idling time
2. Reduce partial loads and empty miles
3. Reduce reliance on fossil fuel for cold chain logistics and freight management
4. Reduce implementation costs and barriers to adopting clean freight technologies

We will support innovators to develop their solutions by providing:

• Up to ten $50,000 implementation grants in the semi-finalist stage
• Up to five  $130,000 implementation grants in the finalist stage
• $1.5 million final implementation funding, to be shared among up to 3 winners 
• The opportunity to engage directly with city leaders 
• Connections to businesses in Eastern Market to understand their operations
• Access to city stakeholders including problem-holders, end users and beneficiaries  
• Access to a network of like-minded innovators. 

Entries to this Challenge are open from​ UTC 29 May 2024 and close by 16:00 UTC on 12 September 2024.

Entries will be assessed against the judging criteria and the successful semi-finalists will be announced in November 2024.  

After the semi-finalist stage comes to an end, successful finalists will be announced some time in May 2025.

Winners will be announced in early 2026. 

Below is a list of resources or other ways you can find out more about the Sustainable Cities Challenge Detroit:

• Visit the main ​Sustainable Cities Challenge Detroit webpage
• Read the entrant handbook
• Email us at [email protected]
• You can also sign up for a webinar or book a one-on-one session. For a full list of the support available, see the Entrant Support section on the Sustainable Cities Challenge Detroit page. 

The Sustainable Cities Challenge is funded by the Toyota Mobility Foundation.

The implementation grant funding is available by stage of the Challenge as indicated below:

• Up to ten implementation $50,000 grants in the semi-finalist stage
• Up to five $130,000 implementation grants in the finalist stage
• $1.5 million final implementation funding, to be shared among up to 3 winners
• The opportunity to engage directly with city leaders
• Access to various stakeholders, e.g. mobility providers.
• Access to a network of like-minded innovators 

All funding must be used by teams to develop, test, demonstrate, and implement their solutions.

The final implementation funding should be used to implement the solution. As part of their final submission, each finalist must put forward ideas for what this implementation would look like for their solution, with input and discussion with the Toyota Mobility Foundation. 

The Sustainable Cities Challenge is led and funded by the Toyota Mobility Foundation, in partnership with Challenge Works and  World Resources Institute. 

The Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) was established in August 2014 by the Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) to support the development of a more mobile society in which everyone can move freely.  

The Foundation underscores Toyota’s ongoing commitment to continuous improvement and respect for people. It utilizes Toyota’s expertise and technologies to support strong mobility systems while eliminating disparities in mobility. TMF works in partnership with universities, governments, non-profits, research institutions and other organizations, creating programs that are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to address mobility issues around the world.  

In the past, TMF has led a range of Challenges, including the global Mobility Unlimited Challenge, CATCH in Malaysia and InoveMob Challenge in Brazil. You can find out more about TMF and how it is governed at toyotamobilityfoundation.org  

Challenge Works is a global leader in the design and delivery of open innovation challenges that mobilise diverse, innovative thinkers to solve pressing problems and unlock change. Founded by Nesta, the UK’s innovation foundation for social good, Challenge Works is a social enterprise that has delivered over 90 challenges to date and distributed more than £156 million to winning innovators.

 https://challengeworks.org/  

World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global research organization that works with governments, businesses, multilateral institutions and civil society groups to develop practical solutions that improve people’s lives and ensure nature can thrive. They organize our work around seven global challenges: Food, Forests, Water, Energy, Climate, the Ocean and Cities. They analyze these issues through the lenses of our four Centers of Excellence: Business, Economics, Finance and Equity. Visit them at wri.org

Detroit, Michigan, USA is known as the Motor City and has a heavy manufacturing and commercial freight industry. The city has reinvented itself after deindustrialization, and there are plenty of opportunities to continue this evolution and improve sustainable mobility. In areas such as the Eastern Market, a thriving food and cultural hub, the pollution and congestion from freight present an area of possible innovation.  

Only entries that meet the eligibility criteria can enter the Challenge.  

The Sustainable Cities Challenge Detroit eligibility criteria:

• The solution must be designed specifically for and implemented within the city of Detroit.
• Entrants can be single organizations or consortia.  
• Teams that enter as a consortia must nominate one organization as the lead entrant. The lead entrant will enter into contracts and receive funding from Toyota Mobility Foundation.  
• Entrants must already be established as a legally incorporated organization to be selected for the next phase of the Challenge. 
• The Challenge is open to innovators worldwide, but entries must be in English.
• Successful entrants must be willing and able to travel to the city for which they are entering as there will be expectations for on-the-ground presence during the next stage of the Challenge.  
• Entrants must own or be licensed to use relevant intellectual property included in their entries. If your entry proposes a new idea, we expect that you will own all the resulting intellectual property, which may be registered on a local basis if you become a successful participant in the Challenge. The Challenge would not be able to give you specific legal advice on the protection or exploitation of intellectual property.

You need to fill out the online entry form before the entry deadline at 16:00 UTC on 12 September 2024.  

The online entry form is hosted on Submittable, a social impact platform used to collect submissions. You can access it here.  

Remember to read the ​​Entrant Handbook and Terms and Conditions before you submit your entry.  

The Sustainable Cities Challenge is being run in English. Only entries submitted in English will be eligible for the Challenge.

Yes, you can enter as a consortium or with a co-entrant. If you do enter as a consortium, you must nominate one organization as the lead entrant.  

The lead entrant will enter into contracts and receive funding from Toyota Mobility Foundation. 

Eligible entries will be evaluated against the Judging Criteria. Those that best meet the criteria will be invited to participate in the semi-finalist stage.

Yes, you can submit more than one entry to the Challenge. 

Entries to the Challenge will be confidential; however, they will be shared with those involved in running and assessing entries, including our delivery partners and the judging panel. Details of entries will be considered as part of our ongoing evaluation activities and may form evidence for future policy developments. No evidence published, following our evaluation, will be attributable to individual entries or entrants.  

If you are successful in being selected to participate in the Challenge, one of the conditions of accepting support (both financial and non-financial) will include publicity of your initiative. 

Please review the full Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy for full details.  

Entrants ​must ​own ​or ​have ​written ​permission ​to ​use, ​the ​intellectual ​property ​relevant to ​their ​entry. ​All entrants ​need ​to ​demonstrate ​a ​willingness ​to ​share ​information ​about their ​solution ​for ​the ​purposes ​of ​the ​Challenge. As ​part ​of ​the ​Challenge, the Toyota Mobility Foundation, the City of Detroit, Challenge Works, and other ​​partners ​intend to ​carry ​out ​publicity ​activities and ​publish ​reports ​about ​the ​insights ​gained through ​the ​Challenge. ​These ​activities ​will ​not ​divulge ​confidential ​intellectual ​property.  

You can email us at [email protected].

You can also sign up for a webinar or book a one-to-one session. For a full list of the support available, see the Entrant Support section on the Sustainable Cities Challenge Detroit page.  

This FAQ page relates to the Sustainable Cities Challenge Detroit.  

However, there are three different city Challenges under the Sustainable Cities Challenge. Each of them is focused on their specific city and has a completely different mobility-related challenge. 

They are:  

1. The Sustainable Cities Challenge Detroit  – Transforming Freight  

• The Detroit Challenge is calling on  innovators to demonstrate solutions that reduce fossil fuel use and cut costs of freight operations in Eastern Market. 
• Entries to this Challenge are open from 29 May 2024 and close by 16:00 UTC on Monday 12 September 2024.

• You can visit the  Sustainable Cities Challenge Detroit page here. 

   

2. The Sustainable Cities Challenge Venice  – Embracing Sustainable Mobility  

• The Venice Challenge is calling on innovators to create solutions that change behavior, increasing the use and adoption of existing low and zero-carbon transport modes in the city of Venice. 
• Entries to this Challenge are open from Tuesday 11 June 2024 and close by 12:00 UTC on Monday 30 September 2024. 
• You can visit the Venice Challenge page here.  

3. The Sustainable Cities Challenge Varanasi –  Innovating Crowd Flow  

• The Varanasi Challenge is calling on innovators to create data-driven solutions that make crowded areas of Varanasi’s old city (Kashi) safer and more accessible.
• Entries to this Challenge are open from Thursday 27 June 2024  and close by 13:00 UTC on Thursday 5 September 2024 
• You can visit the Varanasi Challenge page here.

Yes, you can make an entry to all three City Challenges. However, you will likely not be selected for more than one City Challenge unless you demonstrate the capacity to work on two Challenges at the same time.

We’d love to hear from you! Please send us an email us at [email protected].