Support & FAQs
Sustainable Cities Challenge Varanasi
Support & FAQs
Sustainable Cities Challenge Varanasi
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Entrant Support
We have a range of support available to help you as you put together your entry to the Sustainable Cities Challenge Varanasi.
Join Us for a Webinar
We will be holding webinars where you can hear more about the Challenge and ask us questions.
If you are interested, sign up below so we can let you know as soon as the webinar dates are confirmed.
![Crowd of people sitting on steps in Varanasi](/sites/default/files/2024-05/jannes-jacobs-jxQeG1gPEl0-unsplash%20%281%29.jpg)
Book a One-to-One Session
Speak to us directly by booking a one-to-one call with one of our team members.
There are a limited number of spaces available, so we encourage you to book these early!
![Man pulling blue cart in Varanasi streets](/sites/default/files/2024-05/AdobeStock_485765021.jpg)
Download the Varanasi Entrant Handbook
We strongly encourage you to read the entrant handbook as you prepare your entry.
The handbook provides a detailed explanation of what the Challenge is seeking and what you can expect from participating.
![Varanasi](/sites/default/files/2024-05/AdobeStock_773099180.jpg)
Frequently Asked Questions Sustainable Cities Challenge Varanasi
The Varanasi Challenge is calling for innovators to enter with solutions that will meet the below Challenge Statement:
Create innovative, data-driven solutions that make crowded areas of Varanasi's old city of Kashi safer and more accessible for religious tourists, local residents and vulnerable populations (such as elderly people and people with disabilities).
Successful solutions might include:
- Tools that support the city to better manage overcrowding events
- Interventions that improve citizen decision-making
- Services that support vulnerable groups
We are supporting innovators to develop solutions by providing:
- Up to ten $50,000 grants in the semi-finalist stage
- Up to five $130,000 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 city stakeholders including problem-holders, end users and beneficiaries
- Access to a network of like-minded innovators
- Access to capacity building support in user-centred design and other related areas
Entries to this Challenge are open from 08:00 UTC Thursday 27 June 2024 and close by 13:00 UTC on Thursday 5 September 2024
Entries will be assessed against the judging criteria and the successful semi-finalists will be announced in late November 2024.
After the Semi-Finalist stage comes to an end, successful Finalists will be announced sometime in June 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 Varanasi:
- Visit the main Sustainable Cities Challenge Varanasi 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 Varanasi page.
The Sustainable Cities Challenge is funded by the Toyota Mobility Foundation.
We are supporting innovators to develop 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
- Access to city stakeholders including problem-holders, end users and beneficiaries
- Access to a network of like-minded innovators
- Access to capacity building support in user-centred design and other related areas
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, they are 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
Varanasi (Benaras or Kashi) is one of the oldest and continuously inhabited cities in the world and is home to many heritage sites. Situated on the banks of the sacred river Ganges in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi holds immense spiritual, cultural, and historical significance for people from different faiths. 84 ghats dot the bank of the Ganges that witness important rituals daily. A large number of Indian and global tourists flock to the city every year.
Entering the Sustainable Cities Challenge Varanasi - section of FAQ
Only entries that meet the eligibility criteria can enter the Challenge.
The Sustainable Cities Challenge Varanasi eligibility criteria:
- The solution must be tailored specifically for and implemented within Varanasi's old city of Kashi.
- Entrants can be single organizations or consortia.
- Teams that enter as a consortium must nominate one organization as the lead entrant. The lead entrant will enter into contracts and receive funding from the Toyota Mobility Foundation.
- Entrants must be established as a legally incorporated organization to enter.
- Entrants must have a presence in India (if a consortium, at least one company must have a presence in India)
- The Challenge is open to innovators worldwide, but entries must be in English.
- Successful entrants must be willing and able to travel to Varanasi as there will be expectations for on-the-ground presence during the next stage of the Challenge.
- Entrants must be able to work with local government.
- 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 will 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 13:00 UTC on Thursday 5 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, Terms and Conditions, and Privacy Policy 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 as semi-finalists.
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 Judges, in confidence. 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, TMF, the City of Varanasi 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 Varanasi Challenge page.
The Three City Challenges under the Sustainable Cities Challenge - section of FAQ
This FAQ page relates to the Sustainable Cities Challenge Varanasi.
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.
Other - section of FAQ
We’d love to hear from you! Please send us an email us at [email protected].
Enter the Varanasi Challenge
The call to innovators is now open. Enter the Varanasi Challenge today!
Remember the deadline to submit your entry is 13:00 UTC on Thursday 5 September 2024.
![people cars](/sites/default/files/2023-06/646e026c0dd6a8a7498d433c_peoplecars2.jpg)
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