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Today @NSF @ENERGY @DHSgov launched the Civic Innovation Challenge, a national research & action competition supported by $9m in federal funds, focused on mobility and resilience priorities #NSFCivicLaunch -
Full announcement here: https://nsfcivicinnovation.org/solicitation-announcement/
THREAD below:
Full announcement here: https://nsfcivicinnovation.org/solicitation-announcement/
THREAD below:
Teams will compete for awards up to $1m for ready-to-implement research-based pilot projects w/potential for scalable, sustainable, transferable impact on community priorities
Teams will include civic partners - such as local, state, and tribal government officials, and non-profit and community leaders - working together with technical & social science researchers.
While development of Civic Innovation Challenge has been ongoing for over a year, the release comes as the world faces unprecedented obstacles in response to the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, which is impacting healthcare, economic, and social systems.
Although the collective energy & effort of communities must focus on the crisis at hand, community members, researchers & leaders will soon also be considering how civic services & systems should be rebuilt to be stronger & more resilient once communities emerge from this crisis.
As teams reflect on the focus areas of the Civic Innovation Challenge, they are encouraged to consider how both the current situation and other experiences in their communities uncover new challenges, motivate new questions, and highlight the need for new perspectives.
The Civic Innovation Challenge comprises two tracks, shaped by input from cities and communities from across the country at an Ideas Festival held in early 2019:
1. #Communities and #Mobility: Offering Better Mobility Options to Solve the Spatial Mismatch Between Housing Affordability and Jobs
2. #Resilience to Natural Disasters: Equipping Communities for Greater Preparedness and Resilience to Natural Disasters
The Challenge is organized in 2 stages. In 1st stage, teams will compete for planning grants of up to $50k/team over a 4m period. Awards will be offered to approximately 12 teams per track and are expected to be made in Fall 2020. Planning grant applications are due 7/1/2020
W/ support of planning grant, selected teams will refine their projects & compete for second-stage grants of up to $1m/team over a period of 12m; these awards will support ready-to-implement, research-based pilot projects & will be offered to a cohort of awardees in each track.
Here's what some of the partners had to say about the Civic Innovation Challenge:
And a couple of the experts:
NSF has a cooperative agreement w/ @MetroLabNetwork to support Civic Innovation Challenge thru organizing outreach to prospective communities & teams in preparing for Stage 1 & 2 + cultivating communities of practice among awardees to develop transferable methods & solutions
Through this multi-agency federal effort, the Civic Innovation Challenge prioritizes community engagement, transdisciplinary research, and real-world pilots to enhance science and create lasting community impact.
B/c of competing priorities & schedule disruptions due to the COVID-19 crisis & response, several measures will be taken to accommodate those responding to the Civic Innovation Challenge:
Webinars focused crafting research-community partnerships amid current crisis; expectation of growing partnerships throughout projects; and remote events and workshops until public health guidance changes. More info here: https://nsfcivicinnovation.org/get-info/
Please share this thread with your followers and we hope you'll choose to participate in the Civic Innovation Challenge!
Learn more about the Civic Innovation Challenge #NSFCivicLaunch https://nsfcivicinnovation.org/
And access the @NSF solicitation #NSFFunded -- https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505728&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund
