Call for Applications: Katowice Energy Innovation Challenge

About the challenge

In its fight to mitigate climate change, the city of Katowice, Poland, is rapidly transitioning from coal-dependent to clean and renewable energy systems. However, efforts to support this transition at the business and household level, through access to technology, financial incentives, and awareness campaigns, are disaggregated and have demonstrated limited results.

The Katowice Energy Innovation Challenge is a collaboration between UN-Habitat and Rawa.Ink, Katowice’s Municipal Business Incubator. The Challenge invites start-ups and innovators around the world to help the city of Katowice transition to clean and renewable energy systems. Three winning innovators will be invited to participate in Rawa.Ink’s accelerator program, and showcase their work at the 11th World Urban Forum in Katowice between the 26th-30th of June 2022.

What we’re looking for

We are looking for digital information management and communication solutions that will help and empower the city of Katowice, including the local government, residents, and businesses, to embrace a transition to clean and renewable energy systems.

We’re looking for solutions that:

• Provide simplified consolidated information and build awareness on available renewable energy technologies, the benefits of transitioning to clean and renewable energy, and the local, regional, and national government incentives and subsidies that support the transition.

• Enable informed decision-making by residents and businesses, transitioning to clean and renewable energy sources, and adopting energy-conserving behaviors.

• Optimize energy generation, distribution, and use, at the local level, in a distributed fashion to accommodate prosumers and varying demands during different times of the day and seasons in the year.

• Monitor indicators and communicate the impact of transitioning to clean and renewable energy on pollution levels, climate change, economic prosperity, health, wellbeing, and other indicators.

• Foster dialogue and collaboration between different stakeholders in the city to collectively transition to clean and renewable energy systems.

Awards

Up to two persons from each of the three winning organizations will be awarded a trip to Katowice, Poland, where they will be invited to participate in Rawa.ink’s acceleration program and showcase their innovation at the 11th World Urban Forum in June 2022.

Eligibility criteria

• The Competition is open to start-ups and projects implementing urban energy innovation projects in various business models including start-ups, cooperatives, social cooperatives, companies, and joint-stock companies. Innovation is understood as a sequence of actions that results in the production/ creation of new or improved products, technological processes, or organizational systems.

• Participants can be the already mentioned groups that are the sole authors of the innovation in question and have all rights to the presented technology, including property and personal copyrights, and their execution will not violate the rights of third parties.

• Projects of the employees, partners, board members, shareholders, investors of the organizers, experts, mentors, and jurors involved in the competition are excluded from the competition.

• Participation in the Competition is voluntary and free of charge.

Selection criteria

1. Impact and innovation
   1. Does the solution have the potential to achieve the desired impact?
   2. How is the solution relevant to the challenge as defined by the city?
   3. Does the applicant respond to what the city has identified to be the problem?
   4. Will this solution empower a transition to clean and renewable energy systems?
   5. Is it new or different from what’s already on the market?

2. Concept viability
   1. Does the applicant present a robust concept that is ready to be demonstrated in a real-world environment?
   2. Is it technically feasible and viable?
   3. Does the applicant have a feasible business model?
   4. Is the applicant considering user and customer engagement?
   5. Will potential solutions be affordable to the end-user?

3. Capability
   1. Does the applicant have the track record to deliver?
   2. What are the applicant’s relevant experience and expertise?