🚀💡 Scale-up your idea for Climate Resilient and sustainable cities and communities 🌍

With the launch of the Innovate2030 challenge at the COP26, the BMZ and its partners from the UNFCCC and the European Commission bring together innovators from all around the world for a global innovation program.

In 2023, the world’s population will cross the threshold of eight billion people. By mid-century, nine billion people will populate the earth. Already today, the majority of them live in cities, a trend that will continue to intensify. Cities and metropolitan areas are indeed economic powerhouses. But they are also responsible for about 70 percent of global carbon emissions and over 60 percent of resource consumption. Rapid urbanization is leading to congested infrastructure, air pollution and unplanned urban sprawl. Developing countries in particular are becoming a hotspot for these negative trends.

That’s why this year’s Innovate2030 program, initiated with BMZ digilab and in collaboration with the Make-IT Alliance, the European Commission, and the UNFCCC, focuses on SDG11: “Sustainable Cities and Communities.”

What you can do

Become an Innovator and send in your ideas and proven digital innovations and join the challenge

Or share the challenge with your most innovative friends, colleagues and partners.

What we offer

EUR 3,000 per Challenge + a bootcamp with training and mentors from Microsoft, SAP, UNFCCC, The Impact Week etc.

Who can participate?

Startups, community, projects, and academia groups focusing on digital solutions for climate-change & smart cities from all over the world

How to apply?

Since November you will have the opportunity to choose a Challenge and develop new ideas and solution or further develop your existing idea or solution.

You can either work on your own or work together in (interdisciplinary) teams.

You have until February 13th, 2022, 11:59 pm CET to submit your approaches via the Challenge-Specific Submission Template that you can find on the respective Challenge Landing Page.

Learn more about the Challenge and how you can participate:

https://toolkit-digitalisierung.de/en/innovate2030/ & https://app.ekipa.de/challenges/innovate2030

About the Author: Imran Jattala is Co-Founder of Innovators Garage — with a mission to build $500B Innovation Economy & to make Pakistan a Top-50 Innovative Nation. He is also Director Innovation, Zauq Group. He tweets at: @ImJattala