Impact Innovation: System demonstrators for the sustainable manufacturing industries of the future - step 1

A call for proposals within the Net Zero industry

With this call for proposals Net Zero Industry wants to create the conditions for new system demonstrators that contribute to a resilient and circular production that enables a sustainable society.

Our call for proposals is divided into two stages. This offer relates to the first stage Feasibility Studies. The project that are granted are expected to have a project duration of 9 to 12 months. Vinnova's funding amounts to a maximum of SEK 1,500,000 per project. Maximum aid intensity amounts to 60 percent of the project's total eligible costs.

Beviljade Genomförbarhetsstudier will be given the opportunity to submit a proposal for stage 2 of the system demonstrator project. Vinnova's funding for system demonstrators is provisionally a maximum of 40 percent of such subsequent projects' eligible costs and is expected to amount to a maximum of SEK 20 million per project.

The offer is aimed at actor constellations consisting of at least three Swedish parties (legal entities), of which at least two are companies with manufacturing in Sweden. They must intend to, in cooperation with each other, create a system demonstrator that in the long term contributes to a resilient and circular production.

With this call for proposals Net Zero Industry wants to create the conditions for new system demonstrators who are expected to contribute to Net Zero Industry's mission:

• Reduce the footprint of the Swedish manufacturing industry until 2035 compared to 2024 with:
  - 75 percent reduced greenhouse gas emissions per revenue during the lifetime of the product or service.
  - 75 percent reduced greenhouse gas emissions from resources such as energy and materials used in manufacturing processes per produced department, regardless of disruptions in the manufacturing system.

The purpose of the effort is to stimulate the growth of a resilient and circular Swedish industry that contributes to resource efficiency, both within and outside the country's borders. In this the call for proposals we mainly mean resilience within value chains and against, for example, global shocks in climate, environment, finance, distribution, geopolitics and energy.

Through the call for proposals we want to create the conditions for new system demonstrators in areas relevant to Impact Innovation Programmet Net Zero Industry and which contribute to a resilient and circular production that enables a sustainable society. We therefore want the projects to be based on a systems approach according to the five system perspectives below. Project that are financed must therefore be based on a system understanding as described below and clearly include the five current system dimensions in the implementation.

1. Technology, products, processes and services
2. Business models, investments and procurement
3. Policy and regulations
4. Behaviour, culture and values
5. Infrastructure

Depending on the nature of the challenge, the system dimensions may have different weight and need for innovation height.
Read more about how we work with system innovation

This call for proposals finances feasibility studies that will prepare full-scale project in the form of system demonstrators for resilient and circular production, where the feasibility study as well as the full-scale project must use a mission-oriented approach.

This call for proposals therefore covers three different aspects:

System demonstrator

A system demonstrator is characterized by:

• Demonstration and testing in a real environment of a combination of innovative solutions that together change a system in a predetermined direction where both technology, behaviors, culture, regulations, interfaces and markets change.
• Relevant actors from the entire system that are subject to change come together to influence the system together.
• Performed activities form a coherent whole large enough to represent the system, and the tests performed are evaluated and developed in an iterative procedure.
• The system solutions that are tested are carefully designed to be able to branch out, spread and scale up.

Read more about Vinnova's definition of system demonstrators here: How do we test new and exciting innovations in reality?

Resilient and circular production

A resilient and circular production is characterized by:

• Ability to withstand external disturbances. This can apply to shocks regarding, for example, the environment, geopolitics, energy supply, finances, equipment, raw materials, skills, distribution, logistics, customer markets and partners.
• Ability to return to the original state, or be moved to a new and more desirable state, after being disturbed.
• The ability to recycle, reuse and share resources to maximize the life of production equipment, products and materials and preserve their added value.
• Ability to reduce the use of energy and virgin raw materials as well as the amount of waste to achieve a more resource efficient and sustainable manufacturing industry.

Mission-oriented way of working

A mission-oriented way of working is characterized by:

• Co-creation to understand the system
• A mix of "top-down" and "bottom-up"
• Common direction
• Coordinated by actors at system level
• Joint collection of forces
• A bold and systemic objective formulated together
• Complex objective meet real societal challenges

The path to sustainable change - mission as a way of working

Project funded in this the call for proposals must address problems or questions that have an industrial interest and are relevant to a sustainable society, and are expected to fulfill all of the following performance goals:

• Increased knowledge of obstacles and opportunities to contribute to a resilient or circular production for a sustainable world.
• A plan to develop a system demonstrator including gathering relevant actors.
• Strategic analysis of needs and conditions for a system demonstrator in a national and international context.
• Increased knowledge of how to conduct a mission-oriented way of working.
• An anchored plan for a long-term and sustainable funding of the system demonstrator.

Focus on climate and gender equality in all our investments

Impact Innovation will contribute to global competitiveness through transformation for sustainable development. Genom Agenda 2030, the countries of the world have agreed on a global agreement and understanding of what characterizes sustainable development. Through our efforts, we contribute to the global commitment to reach the goals.

In Inom Agenda 2030, Vinnova has particularly singled out climate and gender equality as two central sustainability perspectives to which our funded investments should contribute positively. Project financed by Vinnova are thus expected to take special account of the climate and gender equality aspects.

One aspect that is followed up and assessed is whether both women and men equally share in the grant, participate in and have influence over the project.
Another aspect involves analyzing and deciding whether there are gender aspects that are relevant to the project's problem area, solutions and utilization.

Our work to contribute to the goals of Agenda 2030

Equal innovation - what it means for you who seek funding from us

Free access to scientific publications and results

Results from research and innovation that are made freely available increase the opportunity for more people to contribute to solutions to societal challenges. This the call for proposals should contribute to making more results freely available to everyone. Therefore, all scientific publication must be open access.

This the call for proposals is aimed at consortia that include companies, universities and university colleges, research institutes, the public sector and other relevant actors who need to develop their idea and who have an interest in collaboratively contributing to the purpose of the call for proposals. Only legal entities can participate in the projects.

The offer is aimed at actor constellations consisting of at least three Swedish parties (legal entities), of which at least two are companies with manufacturing in Sweden, who intend to collaborate with each other to create a system demonstrator that in the long term contributes to resilient and circular production.

International connectivity is a strength. Foreign actors may be relevant depending on the project's objective. Participant seeking funding must be a Swedish legal entity in Sweden. In this respect, a foreign organization that has a branch or place of business in Sweden is equated with a Swedish legal person. In such cases, only costs that can be attributed to a branch or place of business in Sweden are eligible for support.

Actors without a branch or place of business in Sweden are welcome to participate in the projects, but cannot receive funding from Vinnova.

In this call for proposals Vinnova Genomförbarhetsstudier is funding which aims to prepare system demonstrators. The types of project activities for which funding can be given must be of the nature of a feasibility study, see "Support levels, definitions, etc. for funding according to Vinnova's support scheme" on this page.

The feasibility study project will aim to prepare system demonstrators that can start in 2025.

Beviljade Genomförbarhetsstudier will be given the opportunity to submit a proposal for stage 2 of the system demonstrator project. For subsequent action, see section 5.

Approved activities within the scope of this the call for proposals are, for example:

• Development of the idea within a specific area of innovation that is relevant to the focus of the call.
• Identification of new collaboration partners and building of networks with complementary actors in a selected area.
• Evaluation and analysis of the potential of a full-scale project, in this context a system demonstrator, as well as identification of the resources required to implement it.

Examples of what is not funded in this call for proposals:

• Initiatives relating to an individual company, such as development of products and services.
• Project proposals that do not address resilience or circularity.

Our funding is covered by rules on government support. The rules govern both what kind of costs and what proportion of the costs we can finance. This is determined for each organization individually. We therefore distinguish how much funding the project can receive, and how much each participating participant can receive.

How much funding can the project get?

Funding can amount to a maximum of 60 percent of the project's total eligible costs and the grant per project can amount to a maximum of 1.5 million kroner.

The project that are financed are expected to have an implementation time of 9–12 months.

Subsequent effort

Vinnova plans a subsequent effort in the form of a targeted call for proposals for granted feasibility studies. Note that awarding a Feasibility Study in this effortdoes not guarantee subsequent funding of a system demonstrator.

Vinnova's funding for system demonstrators is a maximum of 40 percent of such subsequent projects' eligible costs and is expected to amount to a maximum of SEK 20 million per project.

How much funding can a participant receive?

In this call for proposals we support project activities covered by the Feasibility Studies grant.

Feasibility studies can be simply described as an evaluation and analysis of:

• strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks in an upcoming research and development project.
• what resources are required to implement the project.
• how likely it is that the project will succeed.

For full definition, see Support bases and support levels for funding

The percentage of costs we can fund – that is, the maximum supportlevel – depends on the size of the organization and the type of activity.

In this the call for proposals we also provide support to organizations that do not conduct economic activities. This generally includes universities and university colleges, research institutes and other organizations that do not offer a service or product on a market. We can finance up to 100% of such organizations' costs and the basis of support in these cases is not state aid.

How do you determine whether an organization carries out economic activities?

An organization that offers some kind of service or product on a market is considered to be conducting economic activities and cannot be granted funding on the basis of non-government support. It does not matter how the organization is financed, whether it is public or private, or whether it has a profit motive. It also does not matter what legal form the business takes - that is, whether it is a limited liability company, a trading company, an economic association, a non-profit association or a foundation.

If you are unsure whether an organization in your project carries out financial activities, contact call manager. However, the organization itself is responsible for assessing whether it carries out economic activities

What costs can we finance?

Our funding may only go to certain types of costs. These are called eligible costs.

In this the call for proposals these types of costs are eligible:

• Personnel costs: Salaries, social security contributions and other personnel costs
• Equipment, land and buildings: Instruments, equipment and rent for premises other than regular business premises
• Consulting and licensing costs: Consulting services, knowledge and patents purchased or used under license from an external actor
• Other direct costs: For example materials, stock items and travel necessary to carry out the project
• Indirect costs (overhead): Costs that are not incurred as an immediate consequence of but can be related to the project, for example regular premises and cleaning. Indirect costs may constitute a maximum of 30 percent of personnel costs.

For more detailed information on which costs we can finance, see our instruction on eligible costs.

What eligibility requirements apply to costs we finance?

For a cost to be eligible, it must be necessary for the activities of the project. Project costs must also be properly accounted for and reported separately from the organization's other costs. An organization may also not take up someone else's costs as its own.

For more detailed information on which eligibility requirements, limitations and exceptions apply, see our instruction on eligible costs.

In order for us to take a position on and assess your proposal it must meet certain basic requirements - so-called formal eligibility requirements. If these eligibility requirements are not met, our evaluator will not handle your proposal.

We will only assess applications that meet the following formal eligibility requirements:

• The project parties are legal entities. Note that sole proprietorships or sole traders are not legal entities. Different workplaces in an organization, for example different departments at a university, count as a participant as it is a legal person.

• The constellation of actors in an implementation project must at the time of application consist of at least three Swedish parties (legal entities), of which at least two are companies with manufacturing in Sweden. Read more here

• Proposal is written in Swedish or English.
• The project manager is employed by one of the project parties, see Vinnova's general terms and conditions for role description at Vinnova's general terms and conditions for funding.
• Proposal must strictly follow the instructions that follow from section 9.

In order for funding to be granted, the following eligibility requirements must also be met:

• Funding is not granted to organizations that are insolvent or that are undergoing liquidation or company restructuring, or that have unpaid debts or payment notices with the Swedish Enforcement Agency.
• If the organization is a limited company, half or more of the share capital must not be used up.
• An organization seeking funding for personnel costs must be registered as an employer with the Tax Agency at the latest when the grant decision is made.

What do we assess?

The project proposals must be in line with aim and objective of the call for proposals and are assessed based on the following criteria:

Potential (weighted 50 percent)

That is, the importance of the results and effects if the project is successful.

• How well the project is judged to contribute positively to the global goals in Agenda 2030, and how well it is judged to minimize the negative effects
• How well proposal is in line with the themes and objective described in this call text in section 2.
• The proposed project's level of innovation and news value.
• The proposed project's potential to become a system demonstrator contributing to resilient and/or circular production.
• How well the intended system demonstrator is positioned in a Swedish industrial context.
• Potential to promote business and society's R&I investments in Sweden.
• The project's potential to make a positive contribution to sustainable social development in the long run.
• How well the project analyzes and takes a position on whether there are gender or gender aspects that are relevant to the project's problem area, solutions and utilization.

Actors (weighted 25 percent)

That is, who the project parties and other actors are and how the cooperation between them is organized to implement the project and reach the project's performance goals.

• The composition of the constellation and the ability and commitment of the project parties to contribute to a resilient and/or circular production in the long term.
• The project manager's competence, ability and commitment to prepare and organize a system demonstrator within the intended area of innovation.
• How well the team (key people) is composed with regard to gender distribution and whether men and women equally share in the contribution, participate in and have power and influence over the project.

Feasibility (weighted 25 percent)

That is, how the project has been designed to achieve its performance goals.

• The realism, credibility and expediency of the project plan and budget.
• How well a mission-oriented working method is applied in terms of approach and organization and involvement of project parties and relevant actors.
• How the feasibility study will examine the various target areas of the envisaged system demonstrator, such as resilience, efficiency, circularity and social, economic, environmental sustainability. This also regards mutual conflicts or synergies between different target areas.
• Plan for communicating and disseminating the project's results outside the constellation of actors, especially with regard to such dissemination that is important for the establishment of the intended system demonstrator.
• How well equality aspects have been integrated into the project plan.

How do we judge?

The assessment of applications takes place in competition between received applications.

The applications that meet the formal requirements according to section 6 will be evaluated against the assessment criteria in section 7 by specially appointed external evaluator appointed by Vinnova. In the assessment, the greatest weight will be given to the criterion Potential which is weighted with 50 percent, while the criteria Actors and Feasibility are weighted with 25 percent each.

The assessment results in a recommendation to Vinnova which is the basis for Vinnova's decision regarding funding.

Vinnova's decision to grant or reject a proposal cannot be appealed.

Term for granted funding

For granted funding our general terms and conditions for fundingapply.

Current term can be found on our website, along with help to understand and comply with the terms

Supplementary special conditions can be decided for individual project.

If you do not follow our term you may be liable for a refund. This also applies if you have been granted funding incorrectly or with an amount that is too high.

When we have assessed all applications, we will send a decision in which we either grant or reject your proposal. In the decision, we state how much funding each party in the project is granted. Our decision cannot be appealed.

What if you are granted funding?

If we grant your proposal you must follow our general terms and conditions for funding.

The terms include this:

• That you must sign a special document in which you agree to carry out the project.
• That you must report your costs and results to us regularly during the project.

See our general terms and conditions and get help understanding and fulfilling them

You also need to follow the special conditions that apply to this the call for proposals:

• The project must be represented by at least one participant at the conferences and other activities organized within Net Zero Industry.
• The project must maintain a continuous dialogue with Net Zero Industry's program office and project support throughout the duration of the project.
• In information about the project and in every publication of project results, it must be stated that: the work was carried out within Net Zero Industry, a joint effort by Vinnova, Formas and the Energy Agency.

We can also decide to add supplementary special conditions for individual project. In that case, they appear in the decision.

Can you have to pay back funding?

If you do not follow our term you may be liable for a refund. This also applies if you have been granted funding incorrectly or with an amount that is too high.

When your proposal has been registered, we send a confirmation to the person responsible for the user account as well as to the project manager and the signatory.

If you submit a proposal on the same day as the call for proposals closes, it may take a few hours before you receive a confirmation. If you have not received a confirmation within 24 hours after the call for proposals closes, please contact us.

When the call for proposals is closed, you cannot change anything in proposal. Then you can only supplement if we ask for it.

Who can read your proposal?

Applications submitted to us become public documents. This means that we must disclose them if they are requested.

However, we keep confidential information that we judge could mean financial damage to the individual if disclosed, for example information about business and operating conditions, inventions or research results.

This is how we handle public documents and confidentiality