Impact Innovation: Lab assassination project for shift lab within ShiftSweden

The call for proposals is carried out within the framework of the ShiftSweden program, part of Impact Innovation – an initiative of the Swedish Energy Agency, Formas and Vinnova.

ShiftSweden's mission is to transform Sweden, fossil-free and resource-conscious, into attractive and accessible living environments for everyone. Over ten years, ShiftSweden will show how in a hundred locations.

The offer is aimed at actors who have the ability to lead and run a transition lab for the attractive and accessible living environments of the future, in close collaboration with ShiftSweden's program office.

We are now looking for three lab assassination projects in the following areas:

• Future-proof large-scale apartment building areas
• Transformation of traffic environments in smaller cities and towns
• Developed market and logistics for recycling

The transition lab will be filled with project through the parallel the call for proposals: Transition lab for the attractive and accessible living environments of the future.A lab-wide project includes exploring, testing and further developing methodology and working methods for the lab's joint work to achieve system innovation and structural impact.

The grant can amount to a maximum of SEK 3.5 million per approved laboratory assassination project and up to 100 percent of the project's total eligible costs.

The project financed shall have an implementation period of 42 months, with the project start on July 1, 2025. The consortium shall consist of one to two project partners.

This the offer is linked to the ShiftSweden program, which is part of the joint effort of the Swedish Energy Agency, Forma and Vinnova. Impact Innovation.

Attractive and accessible living environments for all are at the heart of ShiftSweden's work. To transform Sweden in accordance with the mission of ShiftSweden, we need to challenge the way research and innovation are traditionally conducted. We want to move from individual project with weak connections to each other to building a context around the projects. The goal is to strengthen the conditions for concrete impact and broad dissemination – even beyond the boundaries of the projects. By raising broader issues and more perspectives, conditions are created to make wholes, contexts and system perspectives visible. We achieve this by creating transformation labs in strategically important areas.

Each lab consists of several project that complement each other and together contribute to a more powerful change within a certain thematic area. Through the adjacent the call for proposals Transition Lab for the Attractive and Accessible Living Environments of the Future, the research and innovation projects included in each lab will be selected.

Each lab is also linked to a lab coordination project with the responsibility of, together with the lab's various project, exploring and testing working methods and methods for coordinated system innovation. Coordinated system innovation means coordinating a portfolio of project where the projects should complement each other and collectively contribute to system innovation and structural transformation. The aim is to maximize the lab's effects and impact at the system level, based on the program's mission and the thematic focus of the transformation lab. The lab coordination project is responsible for exploring and testing working methods and methods to strengthen the lab's collective transformation potential. The lab coordination project must also have the capacity to identify and implement complementary innovation initiatives within each lab, which can, for example, build on or strengthen results from the individual projects in the lab.

We are now looking for lab-building projects for conversion labs in the following three areas:

1. Future-proof large-scale apartment building areas. The role requires many years of experience in the field of public construction, preferably with special expertise in one of the following areas: renovation, energy efficiency, planning and design of residential areas or financing issues.
2. Transformation of traffic environments in smaller cities and communities: The role requires many years of experience in the field of mobility, traffic and urban development. Preferably with experience from project or collaborations in smaller cities and communities.
3. Developed market and logistics for recycling. The role requires many years of experience in the civil engineering field, preferably with a focus on materials in construction or civil engineering, recycling management, logistics or quality assurance.

For a detailed description of the thematic focus of each transition lab, see the call page Transition lab for the attractive and accessible living environments of the future

The lab conversion projects will formally begin on July 1, 2025. The lab's activities will be up and running when the respective lab's project starts, which is planned for September 2025. The project included in the conversion lab must allocate at least 150 hours per year and project for joint work in the lab.

Aim

This call for proposals aims to create coordination functions for each of the three labs described above, with the goal of:

• explore and test working methods and methods for coordinating the transition lab's project, with aim of achieving system innovation and structural impact for the transition lab as a whole,
• identify and implement complementary innovation initiatives, which build on and strengthen results from the lab's project,
• create context and learning between projects and with other initiatives and actors,
• create conditions for the different projects to contribute, with different approaches, to the lab's overall objective,
• maximize and scale up project results and impacts, beyond project boundaries,
• contribute to the development of the transition lab in a way that contributes to ShiftSweden's objective and mission.

More information about ShiftSweden

ShiftSweden's mission is to transform Sweden, fossil-free and resource-conscious, into attractive and accessible living environments for all. Three major shifts in community building and mobility are needed for a transition to be possible:

• From resource-intensive linear community building processes to sustainable and value-creating circular business models
• From unsustainable transportation to a new freedom reform with competitive alternatives to individual car travel
• From urban planning in the gutter to an integrated ecosystem for the built environment and mobility

For more information about the three shifts, see ShiftSweden's website

For questions about the offer's background, aim and desired effects, contact the program office.

The importance of a systems perspective

Problems with a clear solution are not in focus for Impact Innovation. The program's challenges are difficult to grasp, changeable over time, difficult to describe completely or visibly self-contradictory. Having a systems perspective is therefore important, that is, looking at the whole and not just the parts and the drainpipes but its interconnections. The systems perspective is a prerequisite for societal impact.

Contribute to a sustainable system transformation

Impact Innovation will contribute to global competitiveness through transformation for sustainable development. Through our efforts, we contribute to the global commitment to achieving the goals of Agenda 2030.

To achieve sustainable system transformation, it is important that project in the design of new solutions manage goal conflicts and minimize the risk of unintended negative effects.

One aspect that is followed up and assessed is whether both women and men equally benefit from the contribution, participate in and have influence over the project.

We therefore always follow up and assess:

• whether women and men participate in the project on an equal footing, benefit from the contribution and have influence and power over the project.
• how well the project analyzes and decides whether there are sex or gender aspects that are relevant to the project's problem formulation, solutions and effects.

Gender-equal innovation – what it means for those seeking funding from us

Agenda 2030 as a driver for innovation

Making scientific publications and results available

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 will contribute to making more results freely available to everyone. Therefore, all scientific publishing should be open access.

The offer is aimed at one or two actors who have the ability to lead and run a transition lab for the attractive and accessible living environments of the future.

The project manager for the lab assassination project has an important function and must devote 30–50 percent of a full-time job to the assignment over the project period. The project manager may have support from additional people who contribute complementary skills or who handle more administrative tasks.

The project manager for the lab assassination project must be able to work impartially in relation to the other projects within the lab and must have the following skills:

• senior competence or experience in a field relevant to the lab
• experience in leading processes with different actors
• ability to communicate in ways that create commitment to change
• experience of utilizing knowledge.

The people who are part of a lab-based murder project may not simultaneously be part of any of the project granted in the relevant lab through the call for proposals Transition lab for attractive and accessible living environments of the future.

What activities do we want to finance?

A lab coordination project includes exploring, testing and further developing methodology and working methods for the lab's joint work to achieve system innovation and structural impact, for example (but not exclusively) by:

• develop proposals for working methods based on research and proven experience to drive system innovation, which can be tested and further developed within the lab,
• ensure quality in the lab's work in dialogue with project manager for the project included in the transformation lab by conducting continuous monitoring of the external environment and having knowledge of the state-of-art of relevance to the area,
• support the projects' activities for dialogue with relevant actors regarding the solutions developed in the lab,
• create conditions for shared learning within the lab and with other relevant actors in ways that contribute to critical reflection, a holistic view and system innovation,
• compile overall and policy-relevant conclusions from the lab and contribute to dissemination to relevant actors,
• develop and implement an impact plan that identifies opportunities and challenges to scale up and spread ideas and solutions, including opportunities for additional funding,
• Based on the impact plan, implement complementary innovation initiatives that strengthen the lab's ability to achieve system innovation and structural impact
• Contribute to connecting the lab to similar activities nationally and internationally.

In addition to what is stated above, we also see that the project manager for the lab assassination project should:

• be a point of contact for and between project that are part of the lab,
• be the face of the lab as a whole,
• be in close contact with and be the link between the lab and the program office for Shiftsweden and participate in the program office's activities when relevant,
• Participate in activities for coordination between the various lab killing projects, which is run by the program office for ShiftSweden.

Deepening of activities within a lab assassination project

At this stage, it is of course difficult to define which exact and detailed working methods, methods and activities will be applied in the lab, given that the project that will fill the respective labs have not yet started. Formatet Omställningslabb with individually funded project and a joint lab coordination is also a new format, which can be described as coordinated systems innovation.

In proposal Applicant needs to describe and justify suitable methods, working methods and processes that can form the basis for and serve as a starting point for the development to be carried out in the transition lab. For example, inspiration can be drawn from the growing methodological support and development that is linked to policy innovation, mission-based working methods, strategic foresight, design methodology, system innovation, system demonstrators, etc. In proposal Applicant needs to describe an overview process for this part of the development work.

Applicant also needs to provide an overview of the process that describes how the lab alignment project will be able to identify needs for and implement complementary innovation initiatives that enable the transition lab as a whole to strengthen its impact at the system level.

To exemplify the latter, an experience from the work with innovation in the built environment through the Challenge-driven innovation program is that many project have underestimated aspects linked to business models, legislation and regulations, as well as behaviors and culture. This contributed to the projects in many cases not reaching the final stage and getting stuck in individual efforts and project (Vinnova 2022, Analysis of the Challenge-driven innovation program). These insights were obtained through interviews with mainly completed and completed project. A challenge for the lab alignment projects will be to identify and position the projects and their deliveries in relation to the surrounding system in parallel and together with the projects in the transition lab and to identify early on what further would be required for the lab to have an impact at the system level.

If regulations are identified early on as an obstacle, can joint work on policy innovation be established in the lab to understand how far the regulations can be challenged and, based on that knowledge, implement complementary pilots that build on the experiences and empirical evidence developed within the lab? If it is identified that existing culture and values are standing in the way of new solutions taking hold, are new roles and functions perhaps needed in the system to drive, change and manifest new values and a shift in culture? Can the lab develop a description of this new role or function and implement a pilot in one of the participating organizations or development processes? Are deficiencies in profitability and business models an early identified obstacle to the developed solutions taking hold and spreading, may complementary exploration of market conditions, willingness to pay, developed requirements among potential contracting customers and long-term economic sustainability be needed for the lab's solutions to take hold and have a structural impact? These are only examples intended to create an understanding of what activities could be carried out by a lab-based murder project within one of the conversion labs.

Coordination with the ShiftSweden program office

The effort complements the work of the program office by providing specific expertise needed for the labs to be successful. The project manager has great freedom to shape how the work is carried out and is expected to take their own initiatives to drive development and innovation in the area.

The lab coordinator will work in close contact with the ShiftSweden program office, which will also be able to assist the lab with expertise, networks and be an important sounding board. ShiftSweden's program office is also a node for highlighting and sharing lessons learned between the labs, but can also support in other ways through monitoring the world around us, identifying important contexts and identifying opportunities for other funding nationally and internationally.

In addition to reporting to Vinnova, the project manager in the lab adaptation project also reports continuously on progress in the current conversion lab to ShiftSweden's program office.

What costs can we finance?

Our funding is subject to state aid rules. The rules govern what types of costs we can finance. 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.
  The majority of the salary costs in the project (at least 75 percent) should apply to personnel costs for the project manager's work.
• 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 a third party. Costs for consulting services from third parties may constitute a maximum of 20 percent of a project party's budget.
• Other direct costs: For example, materials, supplies 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, such as regular premises and cleaning.
  Indirect costs may constitute a maximum of 30 percent of personnel costs. Universities, university colleges, and certain research organizations and government agencies have higher maximum limits depending on the type of activities.

What eligibility requirements apply to costs we finance?

For a cost to be eligible, it must be:

• necessary for the activities in the project
• recorded correctly and separately from the organization's other costs.

An organization may also not claim someone else's costs as its own.

For more detailed information on which eligibility requirements, limitations and exceptions apply, see Instructions for eligible costs

The state aid rules also govern how much of the costs we can finance. This is determined individually for each organization. We therefore differentiate between how much funding the project can receive, and how much each participant can receive.

How much funding can the project receive?

The grant can amount to a maximum of SEK 3.5 million, and a maximum of 100 percent of the project's total eligible costs.

How much funding can a participant receive?

How much funding each participant can receive depends mainly on:

• what activities the party will carry out in the project
• party size and activities.

In this the call for proposals we provide support to both organizations that engage in economic activities and organizations that do not engage in economic activities.

How do you determine whether an organization is engaged in economic activities?

An organization that offers some kind of service or product on a market is considered to be engaged in economic activities. 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 has. For example, 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 is conducting economic activities, contact call manager. However, the organization is responsible for assessing whether it is conducting economic activities.

Not state aid

In the offer we provide support to organizations that do not conduct economic activities. This usually includes universities and university colleges, research institutes and other organizations that do not offer a service or product on a market.

We can fund up to 100 percent of such organizations' eligible costs.

State aid

In this the call for proposals organizations that conduct economic activities can receive support for experimental development.

Experimental development can be simply described as combining, shaping and using existing knowledge to produce new or improved products, processes or services. Experimental development does not involve routine or recurring changes to existing goods, production lines, manufacturing processes, services or other ongoing activities, although these changes may result in improvements.

For a full definition, see funding bases and levels of support

The size of the organization and type of activity determines how large a proportion of the costs we can finance, i.e. the maximum level of support.

We grant funding in accordance with Article 25 of the EU Commission's General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER).

De minimis support ( support of minor importance)

In the offer we can also provide support of minor importance, also called de minimis support. We can finance up to 100 percent of a project party's costs.

An organization can receive a maximum of 300,000 euros over a three-year period in this form of support, regardless of the funder and project. This means that if the same organization has received support of lesser importance in other project from other funders, it will affect how large the support can be in this the call for proposals.

Submit a certificate of de minimis support when you submit proposal. This is required for us to be able to grant this support.

Certificates of de minimis support can be found on this page

We grant funding in accordance with the EU Commission Regulation (2023/2831) on de minimis support.

In order for us to take a position on and assess your proposal, it must meet certain formal eligibility requirements. If the requirements are not met, proposal will be rejected immediately.

Eligibility requirements on organizational form of project partners

• All project partners must be legal entities. Natural persons or individual companies cannot participate as project partners.
• The coordinating party must be a Swedish legal entity and conduct activities in Sweden.
• Grant-receiving project parties must have a Swedish business registration number with a branch or establishment in Sweden.

Eligibility requirements for project

• The project manager must be employed by the coordinating party in the project.
• The project may not begin before proposal is submitted.
• Costs for consulting services from outside parties may constitute a maximum of 20 percent of a project party's budget.
• Proposal may contain a maximum of two project parties.

Eligibility requirements on proposal

• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• Proposal must follow the instructions given in section 9.
• Proposal must contain all requested attachments.

What do we assess?

Applications that meet the formal requirements will be assessed based on the criteria of potential, actors and feasibility.

Potential

• To what extent does the project have potential to contribute to the call's aim. See section 2.

Actors

• The extent to which the organization or organizations in the project have the resources and capacity to implement the project.
• To what extent the project manager and any other key individuals have the skills and shared ability to implement the project.
• How well the team (key people) is composed in terms of gender distribution, and how well power and influence are distributed between women and men.

Feasibility

• The proposal is clear, open and designed in a way that allows actors outside the project constellation to follow the project's progress and take part in the work and results.
• To what extent is the project based on a credible project plan and budget.
• How well aspects related to gender equality are integrated into the project plan.

How do we assess?

Schematically, the decision-making process looks as follows:

1. Only applications that, after review, meet the formal requirements set out in Section 6 will be assessed.
2. The assessments are made using the criteria set out in section 7. The assessment criterion " Actors" will be weighted slightly higher than the other assessment criteria and will thus have a greater impact on the assessment.
3. Interviews will tentatively take place on June 17, 2025.
4. Based on the interviews, further assessment takes place. Based on the assessors' recommendations, decisions are made about which project should be granted funding and which should be rejected.
5. Decisions are sent to those who have applied funding and information about approved project is available on www.vinnova.se and the respective program's website.

We also assess financial status

Before deciding on funding, we also conduct a comprehensive assessment of the organizational and financial status of those receiving funding. We use information we obtain from credit reports, currently from Dun & Bradstreet.

In order for us to grant funding the following applies:

• Organizations seeking funding for personnel costs must be registered as employers with the Swedish Tax Agency.
• Organizations must not be insolvent, undergoing liquidation or corporate restructuring, nor must they have unpaid debts with the Swedish Enforcement Authority.
• Limited liability companies must not have used up half or more of their share capital.
• If requested, SMEs must be able to demonstrate that they have the financial means to implement the project according to their budget in proposal. They cannot use public funding or their own funds intended for other project to cover project costs in this call for proposals.

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

What if you are granted funding?

If we grant your proposal, you must follow Vinnova's general terms and conditions for funding. The terms and conditions include, among other things:

• That you will sign a special document in which you agree to carry out the project
• That you will report your costs and results to us regularly during the project
• That, if there are multiple parties to the project, you must agree on what applies to the project in a project agreement
• How the results will be used, and how any scientific publication will take place

See our funding rules

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 the program, approximately 1 to 2 times per year. The costs for such participation are eligible for support.
• The project shall maintain a continuous dialogue with the program office throughout the duration of the project.
• The lab assassination project will use ShiftSweden as an affiliation or sender in its communications.
• When providing information about the project and when publishing project results, it must be stated that the work was carried out within Impact Innovation-programmet ShiftSweden – an initiative of the Swedish Energy Agency, Formas and Vinnova.
• In connection with the final reporting of the project to Vinnova, a summary of the project results must be sent to the program office according to the template available at www.inpactinnovation.se
• Project manager and other people participating in the project may not have any role in any of the project funded, within the same transition lab, through the call for proposals 2024-04212, "Impact innovation: Participate in the transition lab for the attractive and accessible living environments of the future".
• The project manager cannot be replaced by another person without approval from Vinnova.

We may also decide to add supplementary special conditions for individual project. In such cases, Special conditions for individual project are set out in the decision.

Could you have to pay back funding?

If you do not follow our term, you may be required to repay the amount. This also applies if you have been granted funding incorrectly or for an amount that is too high.

When the call for proposals closes, your proposal will be registered as. We will then send an email confirmation to the person responsible for the user account, as well as the project manager and the signatory. If you have not received a confirmation within 24 hours of the call for proposals closing, please contact us.

Once the call for proposals is closed, you cannot change anything in proposal. You can only supplement if we ask you to.

Who can read your proposal?

Your proposal will be read by Vinnova employees and the external evaluator participating in this the call for proposals. Everyone works under a duty of confidentiality.

Applications submitted to us become public documents. This means that we must disclose them if requested. However, we keep confidential information that we believe could cause financial harm to the individual if disclosed. This could include information about business and operational conditions, inventions or research results.

How we handle public documents and confidentiality

When the call for proposals closes, your proposal will be registered as. We will then send an email confirmation to the person responsible for the user account, as well as the project manager and the signatory. If you have not received a confirmation within 24 hours of the call for proposals closing, please contact us.