Open Call for Challenge Owners (V2)

Apply until 25 October 2023, 18h CET Closed!

SoTecIn Factory is looking for both private and public industry actors from 4 value chains across 7 economical regions wishing to engage in the SoTecIn Factory missions of becoming sustainable and resilient by actively seeking a low-carbon and circular solution for the obstacle in their journey.

The project offers high-tech, social innovation solutions for such challenges identified within your organisation via Open Call 2 for Challenge Owners.

Application closed

Your Role and Benefits as a Challenge Owner

This call is designed to help you identify a challenge as a critical sustainability problem within your organisation, but also in the context of circular economy, its 7 Higher R’s strategies (Refuse, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refurbish, Remanufacture) and our sustainable industry Missions. This way we are helping upcoming solutions in bringing greater societal value in the long-term, low-carbon industry transformation.

Reach a sustainable, high-tech solution for your organisation’s circular problem by participating directly in its implementation. Strengthen your own network of core circular economy actors in the EU while gaining first-hand insights into high-impact technologies. Be recognised as a core contributor to the project.

Select your Mission

Propose a challenge to address aligned with one of our Missions, as general value chain-based circular challenges and objectives across 7 economic regions.

From Challenge to Solution – The Process & Timeline

1. Submit the application until 25 October 2023 (click for instructions)

Challenges can submitted on the F6S platform via online application consisting of the following parts:

General information: Contact Name, email, name of organisation, location, etc. (company logo upload)

Select the mission your challenge refers to (predefined selection) and provide the title of the challenge.

Describe your problem – max. 250 characters:

This problem should not only concern the individual problem of your organisation, but
also serve a public interest by being linked to a problem related to the circular economy, or one that requires a circular solution.

“We are looking for a solution, that ideally” – max. 300 characters:

Describe in bullet points desired features and outcomes of a social innovation solution that could correspond to your challenge (make it as generic as possible and as specific as necessary to be lucrative for social innovators and supportive for their creative freedom).

2. Receive the final response after the period of evaluation & selection (November 2023)

After the eligibility check, SoTecIn Factory Consortium Members and regional Missions Councils will participate in the evaluation phase by reviewing the submitted challenges and might ask for clarification/ adaptation of the formulated Challenges. Any challenge that has been subjected to modifications will first have to be approved by the Challenge Owner before its selection.

If selected, your challenge will be published on our website. If you do not want your company name published, please let us know (by email to Melisa Oezkan oezkan@bwcon.de).

3. Have your Challenge open for application during Open Call 2 for Social Innovators (end of 2023 - Feb 2024)

Once the challenges are selected, they will be published during the Open Call for Social Innovators, to which tech-savvy actors can then apply with their respective solutions.

4. Co-develop tech-driven solutions with social innovators during Programme 2 (April 2024 - May 2025)

50 tech-savvy individuals and organisations will offer their innovative circular solutions for selected real-life challenges via two SoTecIn Factory Open Calls for social innovators in 2023 and 2024 (25 per year 2023 and 25 per year 2024). For their ideas, social innovators will be provided with 15k EUR and capacity building support.

30 selected ventures from the initial group of 50 will engage in a Phase 2 pre-market technological demonstration with additional 85k EUR funding support (15 per year 2023 and 15 per year 24). It is expected that the Challenge Owners from this call contribute to the co-development and co-design together with the tech-savvy innovators, more specifically in Phase 2 of Programme 2.

Who can apply

– a private, public, non-profit party

– an incorporated organisation

– Challenge Owner refers to the pre-defined mission within their region in which the organisation is located

– Organisation established in the European Union or Horizon Europe Associated Countries (see the list here)

Note: Challenge Owner can be a member of the regional Mission Council at the same time.

Need Help?

Contact oezkan@bwcon.de anytime for further information and support with the submission.

Need inspiration? Watch Regional Mission Info Webinars (Open Call 1 for Social Innovators)

Mission of Centre-South, textiles (watch here)

Mission of North-East, agrifood (watch here)

Mission of South-East, agrifood (watch here)

Mission of East , agrifood (watch here)