CFPs: Project Grants supporting Societal Learning for the Green Transition (Denmark)

The Novo Nordisk Foundation wishes to support societal learning to help accelerate the green transition of society.

Funding Information

• Total of up to DKK 35 million is available for grants between DKK 200,000 and DKK 6 million for projects lasting up to 3 years.

Eligible Costs

• Salary for employees or project personnel at all staffing levels, including project management.
• Researchers in permanent positions may apply for funds for salaries for research employees to be hired in connection with the project (e.g. research assistants, PhD students and Postdocs) but may not apply for funds for their own salaries.
• Tuition fee for PhD students involved in the project (up to DKK 80,000 per budget year).
• Operating expenses: Direct expenses for developing, implementing, and operating the project, including materials and equipment.
• Where relevant, applicants can apply for bench fees, up to DKK 8,000 per month per scientific FTE working on the project.
• Travel expenses in relation to the project, e.g. conference and workshop participation and presentation of results derived from the project.
• Communication and outreach in the form of conferences, books, articles, and other dissemination directly related to the project.
• Administrative expenses (up to 5% of the applicant’s overall budget and included in the budget) to cover administrative expenses directly related to the project (this does not apply for Danish universities).
• For Danish universities, the Agreement on Project Supplement applies, under which approved project specific scientific university FTEs trigger a yearly fixed project supplement to the universities.

Ineligible Costs

• Commercial activities
• Buildings
• Overhead/indirect costs (such as rent, electricity, water and maintenance)
• Double funding of projects:
  • If the applicant has received funding for the proposed project from other sources, in part or in full, this must be accounted for in the budget, as no budgetary overlaps are allowed
  • If an identical or overlapping project proposal has been submitted to other funding institutions than the Foundation, it must be noted in the application
  • If the applicant receives funding for the project, or parts of the project, from other sources following submission of the application to the Foundation, the Foundation must be informed immediately

Eligible Projects

• Applicants can apply for projects that will try out innovative ideas for how the green transition can be facilitated and accelerated in practice through social experimentation, knowledge generation and collective learning, ideally in ways that will inspire hope and enthusiasm for the green transition.
• Projects can focus on developing and consolidating new social norms and practices, enhancing institutional capacity for sustainable change, or strengthen individual and collective incentives for green behaviour, and consequently stimulate still more people to change their ways of life in a sustainable direction.
• Projects should ideally demonstrate in concrete ways how the urgent need for more sustainable lifestyles can be combined with perceptions of a good life and nurture public support for the necessary green transition.
• Examples of approaches that can be funded include, but are not limited to:
  • Community engagement projects
  • Experimental approaches to promoting transition to sustainable living (e.g. living labs)
  • Citizen science projects
  • Innovative and participatory public engagement formats
  • ‘Proof-of-concept’ studies and social-experimental projects to prepare larger interventions
  • Municipal development projects, involving local communities
  • Partnerships connecting agents of change from civil society, industry, government and research

Eligibility Criteria

• During the grant period, the applicant must be a leader or project responsible at the institution administering the project. Eligible institutions include public authorities, civil society organisations (e.g. associations, community organisations, non-governmental organisations, charities, advocacy groups, think tanks and grassroots movements), research institutions and private companies. Private companies may apply only for grants for non-commercial projects with non-profit aims.
• Projects must be administered and have their primary focus within the Danish Realm (‘Rigsfællesskabet’).
• The Foundation encourages collaborations between partners with complementary competences on the development and execution of the projects to catalyse collaborations and collective learning processes between different types of actors in Danish society and increase the reach of the projects.

Assessment Criteria

• The novelty, originality and/or scalability of the project
• The urgency of the proposed activities and the potential to markedly impact Denmark’s green transition within a relatively short timeframe, for instance through clear CO2 reduction targets
• The project’s capacity to instil optimism and excitement about the green transition as well as a sense of efficacy for change in various segments of the population
• A convincing account of how and why the proposed activities will produce the desired outcomes in terms of sustainable behavioural change (e.g. a convincing theory-of-change)
• The project’s expected potential to create lasting change beyond the project period
• The qualifications of the participating applicants
• The overall feasibility of the project, including consistency between timeline, budget and expected outcomes
• The project’s plan for impact documentation and dissemination of experiences in ways that will inspire and produce change beyond the project
• If relevant, the research environment and research excellence involved in the project

For more information, visit Novo Nordisk Foundation.